| Class Information for Spring 2008:
Section: MW 10:30-11:55 in SOCS 207
Office: 202G Social Sciences
e-mail: cgold@elcamino.edu
Phone: 310-660-3751
Office Hours: Monday 9:30-10:30 and 12:00-1:00 and 2:30-3:00
Tuesday 3:30-4:00
Wednesday 9:30-10:30 and 12-1:00
Syllabus for Spring 2008:
Course Description
This course traces social, economic, political, and diplomatic developments in the United States during the twentieth century. You will learn about industrialization, urbanization, and immigration; World War I & II; the Great Depression; the New Deal and liberal reform; the Cold War and foreign diplomacy; popular culture; the Civil Rights Movement; and the Women’s Movement; among other topics. You will study the accomplishments of powerful men, like Franklin D. Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, Jr., and explore the everyday lives of Americans from diverse cultures—how they lived, worked, raised their families, voted, and created communities. I hope this class will show you that history is interesting, entertaining and meaningful to your life.
Required Reading
· Course Reader. Available for purchase in the campus bookstore.
· Gary Nash and Julie Roy Jeffrey. The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society. Vol. II (since 1865). Concise 6th edition. Pearson/Longman. 2008.
· Nancy Walker, Ed. Women’s Magazines, 1940-1960: Gender Roles and the Popular Press. Bedford/St. Martin’s. 1998.
Grade Distribution
2 Midterms (20% each) 40%
Final Exam 20%
Reading Review 5%
Paper 20%
Participation 15%
Midterms and Final Exam
The midterms and final exam will include identifications, a primary document analysis, and an essay question. You will be given study questions to help you prepare, and you must use a blue book on the day of the test. Blue books may be purchased in the student store.
Lectures
Students are responsible for all the information conveyed in the lectures. Students should take notes during lecture and should borrow someone’s notes for days that they are absent. The lecture outlines are in the course reader, which should be brought to class every day.
Paper
Students will write a 5-7 page paper based upon Women’s Magazines, 1940-1960: Gender Roles and the Popular Press.. We will discuss writing methods in class. Students will submit a thesis statement, outline, and final draft. The grading rubric is included in the course reader.
Reading Assignments and Reading Review
Students should complete the assigned reading before coming to class. Do not fall behind in the reading, as it will be difficult to catch up. Try to make it a habit to do your class reading in the evening or day before we meet. Students will write one reading review that answers questions based upon chapters in Women’s Magazines. The review will ask students to demonstrate their understanding of the content and to analyze the primary documents.
Participation
Active participation in class discussion is important to success in the course. Assigned readings must be completed in order to effectively participate. Your final participation grade is based on your attendance, group projects, and class participation.
Group Discussion
Every week students will divide into small groups to discuss primary document materials drawn from the course reader and textbook. Group answers will be graded and will form part of the participation grade. Please bring the course reader with you to class every day. In the event of absence, students are permitted to make-up two group discussions.
Attendance
Attendance will be taken at the beginning of every class. More than three absences in the semester will adversely impact your grade. One percentage point will be deducted per absence over three unless written notification of a medical or other extraordinary reason is provided.
Classroom Etiquette, Cheating, and Late Policy
Students are expected to treat each other and the Professor respectfully. Disruptive behavior interrupts learning and creates a tense classroom environment. Please contribute to a positive learning experience for yourself and the other students. Arrive on time, prepared to participate in class. If you need to leave early, please notify the Professor before class. Out of respect for all the students’ hard work, cheating and plagiarism will absolutely not be tolerated. Plagiarism occurs when you take credit for the original ideas and/or words of another person. Plagiarism or cheating on any assignment or exam will incur a 0 for the grade. For late assignments, the grade will be reduced by one full grade for each class meeting it is late.
Student Outcomes and Assessment
1. Given a primary or secondary source relating to the history of the U.S. Since 1877, students will accurately identify the source and apply appropriate historical methods to explain what the source reveals about its historical context.
2. Upon completion of History 1B, students will identify and explain major social, economic, political and cultural themes in U.S. history since 1877 in a course exam or written assignment.
3. Given primary and/or secondary source(s) pertaining to a significant aspect of economic, political, social or cultural life in United States history since 1877, students will develop and persuasively argue an historical thesis in a written or oral assignment that effectively uses the sources as evidence.
Weekly Meetings and Assignments
Week 1
Feb. 11 Course Introduction
Feb. 13 Society at the Turn-of-the-Century
Reading Assignment: Nash, Chapt. 18
Group Project: Middle Class Life
Week 2
Feb. 18 Holiday: President’s Day
Feb. 20 Society at the Turn-of-the-Century
Reading Assignment: Nash, Chapt. 19
Group Project: The Early Film Industry
Week 3
Feb. 25 Race at the Turn-of-the-Century
Reading Assignment: Nash, Chapt. 17
Reader, excerpts of speeches and writings by
Wells, Washington, Turner & DuBois
Group Project: African American Reformers: A Mock Debate
Feb. 27 Progressive Reform
Reading Assignment: Nash, Chapt. 21
Week 4
March 3 American Expansion Abroad
Reading Assignment: Nash, Chapt. 20
Group Project: Louisiana Purchase Exposition
March 5 World War I
Reading Assignment: Nash, Chapt. 22
Week 5
March 10 World War I
Group Project: Wartime Propaganda
March 12 Midterm #1
(Covers Nash, Chapts. 17-22)
Week 6
March 17 The 1920s
Reading Assignment: Nash, Chapt. 23
March 19 The Great Depression
Reading Assignment: Nash, Chapt. 24
Week 7
March 24 The Great Depression and World War II
Group Project: Documentary Photography
Reading Assignment: Nash, Chapt. 25
March 26 World War II
Reading Review Due
Reading Assignment: Walker, pp. 1-62
Group Project: Wartime Fashion
Week 8
March 31 Postwar Society
Reading Assignment: Nash, Chapt. 26
April 2 Postwar Society, the Cold War and Anti-Communism
Reading Assignment: Walker, pp. 63-261
SPRING BREAK – April 7-11
Week 9
April 14 The Cold War and Anti-Communism
Paper Thesis and Outline Due
Film: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Reading Assignment: Nash, Chapt. 27
Group Project: Anti-Communism
April 16 Film: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Group Project: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Week 10
April 21 Midterm #2
(Covers Nash, Chapts. 23-27)
April 23 The Civil Rights Movement
Reading Assignment: Nash, Chapt. 28
Group Project: The Radicalization of Civil Rights
Week 11
April 28 Film: The Defiant Ones, 1958
Group Project: Film Discussion
April 30 Liberalism and the 1960s
Paper Due
Week 12
May 5 The 1960s
Group Project: Rock Music
May 7 The Vietnam War
Week 13
May 12 The 1970s: Facing Limits
Reading Assignment: Nash, Chapt. 29
Group Project: All in the Family, 1971
May 14 Foreign Policy, 1970-1989
Reading Assignment: Nash, Chapt. 30
Week 14
May 19 The 1980s
May 21 The 1990s
Reading Assignment: Nash, Chapt. 31
Week 15
May 26 Holiday: Memorial Day
May 28 Using the Past to Understand the Present
Group Project: Rap Music
Week 16
June 2 Final Exam
(Cover Nash, Chapts. 28-31)
June 4 Course Grade Consultation
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