HIST 10613: History of the United States since 1877

Spring 2008

12:30, TT

Revised 1-17-08

INSTRUCTOR

Dr. Rebecca Sharpless

Reed Hall 302A

Office phone:

E-mail: R.Sharpless@tcu.edu

Office hours: Wednesday 10-12 and 2-4 and by appointment

BOOKS REQUIRED

Norton et al., A People & A Nation, Volume two: since 1865

Standiford, Meet You in Hell

Miller, New World Coming: The 1920s and the Making of Modern America

O’Brien, The Things They Carried

A number of readings will be on eCollege. 

INTRODUCTION 

In the last 130 years, the U.S. has undergone major transformations, and in many ways the nation has taken its present form in this period since the American Civil War.  By 1900, America became something recognizable to many of us today.  Our current social institutions were shaped through periods of war, economic downturn, cycles of governmental activism and laissez-faire, bursts of social progress and retrenchment.  The Cold War and the social changes of the 1960s continue to have profound effects on our world.  The end of the Cold War left America as the sole superpower in the world, but the seeds of our current challenges lie deep in the twentieth century.  This course will trace the evolution of America and its people through the period 1877-2008. 

COURSE OBJECTIVES

1.   To provide a framework for understanding the development of the United States and its people.

2.   To encourage analytic thought about the development of the United States since 1877.

3.   To engage in discussion about the relationship between the events of U.S. history and life in 2008.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Reading Quizzes

           Eleven short reading quizzes will test your daily preparation for class.  Each will be worth ten points, and you will drop the lowest one.  Quizzes CANNOT be made up.  If you miss more than one, the grade thereafter for each one missed will be 0.        100 points

Exams

           Three examinations cover approximately one-third of the course material each, with a comprehensive section on the final exam.  Make-up exams are given only to students absent for official university business, serious illness, or family emergency.  In all such instances, students must provide official verification to the instructor.

   Exam # 1 (chapters 17-22) Tuesday, February 19                                           100 points

   Exam # 2 (chapters 23-28) Tuesday, April 1                                                    150 points

   Final exam (chapters 29-33 plus a comprehensive essay)

                                                Tuesday, May 6, 11:30 a.m.                                200 points

   TOTAL EXAM GRADES                                                                                 450 points

Writing Assignments

         Three writing assignments are required in the course.  These focus on close reading and interpreting the readings.  Details about each assignment will be provided approximately two weeks before it is due.  Any paper turned in late will automatically go down one letter grade for each day past the due date.

   Assignment 1 Meet You in Hell (due Tuesday, January 29)                              100 points

   Assignment 2 New World Coming (due Tuesday, March 4)                             125 points

   Assignment 3 The Things They Carried (due Thursday, April 17)                    125 points

   TOTAL WRITING ASSIGNMENT GRADES                                                350 points

Discussion

         Informed participation is expected throughout the course.

         This is a real grade and not automatic.  You start with a 75 and

         go up or down from there, depending on your attendance and

         your class participation                                                                                 100 points

TOTAL                                                                                                            1,000 points

GRADING SCALE:

Attendance

         We are a community of learners, and it is important that we spend time together.  I take role, and I know if you’re in class or not.  Repeated absences will have a severe impact on your class participation grade and almost surely on your other grades as well. 

         More than seven unexcused absences will result in an automatic grade of F.

Communication with the Outside World during Class Time

         Please keep your attention focused inside the classroom during class time.  Use of cell phones (including text messages), BlackBerries, wireless Internet, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, including devices of which the professor has not yet heard, is expressly and vehemently forbidden.  This includes surfing the Web and texting under your desk.  I’ll do my best to embarrass you if I catch you. 

Statement on Disability Services at TCU

         Texas Christian University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 regarding students with disabilities. Eligible students seeking accommodations should contact the Coordinator for Students with Disabilities in the Center for Academic Services located in Sadler Hall, 11. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations. Further information can be obtained from the Center for Academic Services, TCU Box 297710, Fort Worth, TX 76129, or at (817) 257-7486.

Academic Misconduct (Sec. 3.4 from the Student Handbook)

         Any act that violates the academic integrity of the institution is considered academic misconduct. The procedures used to resolve suspected acts of academic misconduct are available in the offices of Academic Deans and the Office of Campus Life. Specific examples include, but are not limited to:

         Cheating: Copying from another student’s test paper, laboratory report, other report, or computer files and listings; using, during any academic exercise, material and/or devices not authorized by the person in charge of the test; collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during a test or laboratory without permission; knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in its entirety or in part, the contents of a test or other assignment unauthorized for release; substituting for another student or permitting another student to substitute for oneself;

         Plagiarism: The appropriation, theft, purchase or obtaining by any means another’s work, and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of that work as one’s own offered for credit. Appropriation includes the quoting or paraphrasing of another’s work without giving credit therefore.          

         Collusion: The unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing work offered for credit.

Class and Reading Schedule