Course Overview
This class will present an overview of U.S. history since 1877. The class will explore general trends in political and social history, such as immigration, civil rights, and industrialization, as well as specific watershed events such as the Haymarket bombing, the Dust Bowl, and the Watergate scandal. Students will examine these events through secondary literature and a variety of online primary sources, including newspaper articles, films, music recordings, radio programs, photographs, advertisements, and posters.
Assessment
Successful completion of the course depends, most basically, on regular attendance in class, evidence of preparation and application, active participation in class discussions based on close readings of the required texts, and completion of all exercises and assignments on time.
1. Class participation. Includes one ongoing active engagement with course concepts and discussions. - 15%
2. Research assignment. 3 pages. - 30%
First draft due Feb. 1 - 10%
Second draft due Mar. 15 - 20%
3. Book review. Students will be required to read a book on one of the topics of the course and relate it to relevant materials discussed in class. I will recommend several books for review. 3 pages. Due Mar. 29 - 20%
4. In-class final. - 35%
Policies and Procedures
Attendance: More than two unexcused absences will affect your final grade. Make sure to let me know in advance if you cannot make it to class.
Deadlines: I will not accept late work without a very good reason (e.g. a signed note from your doctor). The only exception is if you have made a prior arrangement with me for an extended deadline.
Grading: I will grade assignments according to the Department of History grading norms, available at http://artsandscience.concordia.ca/history/Department_Grading_Norms.html. Please read these guidelines carefully.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is an affront to me and to your peers. Plagiarism is submitting work that is not your own as if it were yours. This includes copying material, even a few sentences, from published or unpublished sources, from the internet, or from another student without citing the source. It also includes presenting another person's ideas or paraphrasing the work of another person without citing the source. Plagiarism also includes handing in bought papers, papers obtained from free essay websites, or having another person write your paper for you. Anyone suspected of copying other people's work without clear acknowledgement, or of any comparable act, will be reported to the Faculty of Arts and Science for plagiarism.
Syllabus: I reserve the right to make changes to the syllabus during the year if/as necessary. Please check the online syllabus before every class.
Learning disabilities: I am very supportive of students with learning disabilities. However, I cannot help you unless I know about it in advance. If you have a learning disability, please tell me as soon as possible. If you only suspect you may have a learning disability, have yourself assessed now. I cannot help students who only tell me they have a learning disability after they have done poorly in the course.
Required texts: For each week, you will read an article or chapter available online and will closely examine several online primary sources.
Schedule
Jan. 4 Course Introduction
Jan. 11 The Gilded Age and Industrialization download slides
Mary W. Blanchard, "Boundaries and the Victorian Body: Aesthetic Fashion in Gilded Age America," American Historical Review 100 (February 1995), 21-51. Download without a password
Joseph P. Cahill, "The Greatest Tyrant in the State of Pennsylvania."
David Hickman, "Everything Was Lively."
Jan. 18 Immigration and Progressivism download slides
Lucy Salyer, "Captives of Law: Judicial Enforcement of the Chinese Exclusion Laws, 1891-1905," Journal of American History 76 (June 1989), 91-117.
Denis Kearney, "Our Misery and Despair."
Joseph McDonnel, "Fair Is Fair."
B.E.G. Jewett, "The Fight Begins at Home."
Jan. 25 Westward Expansion and Imperialism download slides
Gary Gerstle, "Theodore Roosevelt and the Divided Character of American Nationalism," American Historical Review 86, no. 3 (December 1999), 1280-1307.
Feb. 1 World War I and the Red Scare download slides
Christopher Capozzola, "The Only Badge Needed Is Your Patriotic Fervor: Vigilance, Coercion, and the Law in World War I America," Journal of American History 88 (March 2002), 1354-1382.
Online essay with primary documents at http://elenarazlogova.org/hist395/freespeech/
First Draft of Research Assignment Due
Feb. 8 The Jazz Age and the KKK download slides
William Leach, "Transformations in a Culture of Consumption: Women and Department Stores, 1890-1925," Journal of American History 71 (September 1984): 319-342.
Feb. 15 The Great Depression download slides
Michael Denning, "'Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Walt?': Disney's Radical Cartoonists," in The Cultural Front: The Laboring of American Culture in the Twentieth Century (London and New York: Verso, 1997), 403-422.
Feb. 22 Winter Break - No Class
Mar. 1 World War II download slides
Robert B. Westbrook, "'I Want a Girl, Just Like the Girl That Married Harry James': American Women and the Problem of Political Obligation in World War II," American Quarterly 42 (December 1990): 587-614.
Mar. 8 The Cold War download slides
Joanne Meyerowitz, "Beyond the Feminine Mystique: A Reassessment of Postwar Mass Culture, 1946-1958," Journal of American History 79 (March 1993): 1455-1482.
Mar. 15 The Civil Rights Movement download slides
Thomas J. Sugrue, "Affirmative Action from Below: Civil Rights, the Building Trades, and the Politics of Racial Equality in the Urban North, 1945-1969," Journal of American History 91 (June 2004), 145-173.
Second Draft of Research Assignment Due
Mar. 22 The Vietnam War download slides
Kendrick Oliver, "Atrocity, Authenticity and American Exceptionalism: (Ir)rationalising the Massacre at My Lai," Journal of American Studies 37, no. 2 (August 2003).
Mar. 29 After the Cold War (see slides for the previous week)
Michael T. Kaufman, "The World: Film Studies," New York Times, 7 September 2003, 3.
Adam Hochschild, "What's in a Word? Torture," New York Times, 23 May 2004, 11.
Susan Sontag, "Regarding the Torture of Others," New York Times Magazine, 23 May 2004, 25.
Book Review Due
Apr. 5 Review
Final Exam - April 26