Robert
H. Zieger, America's Great
War: World War I and the American Experience
Michael
Parrish, The Anxious Decades: America in Prosperity and
Depression
Kevin Boyle,
Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age
David
Kennedy, The American People in World War II: Freedom From Fear
Colin Gordon, ed., Major Problems in American History,
1920-1945
Lizabeth Cohen, Making A New Deal
George Sanchez, Becoming Mexican American
Alan Brinkley, The End of Reform
Course Requirements:
The majority of our meetings will be class discussions on
common readings. Once a week, however, we will meet outside of the scheduled
classes to discuss extra material and your progress. There will be one final
project due at the end of the semester. This will be tailored to suit your own
academic interests and needs. There will be three paper additional papers, one
on Boyle, one on Brinkley and a comparative essay on Sanchez and Cohen.
Furthermore, two six-page summary and reaction papers will be due throughout
the semester. Last, you will be given a grade based on your participation in
discussions. The grading breakdown is as follows:
Final Project 20%
Boyle Paper 15%
Brinkley Paper 15%
Sanchez and Cohen paper 20%
Participation 15%
2 Summary and Reaction papers 15%
Rules, Regulations, and Critical Information:
1. Attendance is not
mandatory. If you do not want to be in class, and plan to make it known to
everybody by disrupting your colleagues or catching some beauty rest, just
don’t come to class. If you insist on coming and do the above-mentioned things,
you will be asked to leave and it will lower your participation grade. It
should be pointed out, though, that rarely attending class will also negatively
affect your participation grade. In other words, failure to come to class
regularly will make it impossible to do well in the course.
2. Late arrival to class is not a crime but, please do
not let it become a persistent problem. If you are having trouble getting to
class on time because of the location of your preceding class, just come talk
to me.
3. Eating while class is in session is forbidden.
4. For the sake of your professor’s delicate sanity,
PLEASE turn your cell phones, ipods, and all other similar electronic devices
OFF when you come into the classroom. Laptops are acceptable for notetaking,
etc.— unless I catch you using it for facebook or otherwise non-class related
functions. If I catch you doing this, your privilege will be revoked for the
remainder of the course.
5. We will be discussing many contentious issues
throughout the semester. While different opinions are expected—indeed
encouraged—please show courtesy and respect to your fellow students at all
times.
6. While not encouraged, late
papers will be accepted with penalties. You will lose a letter grade for every
day an assignment is late. It is better to turn in a late paper than to
plagiarize in order to get a paper in on time. Why? Because…
7. Academic misconduct of any sort—cheating, plagiarism,
etc.—will be punished by a failing grade in the course. In writing
papers, be certain to give proper credit whenever you use words, phrases,
ideas, arguments, and conclusions drawn from someone else’s work. Failure to give credit by quoting and/or
footnoting is PLAGIARISM and is unacceptable. Please review the University’s
Code of Student Conduct at http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/sa/studentdiscipline/page13640.html. If you have any questions about what
constitutes academic misconduct, please come speak with me. Do not jeopardize
your standing at BGSU by failing to abide by these rules.
8. Students requiring classroom accommodations must
follow the University’s Office of Disability Services procedures for
accommodations found at http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/sa/disability/index.html.
Please do so as soon as possible so accommodations can be made early in the
semester and you do not get behind in your studies.
9.
Please do not
hesitate to contact me during the semester if you have any individual concerns
or issues that need to be discussed. It is always better to contact me sooner
rather than later with any potential problems.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
i)
Learn about the
historical development of their own and other cultures.
ii)
Learn how to
think about the past historically by identifying and critiquing historical
interpretations and analyzing issues in historical context.
iii)
Enhance their
ability to communicate clearly and persuasively, both orally and in writing.
iv)
Improve their
ability to recognize and develop connections between historical issues and life
outside the classroom.
v)
Improve their
ability to think critically and argue effectively.
vi)
Enhance their
ability to examine current issues from a historical perspective.
Instructor Responsibilities
i) Select and present course content
ii) Identify themes to be emphasized
iii) Lead
discussions
iv) Evaluate student historical
understanding and skills
v) Communicate these evaluations to
students in a timely manner
vi)
Assist students
in improving their skills
Student Responsibilities
i)
Complete required
readings
ii)
Attend class
regularly
iii)
Participate in
class activities and discussions
iv)
Communicate with
instructor (using office hours, e-mail, blackboard message board, by telephone
during office hours, or by any other way you can think of.)
v)
Notify instructor
if you are having any difficulties that are having a negative impact on your
performance in the course (illness, etc.)
vi)
Complete
assignments on time
vii)
Notify instructor
of any disabilities in a timely manner
Calendar of Events (Including Readings)
Week #1
January 12 Course Introduction
January 14 ~World War I: Origins. Zieger,
Intro and Chap 1
January 16
~World War
I: US Entry. Zieger, chap. 2
Extra meeting: Brinkley Interwar essay found on Blackboard
course documents (BB).
Week #2
January 19 No Class, MLK Day
January 21 ~World War I: Mobilization. Zieger,
chap. 3
January 23 ~World War I: The US
“Over There.” Zieger, chap. 4
Extra meeting: Major Problems Chapter 1
Week #3
January 26 ~World War I: Social Impact. Zieger,
chap. 5
January 28 ~World War I: Peace Process. Zieger,
chap. 6
January 30 ~Effects of WWI: The Red Scare, Race Riots, andStrikes. Zieger,
chap. 7 (pp.187-215); Document 2.1 in MP
Extra meeting: Steigerwald essay (BB)
Week #4
February 2 ~The Treaty Fight. Zieger, pp.215-237.
February 4 ~1920s:
Business and Republican Ascendancy.
Parrish,
1:1 and 1:3
(pp.47-59, 65-70); MP 2.2
February 6 ~Consumerism and Mass Culture
Part 1 Parrish,
1:2, 4 (pp.71-88)
Extra meeting: Sanchez, pp.1-128
Week #5
February 9 ~Consumerism and Mass Culture Part 2. Parrish, 1:4 (p.88-93), 1:8
February 11 ~**MP, Chapter 4. Reaction papers due
February 13 ~The New Woman. Parrish 1:7
Extra meeting: Sanchez, pp.129-275
Week #6
February 16 ~The New Negro Parrish pp.122-126, MP, documents 5.1, 6.1, and 6.7, plus essay by David Levering
Lewis, pp.128-135.
February 18 ~Cultural
Conflict in the Twenties. Part 1
Parrish,
1:5 and 6
(pp.114-122 only).
February 20 ~**MP, Chap.
6 Reaction papers due
Extra meeting: Cohen, pp.1-211
Week #7
February 23 ~Boyle, Introduction and Chap 1.
Paper
guidelines handed out.
February 25 ~Boyle, Chap. 2-3
February 27 ~Cultural Conflict in the
Twenties.
Parrish, 1:6 (pp.126-134), and 1:10.
Extra meeting: Cohen pp. 213-368
Week #8
March 2 ~Great Depression: Origins and
Consequences.
Parrish, 1:11. Depression Paper Guidelines
Handed out.
March 4 ~Hoover and the Depression. Parrish, 2: 1
March 6 ~FDR and the First New Deal. Parrish, 2:2
Extra meeting: Sanchez/Cohen paper
Week #9, March 9-13
Spring Break
Week #10
March 16 ~FDR and the First New Deal
(Cont.). Parrish,
2:3
March 18 ~Critics Left and Right. Parrish, 2:4
March 20 ~**MP,
chap 13. Reaction papers due.
Extra meeting: Sutton and Ortiz essays (BB)
Week #11
March 23 ~Boyle
paper due. Class discussion.
March 25 ~Creating the Welfare State: The
Second New Deal.
Parrish, 2:5
March 27 ~**MP, Chap. 11. Reaction papers due
Extra meeting: Alice Kessler-Harris: http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jah/86.3/kessler_harris.html
AHR Forum: The Debate over the Constitutional
Revolution of 1937:
http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ahr/110.4/index.html
Week #12
March 30 ~The End of
Reform. Parrish, 2:6
April 1 ~New Democratic Coalition, Parrish, 2.7
April 3 ~Experiencing the New Deal Era: Parrish, 2: 8-9
Extra meeting: Brinkley, pp.1-136
Week #13
April 6 ~**MP, Chap 10. Reaction
papers due
April 8 ~The
New Deal Era in Movies. Final Exam
Questions Handed Out in Class
April 10 ~Road To War. Parrish, pp.436-457 and Kennedy
pp.1-29
Extra meeting: Brinkley, pp. 137-271
Week #14
April 13 From
Lingering Depression to Economic Superpower. Kennedy, pp.
29-90.
April 15 World
War II: Fighting the War Abroad.
Kennedy,
3.
April 17 WW II: Fighting the War at Home Kennedy, 4
Extra meeting: None, but Brinkley paper due.
Week #15
April 20 WW
II: Fighting the War at Home Kennedy,
5
April 22 World War II: Fighting the War Abroad (cont.). Kennedy, 6
April 24 World War II: Fighting the War Abroad (cont.). Kennedy, 7
Extra meeting: none
Week #16
April 27 WW II: Fighting the War at Home
(cont.) Kennedy,
8
April 29 World War II: War, Political
Economy, and the U.S.
as
World
Superpower.
Kennedy 9, epilogue
May 1 No
Class
Extra meeting: Preliminary Presentations of Work
Final Projects due
Wednesday May 6.
