HIS 232: UNITED STATES HISTORY SINCE 1877
North Island College, Winter 2008
Meeting Times: Comox Valley Campus: MW 1:00-2:20 p.m.
Meeting Place: Tyee 202
Instructor: Dan Hinman-Smith
Office: Village G6
Office Hours: M, W: 11:30 am-12:30 p.m. (or by appointment)
Office Phone: 334-5000, Extension 4024
Home Phone: 703-0673 (Do not hesitate to call with course-related questions)
Web-Site: http://www.misterdann.com/
E-Mail: dhinman@telus.net
A TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE
WEEK1: Textbook Reading: Evans, "Introduction -- Why It Can Be Called The American Century," American Century.
Wednesday, January 2a) Introduction
b) VIDEO: "In The White Man's Image"
WEEK 2: Textbook Reading: Evans, "Chapter 1 -- The Last Frontier, 1889-1893"; "Chapter 2 -- Showdown For Democracy, 1890-1898," American Century.
Monday, January 7
a) Statue Of Liberty Discussion
b) Liberty
Wednesday, January 9
a) Documentary: "Coney Island"
WEEK 3: Textbook Reading: Evans, "Chapter 3 -- The Lure Of Empire, 1898-1905"; "Chapter 4 -- Old And New Americans, 1880-1910"; "Chapter 5, Workers Take A Stand, 1893-1916," American Century.
Monday, January 14
a) DISCUSSION: The West
b) The West: Visions Of Vanishing Frontiers And Vanishing Races (1865-1917)
Reading Assignment:
Miriam Horn, "How the West Was Really Won,"
Browse extensively in the
West
Discussion Topic
Wednesday, January 16 a) VIDEO: "Goin'
Back To T-Town" WEEK 4:
Textbook Reading: Evans, "Chapter
6 -- Good Times, Bad Times, 1914-1920"; "Chapter 7 -- The Turmoil Of Normalcy,
1920-1929," American Century.
Monday, January 21
a) The South: The Burdens Of History (1877-1917)
Reading Assignment:
Browse extensively in the
Wednesday, January 23
a) To Make The World Safe For Democracy?: America And The World (1898-1919)
WEEK 5: Textbook Reading: Evans, "Chapter 8 -- The Dream Turns To Dust, 1929-1939," American Century.
Monday, January 28
a) VIDEO: "Demon Rum"
Reading Assignment:
Browse extensively in the
Wednesday, January 30
a) Photography Mini-Presentations
b) "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men": Photography And The Great Depression
WEEK 6: Textbook Reading: Evans, "Chapter 9 -- The Road To World War II, 1936-1941," American Century.
Monday, February 4
a) VIDEO: "Riding The Rails"
Wednesday, February 6
a) "Waitin' On Roosevelt": The New Deal And The Emergence Of The Welfare State
WEEK 7: Textbook Reading: Evans, "Chapter 10 -- The Citadel Of Democracy, 1941-1945," American Century.
Monday, February 11
a) DISCUSSION: Autobiography Of Malcolm X
Wednesday, February
a) VIDEO: "Atomic Cafe"
READING BREAK FEBRUARY 18--FEBRUARY 22
WEEK 8: Textbook Reading: Kagan et al., "Chapter 26 -- Political Experiments of the 1920s," Western Heritage, pp. 876-905.
Monday, February 25
a) "V Was For Victory": World War II
***FIRST PORTFOLIO DUE***
Wednesday, February 27
a) Discussion: "The Good War"
b) Video: "The War"
Reading Assignment:
Studs Terkel
WEEK 9: Textbook Reading: Evans, "Chapter 11 -- America Leads, 1945-1956," American Century.
Monday, March 3
a) Eyeball To Eyeball: The Cold War (1945-1989)
b) Joseph McCarthy And Other Delinquents: Postwar Culture (1945-1960)
Reading Assignment:
Barbara Ehrenreich, "Playboy Joins the Battle Of the Sexes," Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight From Commitment (Garden City, New York: Anchor Press, 1983): 42-51.
Wednesday, March 5
a) VIDEO: "Awakenings" (1954-1956)
Reading Assignment:
Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter From Birmingham City Jail [1963]."
WEEK 10: Textbook Reading: Evans, "Chapter 12 -- The Dawn Of A New Freedom, 1954-1965," American Century.
Monday, March 10
a) "Woke Up This Morning With My Mind Stayed On Freedom": The Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968)
b) "The Next Great Moment In History Is Theirs": The Revival Of Feminism
Wednesday, March 12
a) This Day In U.S. History Calendar Mini-Presentations
b) VIDEO: "Sixties -- Years That Shaped A Generation"
WEEK 11: Textbook Reading: Evans, "Chapter 13 -- The War Of Lost Illusions, 1963-1975," American Century.
Monday, March 17: Total War
a) Reflections On The Wall: The United States And Vietnam
Wednesday, March 19
a) VIDEO: "Two Days In October"
WEEK 12: Textbook Reading: Evans, "Chapter 14 -- The Imperial Presidency, 1972-1980," American Century.
Monday, March 24: NO CLASS -- EASTER MONDAY
Wednesday, March 26
a) Discussion: Patriots
b) Discussion: Vietnam War/ Iraq War Comparison Grid
WEEK 13: Textbook Reading: Evans, "Chapter 15 -- Put Out More Flags, 1981-1989," American Century.
Monday, March 31
a) "Morning In America, Again?": The Reagan Years (1981-1989)
Reading Assignment:
Nicholas Lemann, "How the Seventies Changed America," American Heritage , 42 (July/August 1991): 39-49.
Wednesday, April 2
a) VIDEO: "The Clinton Years"
WEEK 14
Monday, April 7
a) The War On Terror And The Axis Of Evil: Contemporary American Foreign Policy In Historical Perspective
Reading Assignment:
Browse extensively in the
Wednesday, April 9
a) Final Exam Review
BOOKS
Harold Evans, American Century (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998).
Malcolm X,
Autobiography of Malcolm X (New York: One World, 1987).Christian Appy, Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered From All Sides (New York: Penguin, 2003).
EVALUATION
Letter of Introduction 1%
First Half Portfolio 30%
Second Half Portfolio 30%
Class Participation 19%
Final Exam 20%
a) Letter of Introduction (1%)
Who are you? Where are you from? What are your interests? Why are you taking this course? Do you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions as we start the course? Write two or three informal paragraphs for the second class of the semester to introduce yourself to me.
b) First Half Portfolio (30%)
c) Second Half Portfolio (30 %)
d) Final Exam (20%)
e) Class Participation (19%)