History 4440\5440: Indians of the Southeast
Spring, 2006; MWF: 10:10-11:05
Dr. Katherine M.B. Osburn
Office: Henderson Hall, 110
Office Hours: M/W: 11:15-200; F: 11:15-12:15; And By Appointment
Phone: 372-6297
email: Kosburn@Tntech.Edu
Web Page: http://iweb.tntech.edu/kosburn
ASSIGNED
READINGS
1.
Camilla Townsend, Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma.
2. Theda Perdue, Cherokee Women
3. Daniel H. Usner Jr., American Indians
in the Lower Mississippi Valley
4. Claudio Saunt, Black, White, and Indian
5. There are several articles in a reader that you will purchase from me at cost.
They are noted in the syllabus.
GRADES
Grades are based on a standard 10
percent scale.
1. Article Question Responses: 15 @ 5 = 75
2. Book reviews: 3 @ 10 = 30 points
3. Essay # 1 = 100 points
Essay # 2 = 100 points
TOTALS: 305-275 = A; 274-244 = B; 243-213 = C; 212-182 = D
If you consistently come to class without your summaries, or if you
fail to turn in a review for any of the monographs, you will be docked one full
letter grade.
PEDAGOGY: This is not a lecture class; rather, it is a seminar based on the radical notion that students have something worthwhile to say. Indeed, the pedagogy I use assumes that you learn far more by reading and drawing your own conclusions than by sitting passively while I spoon-feed you material. Much of your grade, therefore, will be attendance and analysis of the materials as expressed in your written analysis of the books and articles.
ARTICLE
QUESTION
RESPONSES: Since
we
cannot have class if you do not prepare to discuss the readings, you
must turn in a brief essay answering questions that I pose for the reading
assignment--this applies to the articles, the books will be discussed
below. (See link below under, Schedule of Readings.)
These are worth up to 5 points each.
Careful analysis and thoughtful questions will earn the maximum points. Please
type these--not only are they easier to read if typed but you will find that you
can save time by cutting and pasting materials from your write-ups into your
essay exams. Essays that do not demonstrate adequate knowledge of the material
will not get any credit. (Meaning do not try to
b.s. your way through this class.)
I will count off for poorly written work--please run spell and grammar check
before you turn these in.
To prevent intellectual colonialism, I
will not accept late assignments if you attended class but did not answer the
essay. I will accept late write-ups during the following class ONLY if you
missed the previous class discussion for a documented legitimate excuse. Finally,
if you are sick or must miss class for a school event or emergency, you may
email me your response. Please try to get it to me before the next class.
Making students engage with the readings is designed to ensure that students
come to class prepared to discuss them, but it also has the advantage of
spreading the work out evenly over the semester.
When it comes time to construct your midterm and final essays, you will
have the data at your fingertips and you will not have to cram.
BOOK
REVIEWS: The 3 monographs are better
analyzed as a whole, rather than chapter by chapter. (NOTE, Usner’s work is a collection of
articles and is not a monograph.) Therefore, you will
turn in a 3-5 page book review that analyzes the material in the book according
to one of the themes we are discussing. I will give you guidance on how to
do this. These are worth 10 points each. You will still be asked to
discuss these works in class, so please do not put off reading until you write
your review or, worse, commit the crime of academic colonialism by hoping to
pick up enough material in the discussions that you don’t have to read.
I will give you random pop quizzes over the monographs and lectures, so be sure
you always come to class prepared. These
quizzes will not count into your total, but, rather, will count against it should you fail—that is, if you fail a quiz I
will deduct 5 points from your grade. There
are no make-ups for these without a documented emergency. We
will not hold virtual class during book discussions.
Click
here for Questions for Pocahontas and
the Powhatan Dilemma
Click here for Questions
for
Cherokee Women
Click here for Questions for Black,
White, and Indian
GOOD
WRITING.
One reason you write so much in this class is to improve your written
communication skills. This is something we all can use no matter what profession
we eventually choose. Indeed, businesses continually tell the university that
they want graduates with good writing skills. Writing is like any other
skill--it takes lots of practice to get good at it. To make sure that your
writing is up to par in all of your assignments, then, please see Academic
Writing. To understand how I will evaluate your work, please see:
and Performance
Standards.
BACKGROUND
MATERIALS: In
order to assist your understanding of the articles and monographs, I have linked
some background information into the website.
You are not required to turn in a summary of this material, but I will be
looking for it in the answers to your essay questions.
I will also lead discussions on these, so do download them ahead of time.
ATTENDANCE
POLICIES: I take attendance every class period, and I reserve the right to lower
your grade by one full letter for missing classes without an accepted documented
reason. If you must miss a class, please let me know what is going on.
Sometimes students skip class because they have not done the reading. You are,
however, better off coming to class unprepared than ditching, since you can,
presumably, learn something from the discussions. Hopefully, the materials will
raise questions for you, and discussion of these questions will benefit the
entire class. The bottom line is this: your contribution to the class
is valuable and you need to commit to attending this class prepared to share
your ideas with the group. Excessive absences will count against you in
assignment of final grades while faithful attendance and enthusiastic
participation can push you up a full letter grade if you are on the
"borderline."
VIRTUAL FRIDAYS: Most of our Fridays we will meet online, meaning we will post our responses to the readings on a web board on WebCt. The student should have her/his response posted by the end of class on that Friday. Late assignments are not accepted unless you have a documented emergency. These virtual Fridays are marked w/ a VF. Unless otherwise noted, all virtual Friday assignments require a summary posted to the web board.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR POSTING FOR VIRTUAL CLASS:
1. Please post listing your last name in the subject line so that I can find your grade page in my grade book quickly and work alphabetically. This cuts down on the number of things I miss and helps me to be organized.
2. Please NO ATTACHMENTS. Cut and paste your work into the message. Again, this makes my job easier
EXAMS:
Exams are take-home essays. You will have the essay
questions in advance, and you will be able to choose which question/questions
you answer.
Click
here for the Midterm.
Click here for the Final.
PLAGIARISM:
THE MORTAL SIN OF ACADEMIA: You must
keep a copy of your monograph reviews on a
floppy disk. If I sense plagiarism,
I will run your review through a special web program that locates
plagiarized materials. If you get caught downloading any part of a review, you
will fail the class, and I will bring charges of academic misconduct against you
through formal channels.
LATE
ASSIGNMENTS: All assignments must be turned in on time--that means @ the beginning of the class period for which they are due, not
the end of the period. Thus, if you skip class to finish your work you will
be out of luck because I will penalize it unless you can prove, through
appropriate documentation, that an emergency occurred. Computer problems are not an acceptable emergency, for computers
"know" when you are on a deadline and will deliberately choose not to function. Having been warned that this occurs, I suggest
you print your work out well before class time. Late papers will drop one full
letter grade per day beginning 15 minutes into the class period in which they
are due.
ADA
STATEMENT: Students
with a disability requiring accommodations should contact the Office of
Disability Services (ODS). An
Accommodation Request (AR) should be completed as soon as possible, preferably
by the end of the first week of the course.
The ODS is located in the Roaden University Center, Room 112; phone
372-6119. I will work with the ODS to the best of my ability to help you.
SCHEDULE
OF READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Click Here for the Questions for readings
Week
1: Jan. 18 & 20. W. Introduction:
The Problems of Native American History; F.
Anthropology 101: Anthropological
Concepts in Studying Native Americans; and Glossary
of Anthropological Terms
Week
2: Jan. 23-27. M.
Discussion:
The
Great Migration & Paleo-Indians.
and The
Introduction of Agriculture;
W.
John F. Scarry, “The Late Prehistoric
Southeast.” F.
Brian Fagan, “Moundbuilders of the Midwest—Epilog”
Week
3: Jan. 31-Feb. 3. M. MOVIE: First
Contact W. Discussion
of movie: Patterns of Contact
F.
Discussion
of Colonial Policy: The
Spanish and the
French in the Southeast.
Week
4: Feb. 6-10. M. Daniel
H. Unser, "A Population History of American Indians in the
Eighteenth-Century Lower Mississippi Valley."
W.
Colin
Calloway, “A Narrative of the De Soto Invasion,” and Rodrigo Rangel,
“Account of the Northern Conquest and Discovery of Hernando De Soto c. 1546 VF.
Amy Turner Bushnell, "Ruling 'the Republic of Indians' in
Seventeenth-Century Florida."
Week
5: Feb 13-17. M. William C. Foster,
ed., The La Salle Expedition to Texas: The Journal of Henri Joutel,
1684-1687. Chapters: 11, “The
French Among the Cenis,” pp. 203-215; 13, “Hiems Accompanies a Cenis War
Party,” pp. 225-232; and 14, “The Assoni and Cadodquis,” pp. 233-249. W.
Daniel H. Usner, "French-Natchez Borderlands in Colonial
Louisiana." VF
Patricia Galloway, "The Chief Who is Your Father": Choctaw
and French Views of the Diplomatic Relation."
Week
6: Feb. 20-24 M. Daniel
H. Unser, "American Indians in a Frontier Exchange Economy." W
James H. Merrell, "The Indians' New World: The Catawaba
Experience." Midterm Exams. passed out on Wednesday. No Class on Friday.
Work on Midterms
Week
7: Feb. 27-March 3. No Class this week. Work on Midterms
Week
8: March 7-11. Spring Break! Hooray!
Week
9: March 13-17. M. Townsend,
chs. 1-3 W. Townsend, 4-6 No virtual Friday here. Townsend. 7-9
Week
10: March 20-24. I will be at a conference on Friday of this week. M. J.
Frederick Fausz, "Opechancanough: Indian Resistance Leader." W. Martha
W. McCartney, "Cockacoeske, Queen of Pamunkey: Diplomat and Suzeraine."
VF.
James H. O' Donnell III, "The Southern Indians in the War For
Independence,”
Week
11: March 27-31 M. Daniel
H. Unser, "American Indians and the Early Cotton Economy." W. Perdue,
Intro-ch. 2 No virtual Friday here. Perdue,
chs. 3-4
Week
12: April 3-7 M. Perdue-“Civilization”
& chs. 5-6 W. Perdue,
7-Conclusion
VF Daniel H. Unser, "American Indians in
Nineteenth-Century New Orleans."
Week
13: April 10-14 NOTE: Each chapter of Saunt is followed by a brief profile.
Please consider these to be part of the chapters and read them. M. Saunt,
Introduction, Profile, chs. 1-2 W. Saunt,
3-4 No class (virtual or otherwise) on Good Friday, Final Exams passed out.
Week
14: April 17-21 I will be at a
conference all of this week. We will not meet but you should continue reading
Saunt. I will expect you to have finished the book by the time I
return.
Week
15: April 24-28 M. Discussion of the remaining chapters of Saunt W. Wrap up the class.
No class on Friday.
Week
16: May 1-7. FINAL EXAMS