history online course

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HIST 1118: US HISTORY AND CULTURE (WEB VERSION)

Dr. Paul Sivitz Syllabus Summer 2015 Email: [email protected] Office: Liberal Arts 330 Office Hours: None in the summer; Please email with any questions

INTRODUCTION

Mobility of people, ideas, and things, first in the British colonies, then in the United States, is the central theme of this course. Such migrations are not confined to inbound or outbound patterns, but also internal ones. Furthermore, these moving entities all have cultural components.

Since the colonial period, frequent changes, both positive and negative, in socio- economic and cultural structures have been the norm rather than the exception. This course traces some of these changes (many have enough material to warrant their own courses) through the lens of social and cultural history.

The course moves chronologically from the colonial era to about 1930. Topics will include (but are not restricted to) the economy, internal migration, the economy, immigration, the economy, labor, the economy, popular culture, and the economy. Readings highlight the ways individuals and groups participated in each of these arenas. However, the readings are not necessarily representative of the experience of a majority of Americans (or the immigrants who chose the United States as their final destination), but instead are used to illustrate larger thematic ideas of the course.

This is not simply a lecture class. Making sense of the past (a goal of historians, and a goal of the course), requires more than just listening. Engagement with others is necessary. Historians spend their time “talking” to one another, either verbally or through writing. Obviously, verbal interaction is not always possible with online courses. Writing will be your primary mode of communication. The ability to communicate using verbal and writing skills is also crucial for many other academic disciplines, as well as outside the confines of the university.

WHAT YOU MUST DO: COURSE REQUIREMENTS You must read the syllabus and take the Syllabus Quiz. You cannot access the Essay

Exams or the Multiple Choice Exams until you take the Syllabus Quiz. Availability deadlines for course material will not change.

Readings for the course are frequent. There are three required texts. There are eight Multiple Choice Reading Quizzes. There are three Essay Exams. The first is on The American Revolution in Indian

Country, the second covers Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and the third is on Harpo Speaks!. There are two Multiple Choice Exams during the semester and a Multiple Choice Final Exam. The Final Exam is cumulative. Questions for all Multiple Choice Exams will come from mostly from lecture material, but may also be culled from readings.

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WHAT YOU MUST READ: REQUIRED TEXTS (Available in the Bookstore)

Colin Calloway, The American Revolution in Indian Country.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., ed., Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass in The Classic Slave Narratives. You must read this version.

Harpo Marx, Harpo Speaks!.

If the Bookstore is out of copies when you go to purchase them, ask to have it ordered. They will send you an email upon arrival. These books are also available from Amazon.com and other online sources.

EMAIL ETIQUETTE

Email is the best way to contact me. I do my best to respond to all emails sent before 5:00 PM (Sunday-Friday) the same day. Please understand it is not always possible for me to do so. If you email after 5:00 on Friday, you may not hear back from me until Sunday evening.

A few email guidelines (please follow them):

Please use ONLY your ISU email address. Other email addresses are often flagged as SPAM. This is particularly true for Hotmail. All emails you receive from me will be sent to your ISU address.

Check your ISU email often. All emails you receive from me will be sent to your ISU address.

ALWAYS put HIST 1118 in the Subject line.

Please write in complete sentences with proper spelling, capitalization, and grammar (as best as you can). Good written communication skills will help you not just while you are in school, but long after. Do not use “texting” words (or abbreviations).

If you are only submitting an assignment, you need not worry about spelling, capitalization, and grammar. Just attach your assignment, nothing else is necessary. My acknowledgment will simply read “Thanks.”

Please do not use the salutation “Hey” (or any equivalent). “Dear,” “Hello,” and “Greetings,” are all good salutations. Except when acknowledging receipt of assignments, I always will address you properly. Similarly, you should address me as either “Dr. Sivitz” or “Professor Sivitz,” when emailing.

Remember, a little bit of professionalism makes a great impression on others.

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HOW YOU ARE EVALUATED: IN OTHER WORDS, GRADES

There are fifteen different grading components. While this may seem daunting, it is to your benefit. The more components there are, the less any single poor performance can hurt your final grade. Note that no single component is worth more than 15% of your grade. The date and time of the Multiple Choice Final Exam will be poosted on Moodle during the semester.

The point values and grade scale on the syllabus are used to determine your grades. Any grades that appear on Moodle are only percentage-grades for particular assignments. For example, if you score 18 out of 20 points on a Multiple Choice Exam, Moodle will show 90%. The final percentage at the bottom of the grade chart does NOT account for the weight of the assignment, it only provides you with an overall percentage for Moodle-based assignments.

There are 200 points that can be earned for the course. The breakdown by points and by percentage is as follows:

8 Reading Quizzes (5 pts each) 40 points 20% 2 Multiple Choice Exams (20 pts each) 40 points 20% 3 Essay Exams (30 pts each) 90 points 45% Multiple Choice Final Exam 20 points 10% 10-Point Syllabus Quiz 10 points 5% YOU MUST TAKE THE SYLLABUS QUIZ OR YOU CANNOT ACCESS THE

MULTIPLE CHOICE EXAMS OR ESSAY EXAMS. COURSE MATERIAL AVAILABILITY DEADLINES WILL NOT CHANGE.

TOTAL 200 points 100%

Final course grades are calculated as follows:

A 186-200 points 93-100% A- 180-185 points 90-92.9% B+ 174-179 points 87-89.9% B 166-173 points 83-86.9% B- 160-165 points 80-82.9% C+ 154-159 points 77-79.9% C 146-153 points 73-76.9% C- 140-145 points 70-72.9% D+ 134-139 points 67-69.9% D 126-133 points 63-66.9% D- 120-125 points 60-62.9% F 010-119 points 0-59.9%

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QUESTIONS EVERYONE ASKS

Do I have to turn in all the assignments and take all the exams? No, with ONE EXCEPTION. If you are willing to take a “0,” that is up to you. YOU MUST TAKE THE SYLLABUS QUIZ IN ORDER TO SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE THE COURSE.

Do you allow rewrites on papers? There are no papers for this course.

Is there Extra Credit? Not for this course.

Can I take the Final Exam early? No.

COURSE CALENDAR

May 19-June 6 Introduction Colonial Era Overview More on the Colonial Era Age of American Revolution READING ASSIGNMENT in American Revolution in Indian Country: 26-107, 213-291. Reading Quizzes I, II, III. Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the West

June 8-12 ESSAY EXAM I (American Revolution in Indian Country) 50-minute time limit.

MULTIPLE CHOICE EXAM I 30-minute time limit.

June 15-27 READING ASSIGNMENT in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: 299-355 (top). Reading Quiz IV. The Aftermath of the Civil War (Reconstruction) READING ASSIGNMENT in Frederick Douglass: 355 (bottom)-403. Reading Quiz V.

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June 29-July 2 ESSAY EXAM II (Frederick Douglass) 40-minute time limit.

July 6-23 The Gilded Age Urbanization and Suburbanization World Fairs in America READING ASSIGNMENT in Harpo Speaks: 11-282. Reading Quiz VI, VII, VIII. The Model T Advertising in the 1920s

July 24-26 ESSAY EXAM III (Harpo Speaks!) 40-minute time limit.

July 27-30 Popular Culture in Harlem The Depression and Escapism

July 31- August 3 MULTIPLE CHOICE EXAM II 30-minute time limit

August 4-6 FINAL EXAM (Cumulative; Multiple Choice)

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PLAGIARISM (AND OTHER FORMS OF CHEATING)

Many people broke the law and sold alcohol during Prohibition, but that does not mean that you should follow the example and plagiarize a paper or cheat on an exam. Like those who were caught bootlegging, you will be held accountable. Plagiarism and other forms of cheating are serious offenses that will be dealt with according to the rules and regulations set out in the ISU Student Code of Conduct.

What is plagiarism? Here are a few examples (this is a partial list):

Copying material word-for-word and not using quotation marks (and/or citation) Changing a word or two in a sentence, but leaving the sentence structure intact, and not

using quotation marks (and/or citation) Passing off someone else’s work (including their ideas) as your own (you must use

citations)

In short, you should use a citation for anything that is not common knowledge.

SYLLABUS QUIZ

READING THE SYLLABUS AND TAKING THE SYLLABUS QUIZ ARE REQUIREMENTS OF THE COURSE. IF YOU DO NOT TAKE THE SYLLABUS QUIZ YOU CANNOT PASS THE CLASS. IF YOU DO NOT TAKE THE SYLLABUS QUIZ, YOU CANNOT ACCESS THE ESSAY EXAMS OR THE MULTIPLE CHOICE EXAMS. AVAILABILITY DEADLINES FOR COURSE MATERIAL WILL NOT CHANGE.

FINALLY, A REMINDER

Idaho State University is committed to providing equal opportunity in education for all students. If you have a diagnosed disability or if you believe you have a disability (physical, learning, hearing, vision, psychiatric) that might require reasonable accommodation in this course, please contact the Disability Services Center, Rendezvous Building, Room 125 (282-3599). It is the responsibility of students to contact instructors during the first week of each semester to discuss appropriate accommodations.