Course DescriptionIAH 201: The U.S. and the World
Spring Semester 2000
Sections
IAH 201, The US and the World, offers students common opportunities to explore the unities and diversities of American experience on the basis of historical, literary, and other materials. It draws on primary source readings, video texts, an interactive CD-ROM, class discussions, a museum visit, and substantial student writing to broaden students' understanding of the processes by which the American nation, the American people, and American identity/ies have been made and remade in time.
To increase student knowledge about the unity and diversities of American life; to deepen student appreciation for the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender and class in American experience; to expand student awareness of the ways history, literature and the arts help to illuminate the American national experience; to strengthen student understanding of America's relation to the world. As they express and examine their understanding of course issues and materials through writing and in discussion, students will have opportunities to improve their writing and critical thinking skills and strengthen their abilities to integrate materials across disciplinary boundaries.
Making Connections: Reading American Cultures,
CD ROM Immigration and Migration (you will need 1998 edition of text and CD-ROM)
My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody
Grades:
Participation 10%
Email/Homework 15%
Group Presentations 15%
Papers 55% (paper 1=15%, paper 2=20%, paper 3=20%)
Final Test 5%
Attendance:
Your attendance at every class meeting is required. You are allowed four absences for illness, religious observances, funerals, court dates, job interviews, etc. For each additional absence beyond four, your final grade will be lowered 0.05. It is your responsibility to sign the attendance sheet every class period.
Participation: (10%)
I have already mentioned physical attendance in the course. Participation is mental attendance in the course. You will be graded on how much you contribute to the learning environment of the class.
Participation grades will be lowered for the following:
* Not attending class physically will not help your participation grade
* Talking while others are talking, sleeping, reading the newspaper during discussions, videos or student presentations, showing disrespect toward others.
* Showing up late to class consistently.
Participation grades will be raised for the following:
* Contributing to class discussions.
* Contributing in small groups activities.
As a hindrance to others’ learning, behavior that has a negative effect on the learning of the class will be penalized.
201 Net E-mail Conversations/Homework Assignments: (15%):
You and four of your classmates will be involved in 5 e-mail exchanges. The primary objective of this is assignment is to provide an informal environment in which to discuss the readings for this course and how they relate to one another, to important issues, questions and themes of the course. Emails should be sent out Monday – Friday during the week they were assigned for. Late emails received on Saturday or Sunday will receive no more than a 2.0. Emails received after Sunday will not be accepted. The criteria for e-mail are as follows:
* Each individual e-mail will be a minimum of 350 words long.
* Discussion within the group is essential; you MUST read and respond to each other's comments.
* Discussion and analysis of the material (I do not want a summary of the readings or the video)—I would like to hear your observations, feelings, ideas and opinions regarding the material we cover. If and when the material relates to current events it will be acceptable to show the connection between the material and the event.
* You should include citations from the text to support your position/opinion.
* You will not be graded on spellings, grammar, and punctuation.
Your e-mail account should be activated by the second week of class. Although my email address will be included in your list, each student must hand in their email entry to receive credit.
Homework assignments will be handed out throughout the semester. Assignments are due at the beginning of class. Assignments turned in late will receive no more than a 2.0 and will not be accepted after 5pm on the day they are due.
Group Presentation: (15%)
You will do a group presentation. I will provide more information later in the term.
End of Unit Papers: (55%)
Papers for Units I and II will be 4-5 pages, double-spaced (5-6 pages for Unit IV papers). These papers will reflect the intellectual work you have been doing in the course and will require the use of all course materials (readings, videos, books, etc.). Grades will be based on four equally important criteria: 1) formulation of intellectual problem/response to topic; 2) knowledge of subject; 3) analysis and interpretation, and 4) clarity of purpose, organization, language and mechanics. Papers are due at the beginning of class on the days they are due.
Museum Project:
Once during the semester you will visit the Kresge Museum. This will be counted as a homework assignment.
Unit I
: What is U.S. America as a Political, Civic, and Economic Community? What are the founding ideas of U.S. American Civilization? What beliefs and notions link U.S. Americans? What kind of Republic have the U.S. Americans sought to create? What enduring issues or tensions have existed in American Experience?
Week 1
January 10 M
Syllabus, Introduction to Course
January 11 T
Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence; Prince Hall, Petition to the
Massachusetts Legislature; Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur, What is an American?
January 13 Th (30)
Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom (Introduction and pp. 33-88)
January 13 Th (60)
Video 9 "Road to Revolution"
Week 2
January 17 M
NO CLASS—Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
January 18 T
Constitution of the U.S.; W.E.B. DuBois, Black Codes of Georgia; William
Pickney, Speech for the Relief of the Oppressed Slaves
January 20 Th (30)
Assign Unit 1 Paper; Douglas, MBMF (pp. 89-140); "Sensemaya" Nicolas Guillen
January 20 Th (60)
Video 11 "The New Republic"; Hamilton, Report on Manufactures; Jefferson,
Manufactures; George Washington, Farewell Address
Week 3
E-mail#2: Send out a message to Net group that discusses the following. Look at My Bondage and My Freedom (MBMF) and 2 other readings from Week 2 and compare the ideas presented by these authors with the ideas presented in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. How do these authors draw upon these two documents or ideas from these documents to defend their own ideas. Messages should be sent out during week 3.
January 24 M
Sarah Grimke, Legal Disabilities of Women; The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions; American Negro Slavery;
Discuss Unit 1 paper—Writing WorkshopJanuary 25 T
Video: "Civil War and Lincoln"; Jefferson Davis, On Withdrawal from the Union and Inaugural Address and Inaugural Address; Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address
January 27 Th (30) Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation; and Amendments 13, 14, 15 of the Constitution; Douglass, What the Black Man Wants, and Mississippi Black Code; Reconstruction Act of 1867; and Sumner, Equal Rights.
January 27 Th (60) Complete discussion of Civil War and Douglass, MBMF
Week 4
January 31 M
Group Presentation: 1870-1880; Hand in Printed Copies of Email Message #2.February 1 T Thomas Skidmore, Excerpts from the Rights of Man to Property; Alexis de Tocqueville, On the Pursuit of Wealth;Andrew Carnegie, A Talk to Young Men; Samuel Gompers, The Railway Strike of 1894; Pullman Company, Statement, June 26, 1894;
February 3 Th (30) Writing Workshop-Draft of Paper 1 due
February 3 Th (60) Video; Theodore Roosevelt, A Nation of Pioneers; Mother Jones, Letters to Theodore Roosevelt, July 15 and July 30, 1903; Amelia, A Lowell Factory Worker, on Wage Slavery
Instructor: K. Miller
Office: 746 Wells Hall
Office Hours: Th 2:10 – 4:10pm
Office Phone (messages only): IAH office 353-3560
Mailbox: 310 Linton Hall (9:00am-5:00pm)
E-mail: [email protected]
Class Days and Times:
Combined Sessions: MTTh 11:30- 12:20 pm 108 Holden Hall
Section Meetings: 73 Th 9:10-10:00 am 108 Holden Hall
74 Th 10:20-11:10 am 108 Holden Hall
***Notice*** During Unit II the meeting places will be different for the Tuesday and Thursday Combined Sessions:
TTH 11:30-12:20 337 Case
A Final Note
:This class demands a great deal of reading and writing, and critical thinking--skills that students will use for the rest of their lives. IAH 201 counts for 4 credit hours and students should expect to spend an appropriate amount of time in preparation. Unlike other "exam" classes this class requires consistent and conscientious attention; falling behind in reading assignments can be detrimental to your grade. Most importantly this class depends on student preparation. This includes not only reading assignments but also coming to class having thought about the material and ready to question, explore and share your ideas with others. Critical thinking also means independent views. Your views will be respected and, NO, you will not be penalized for disagreeing with your classmates or me. The idea is to develop an open mind and to be respectful and prepared to listen to others' opinions even when you don't agree with them. So please disagree with a view and not the person presenting the view.
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