HISTORY 1312: U.S. HISTORY SINCE 1865
Professor:
Joyce S. Goldberg
Section: 007; T-TH:
12:30-1:50
Office;
Phone: UH 330; 272-2863
Location: UH 115
Office
Hrs.: T-TH: 2:00-4:00p.m.
Semester: Fall 2009
Email:
goldberg@uta.edu
Web site: www.uta.edu/history
**********************************************************
1) Eric
Foner (EF)
Give
me Liberty! An American History
Vol. 2; Second Edition
www.wwnorton.com/web/instructions/foner2
2)
Robert D. Marcus,
American Firsthand
David Burner
Vol. 2 Readings from Reconstruction
Anthony Marcus
(MBM) Eighth Edition
Paperback
editions of these books are available from bookstores that service UTA or from
on-line bookstores. You must
use these specific editions.
YOU
MUST BRING BOTH BOOKS, PAPER, AND A Pen TO EVERY CLASS.
COURSE
DESCRIPTION AND
OBJECTIVES
This
course surveys U.S. history from 1865 to the end of the Cold War. I teach
history not as a record of facts, tediously embalmed in notebooks and
regurgitated on exams, but as an on-going cultural debate open to
evidence-based interpretation. Along
with analyzing selected episodes in U.S. history, I want to help improve the
cognitive skills necessary for every person regardless of his/her professional
goals. We all live in history. Some of us make it, others are made (or broken)
by it. Many of us try (often
improperly)to make use of it, usually by ransacking the past for analogies to
explain the present. But history=s
utility does not lie in its predictive or explanatory value, but in its
ability to nurture an appreciation of the limits of our capacity to see the
past clearly or to know fully the historical determinants of our own brief
passage in time. AIf the study of history does nothing more than teach us
humility, skepticism, and awareness of ourselves,@
one contemporary historian has written, Athen
it has done something useful.@
A knowledge of history, will not make us smarter for the next time
around, we want it to make us wise forever.
That it doesn=t,
ought to teach us humility.
STUDENT COMPETENCIES
AND LEARNING
OUTCOMES
a)
Students will develop cognitive skills by reading critically, constructing
independent arguments using historical evidence, and expressing them
persuasively in grammatically sound written form.
b)
Students will practice the art of historical analysis by learning to
differentiate between primary and secondary sources and between fact and
interpretation.
c)
Students will ascertain the relationship between history and memory by
uncovering the cultural debates that have influenced Ahistorical remembrance.@
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
AND GRADING
PROCEDURES
TO
PASS THIS COURSE, STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO TAKE ALL QUIZZES AND ALL EXAMS.
STUDENTS WHO DO NOT, WILL FAIL.
MERELY
TAKING ALL EXAMS AND QUIZZES, HOWEVER, DOES NOT GUARANTEE A PASSING GRADE.
There
will be 6 multiple-choice READING quizzes each
consisting of twenty-five questions FROM BOTH BOOKS, for a total
of 150 points. There will be 3
exams, each worth 100 points, for a total of 300 points. Exams consist of
identifications and/or short answers, and always an essay.
I grade
essays according to this rubric:
1)
relevance: how well an essay answers the specific question asked;
2)
comprehensiveness: how much relevant material is used as evidence;
3)
analysis: how well ideas are developed;
4)
documentation: is there evidence
for major arguments;
5) logic: do conclusions follow from marshaling AND analyzing evidence.
Makeups
will be given ONLY on THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3,
from 2:00-5:00 p.m. None
will be multiple-choice. I do not permit re-takes nor grant incompletes. I
will provide no Aextra
credit@
opportunities. Students are solely responsible for withdrawing from this
course.
I
will never email any grades
Final course grades will
be determined by the following scale.
400-450 points =
A
349-399 points =
B
298-348 points =
C
246-297 points =
D
Below 245 points = F
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
Any
student caught in an act of scholastic dishonesty (cheating, collusion, etc.)
or conspiring to commit such an act will be disciplined in accordance with
University regulations. (see Student Handbook)
STUDENTS WITH
DISABILITIES
I will
ensure that disabled students are appropriately accommodated in my classroom.
If you require an accommodation based on disability, it is your responsibility
to provide documentation through the Office for Students with Disabilities.
(See Student Handbook)
ACADEMIC SUCCESS
UTA
offers many programs to help you achieve academic success.
Contact the Office of Student Success Programs for help.
The History Department web site also links to many useful sources that
offer tips on how to read a history book, how to take notes, and exam
preparation. Go to www.uta.edu/history, Click
on AStudent
Guides to the Study of History.@
PROFESSOR=S
PERSONAL ACADEMIC
ADVISORY
Six
hours of U.S. history are mandated by the state legislature. I know that many
students resent this requirement and object to working for a class they would
not otherwise choose to take. Please
do not take your anger out on me. I enjoy teaching this class and take my
obligation to teach it seriously. Regardless of why you have enrolled, I
require all students to perform at what I consider to be a university level.
Just Ashowing
up@
will not result in a good grade in my classes.
Do the work or find a different instructor.
I recommend:
1)
Regular attendance and preparation for each class;
2)
Note-taking from the reading, from class discussion, from videos;
3)
Regular rewriting/reviewing of notes;
4)
Study groups(??);
5)
Extensive preparation before each quiz or exam.
CLASSROOM DECORUM
Although
I prefer an atmosphere of informality and good humor, rudeness is unacceptable
and common courtesies will be enforced.
1)
Students must attend all classes, although no records will be kept. You
will be neither penalized nor rewarded for attendance, however you are
responsible for all work transacted every class.
2) You
are expected to arrive on time AND REMAIN FOR THE DURATION OF THE CLASS.
Students arriving late or who must leave early should sit in the last
two rows of the room.
3) ALL
ELECTRONIC GADGETS MUST BE PLACED ON SILENT MODE AND OUT OF SIGHT. NO TEXTING
WILL BE PERMITTED DURING CLASS OR EXAMS.
4)
Reading newspapers, sleeping, finishing homework, or other disruptive
activities are not COURTEOUS classroom behaviors.
No tape recorders are permitted without my consent. Eating and
drinking, in moderation, are permitted but please use discretion.
READING ASSIGNMENTS
AND DISCUSSION
TOPICS
In case of inclement
weather or school closings, you are expected to remain current with the
syllabus, including all test dates.
T-Aug. 25th:
Organizational meeting
Syllabus
distribution and course introduction
TH-Aug.
27th:
Civil War Legacies: Change or Continuity?
EF:
Aabout
the author@
pp. xxiii (last paragraph)-xxvi;
pp. 546-560
MBM: pp. ix-xiv; pp. 15-18
T-Sept.
1st: Reconstruction:
Tragic Era or Time of Hope?
EF:
pp. 560-575
MBM: pp. 19-25
TH-Sept.
3rd: Counterrevolution: Undoing
Reconstruction?
EF:
pp. 575-581
MBM: pp. 26-34
T-Sept. 8th:
Reunion: The Betrayal of
African Americans?
EF:
pp. 646-654; p. 659 (B.T.W)
MBM: pp. 35-38; pp. 89-94
Quiz #1
TH-Sept. 10th:
Industrialization: Free Markets or Exploitation?
EF:
pp. 588-599; pp.602-614
MBM: pp. 2-13;
pp. 39-45
T-Sept. 15th:
Urbanization:
The Price of Progress?
EF:
pp. 599-601; pp. 615-631;
pp. 655-659; pp. 681-683
MBM: pp. 82-88; pp. 139-146
TH-Sept. 17th:
Populism: The Embattled
Farmer?
EF:
pp. 637-646
T-Sept. 22nd:
Progressivism: Radicalism or a Search for Order?
EF:
pp. 674-680; pp. 685-713
MBM: pp. 103-115; pp. 133-138;
pp.170-176
Quiz #2
Th-Sept.
24th:
**EXAM #1**
T-Sept 29th:
Old Diplomacy to New: Change or Continuity?
EF: pp. 661-663
TH-Oct.
1st: Empire: Fighting
for American Manhood?
EF:
pp. 663-671; pp. 716-724
T-Oct. 6th:
World War I: Failures of
Morality or Diplomacy?
EF:
pp. 724-751
EF:
pp. 751-755
MBM: pp. 123-132
Quiz #3
T-Oct.
13th: Roaring Twenties:
Irresponsible Adolescence?
EF:
pp. 762-777; pp. 778-790
MBM: pp. 148-155; pp. 161-169
pp. 185-188
TH-Oct.
15th: Crash and Depression:
The Poverty of Abundance?
EF:
pp. 790-797
MBM: pp. 177-184
T-Oct.
20th: New
Deal: Relief, Recovery, Reform?
EF:
pp. 800-839
TH-Oct. 22nd:
World Conflict:
The Illusion of Neutrality?
EF:
pp. 777-778; pp. 842-855
MBM: pp. 222-227; pp. 198-206
NO OFFICE HOURS TODAY
T-Oct.
27th: Homefront: Don=t
You Know There=s
a War On?
EF:
pp. 855-875
MBM: pp. 208-214; pp. 215-221
Quiz #4
TH-Oct.
29th:
**EXAM
#2**
(last
chance to drop the class: Friday, October 30th)
T-Nov. 3rd:
Shaping the Peace: Descent into Cold War?
EF:
pp. 878-883; pp. 886-891
MBM: pp. 228-226
TH-Nov.
5th: Cold War: Strategies of
Containment
EF:
pp. 891-905; pp. 908-916
T-Nov. 10th:
Eisenhower Triumphant: Holding
the Line?
EF:
pp. 926-935; pp. 938-951
MBM: pp. 228-236; pp. 237-241
TH-Nov. 12th:
Eisenhower and Civil Rights: Race from Power?
EF:
pp. 874-878; pp. 905-908;
pp. 916-917; pp. 935-938;
pp. 954-961
Quiz #5
T-Nov.
17th: Flexible Response I:
Kennedy=s
New Frontier?
EF:
pp. 961-963; pp. 966-975
TH-Nov. 19th:
Flexible Response II: LBJ=s
Great Society?
EF:
pp. 975-1004
MBM: pp. 269-276; pp. 277-283
T-Nov. 24th:
Detente: Nixon=s
Years of Turmoil?
EF:
pp. 1004-1005; 1008-1026
MBM: pp.
299-307
T-Dec.
1st: Republican
Resurgence: Reagan Ends the Cold War?
EF:
pp. 1026-1036
TH-Dec.
3rd: The Twenty-First Century: Where
are we Now?
EF:
pp. 1036-1045
MBM: pp. 341-346
Quiz #6
All
makeups today only; 3:00-5:00
TH-DECEMBER
10TH:
**EXAM #3**
UH 115: 11:00
a.m.-1:30 p.m.
NO FINAL GRADES WILL BE GIVEN BY EMAIL