HIST
2020 American History,
1877-Present
SECTION
001:
8:00-8:50
Spring
Semester, 2007
Dr.
Katherine M. B. Osburn
e-mail:
kosburn@tntech.edu;
phone:
372-6297
office: Henderson Hall, 110
OFFICE
HOURS: M.: 10:00-2:00; W: 9:15-12:15; and by appointment
AMERICAN
HISTORY SINCE 1878
COURSE
DESCRIPTION:
The theme of this course is the making of modern
America
. Over the next fifteen weeks we will trace the historical development of our
modern national institutions and social and economic structures. In the late
nineteenth century enormous economic and social changes resulting from
industrialization and urbanization led to massive upheaval in American society.
Pre-industrial politics and ideology were inadequate to handle the new world
created by industrial capitalism. Further,
U.S.
expansion onto the world stage presented major ideological and logistical
problems for Americans. The evolution of the modern activist state was an
attempt to resolve these conflicts and contradictions. The hard-won Liberal
Consensus eventually unraveled, however, producing a backlash against the
activist state and the rise of a new conservatism. This course will tell the
story of this process, with the goal of understanding how economic, social,
political, and ideological components of culture interact to spark social
change.
COURSE
OBJECTIVES:
1. To develop critical and analytical thinking skills
2. To comprehend several basic principles of historical thinking such as: change
and/or continuity over time, multiple causation of historical events, and
origins of present problems and social configurations.
3. To learn to interpret history in it’s context.
4. To understand the historical development of modern
America
as characterized by four broad themes:
a.
Industrialization & urbanization
b. The bureaucratic national state
c. The
U.S.
as a world power
d. Mass culture & cultural conflict
READINGS
1. Portrait of
America
, Vol. II. Eighth Edition. Stephen
Oates, Charles J. Errico, eds.
2. Documents. There is a document online. Please make a copy of it. There will
be an in-class quiz on this assignment.
ASSIGNMENTS
& POLICIES
1.
EXAMS: You will have 3 unit exams, consisting of: 32 multiple choice
or fill-in-the-blank questions (including 5 extra" credit" multiple
choice or fill-in-the-blank questions) and 3 IDs, worth 6 points each. The
exams are worth 50 points all total. All grades are assigned on a 10 point
scale. I do not curve my grades. I will take your top two scores and drop your
lowest.
All exam questions will come from the
lectures. The reading is covered in the weekly quizzes. To view the
Study Guides that tell you exactly what is on the test, scroll down into the
calendar on the Assignments page and find where exams are listed. Guides are
linked in there.
Since you
drop your lowest test, some of you will not need to take the Unit Three Exam.
Since Tech policy demands a final of some sort, students opting out of the Unit
Three Exam must turn in a brief essay on Historical Cause and Effect in
lieu of the third unit test. This is not a supplement to the final and cannot be done as “extra
credit.” It is only for those students who do not need to take the third unit
exam. Click below to find out the specifics of this assignment:
THE
FINAL, AKA THIRD UNIT EXAM
EXTRA CREDIT ESSAY ON THE
FINAL
Since you
drop your lowest test, I have some very specific policies on early or make up
work.
POLICY ON MISSED EXAMS AND ON TARDINESS TO EXAMS
Finally,
for help in preparing for the unit exams see: What
to do with Dr. O's exams. This tells you EXACTLY what I am looking for in
writing identification questions and it also advises you on the best ways to
prepare for these tests. Do not come to my office and whine that you did not
know what I wanted on my tests. This link tells you exactly what I want. If
anything in this document is unclear to you, please let me know. I am happy to
explain it to you and help you prepare for my tests.
2.
QUIZZES: There
will be 1 in-class 5-point quiz on the Bin Laden document linked into the
Assignments page--the Bin Laden
document IS
an open note quiz. For hints on how to prepare for this quiz see: The Bin
Laden Quiz. There are 8 on-line quizzes,
but I will grade you for only 6;
this means a total of 7 quizzes.
Each
quiz is worth 5 points.
For
general information on the Quizzes, see Instructions and Schedule for
Quizzes.
If
you have technical problems w/ your quiz, you should email me so that I can keep
track of who is having difficulties. I do not check my WebCT account
so please send
your message to: kosburn@tntech.edu.
Please cc your emails to technical support, so they can answer
your technical questions.
Http://www.webct.com/support/viewpage?name=support_student_home.
Thanks!
3.
GRADES:
may be broken down as follows:
unit exams: 3 @ 50.
Unit
Exam Grading Scale: 50-45 = A; 44-39 = B; 38-33=C; 32-27= D
While 3 @ 50 adds up to 150, your lowest test grade will be dropped, so
your true total points are 100
quizzes: 6
@ 5
total
points: 30; The final quiz on the Lessons of September 11 has been turned
into an extra credit quiz.
Grades are based on a standard 10%
scale:
total:
130-117
= A
116-103= B
102-89 =C
88-75
= D
GRADING PROCESSES AND
APPEALS
FINDING YOUR
GRADES:
Grades from the online quizzes are
automatically scored and recorded on Web CT.
I will add your exam grades as I grade them. It takes me about a week to wade
through these so please be patient.
4.
ATTENDANCE
POLICY: I strongly encourage you to attend class. All of the
material you will be tested on comes from the lectures. Moreover, I may decide to
assign random extra points. Finally, you might actually have
something to contribute to the discussion. Since some students
decide to "drop out" following the second test, I have a strict
attendance policy for the last 5 weeks. Students who skip more than 3 classes
during the final 5 weeks without a really good excuse will lose one whole
letter grade.
5.
GENERAL
EDUCATION: This course is designed to enable students to achieve
several general education outcome goals.
A description of these goals may be found through the History
Department Home Page under "General Education Requirements."
Please see http://www.tntech.edu/www/acad/hist/history.html.
6.
ADA
STATEMENT: Any
student who believes he or she will require special consideration to meet the
requirements of this course must consult the Office of Disability Services (UC
112: x6119) during the first week of classes.
I will work with the ADA
office to the
best of my ability to help you.
7.
POLICY ON CHEATING: Students caught
cheating will automatically fail this class EVEN if they get caught
before the drop date. You will not be allowed to escape the consequences
of your actions by dropping. If you stay in this class, you agree to abide by
this rule. After all, today's cheating students are tomorrow's cheating CEOs.
8.
GENERAL ETIQUETTE ISSUES
9. "INSTEAD OF" AKA EXTRA CREDIT
10. ABOUT
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
LECTURES
AND READING
ASSIGNMENTS: