U.S. History

U.S. History

 

Instructor:         Christopher Mitchell

Office:               Any Building 123

Office Phone:    (909) 555-1234

Office Hours:    Mon/Wed. 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM

E-mail:              cfm.mitchell@verizon.net

Website:            http://mysite.verizon.net/res0grar/index.htm

 

Course Description:  The emergence of the United States as a nation of tremendous power in the world was never a foregone conclusion.  The birth of the United States and its initial adolescence on the world stage has been marked by peril, adventure, and sometimes, injustice.  This course will examine the basic factual, thematic, and historiographical concerns as they relate to the political, social, and economic history of America.  We will look past the rhetoric of hero-worship and defeatism common in today’s media to capture a clear and unbiased picture of American History.

 

Format:  Class meetings will take the form of a modified Lecture/Seminar format.  Class sessions will be a mixture of lecture style presentations lead by the instructor and seminar style discussions of previously assigned readings and presented lectures. 

 

Attendance:  Since this class requires active participation by all students, attendance, or lack there of, will have a detrimental effect on your grade.  No show, no go!

 

Course Requirements/Grades:  Semester course grades will be determined on the basis of the following assignments:

 

1st Semester

             10%       Attendance and participation in class discussions.

             10%       In-class presentation of oral history assignment or term paper.

             15%       Oral history assignment.

             20%       2 (10% ea.) mid-term style exams (short answer/in-class essay).

             20%       End of semester final (short answer/in-class essay).

             25%       1st semester 5 to 10 page term paper.

 

2nd Semester

             10%       Attendance and participation in class discussions.

             10%       In-class group presentation on a topic of history.

             15%       Group paper on a topic of history. 

             20%       2 (10% ea.) mid-term style exams (short answer/in-class essay).

             20%       End of Semester Final (short answer/in-class essays).

             25%       Multimedia/QuickTime Movie presentation of oral history assignment, 1st semester paper, or group presentation (material can not have previously been presented).

 

Late Assignments and Make-ups:  Assignments are due on the dates indicated by the syllabus.  NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED unless absence was authorized.

 

Academic Honesty:  Students will be required to do their own work for this course. Any form of cheating, including plagiarism, will be punished to the fullest extent allowed by USA Unified School District, which may include an “F” on the assignment, an “F” in the course, suspension from school, and/or recommendation that the student be expelled from the district.  All out of class papers will be submitted to TurnItIn.com for review. 

 

Class Discussions and Peer Reviews:  Students are expected to conduct themselves in a courteous and respectful manner in all class discussions.  Peer reviews should be honest and critical, yet constructive and tactful. 

 

Course Objectives:  It is hoped that students will come away from this course with a deeper appreciation of American History by having achieved the following:

 

1. A general knowledge of historiography and its components.

2. The ability and the desire to gather and evaluate critically information (primary versus secondary sources).

3. A familiarity with the concepts, issues, causes and effects of events in U.S. History as dictated in History-Social Science Content Standards for California Public Schools.

 

Required Books:  Textbook as assigned by USA High School. 

 

Recommended Books:  These books are purely 100% optional.  The students does not need these books to do well in this course.  These books are helpful and will increase students understanding of U.S. History:

 

· The Bedford Handbook, Sixth Edition.  Diana Hacker.  2002. Bedford/St. Martin’s. www.bedfordstmartins.com.  This book is a must for any college bound student.  It details not only the proper use of the English language, but also contains guidelines in writing in MLA, Chicago Manual of Style and APA. 

 

· Democracy in America, Alexis De Tocqueville.  Mansfield/Winthrop Edition. 2000. Chicago of University Press.  Anyone wanting to know the real America needs to read this book.  Originally published in two book by author Alexis De Tocqueville, a Frenchman visiting America in 1831 to see what the great republic was like.  Nobody before and nobody since, in my opinion, has been able to write a book that encompasses what it truly means to be an American.  Available at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

 

· Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Introduced by Darryl Pinckney. Penguin Books, Ltd. 1998.  In the first year of printing, in 1852, over 300,000 copies were sold.  Ms. Stowe’s depiction of slavery with all its dehumanizing aspects laid bare is reason enough to read this book.   

favente deo supero — “to help those down to conquer”

Christopher mitchell