20080925_Modern_America_syllabus_HIS3257

HIS3257 Explorations in Modern American History Dr Thomas J Brophy, FKHB 112, Tel.: 2609-7118 E-mail: thomasbrophy@arts.cuhk.edu.hk Tutor: Lo Chi Hung E-mail: lacoosis@yahoo.com Time and Venue: Tuesday, 10:30-12:15, New Asia Humanities Bldg 11 Language: English HIS3257 Explorations in Modern American History Course description: Our course will stand true to its name and explore modern American history rather than recount it We will take a thematic rather than a progressive line of inquiry and essentially sacrifice the comforts of an orderly timeline for the challenges of a non-linear exploration Chronology will not be eliminated as the lectures will roughly flow from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries and the events and the movements we investigate will be placed in their temporal contexts, but we will be most interested in the links between different periods with regards to specific subjects The weekly lecture topics include economics; territorial expansion; popular movements that originated outside government structures and the influence they later wielded within them; the betrayal, confrontations, and confinement of Native Americans; slavery and institutionalized bigotry; religion and popular culture; urban development; the causes of and responses to economic impoverishment; international relations; and crises of authority For example, we will consider what the country’s “Founding Fathers” meant by their declaration of each individual’s right to the “pursuit of happiness,” and how that resulted in a clique of late nineteenth century “Robber Barons.” As befits the course’s thematic approach, its readings will give voice to many scholarly perspectives and will engage with a variety of primary sources that should be viewed as historical texts that open windows onto inquiries into the nature of class, gender, minority status, immigration, foreign relations, religion, technology, and culture With our emphasis on critical thinking, essay writing, and primary source interpretation, not only will students be profoundly better informed as to the subject matter and demonstrably more expert on matters of historical investigation; you will also leave with an enhanced set of skills After successfully completing the coursework, students will be better able to express ideas clearly in writing, to conduct scholarly research, to analyze information and to critique differing viewpoints, to compare and to contrast contrary cases of historical interpretation, to discern and to explain the links between historical events, and to assess the importance of historical documents or of cultural artifacts whether they comprise a political cartoon, book, painting, speech, song, or film Course requirements: Students are expected to faithfully attend the course’s lectures and tutorials and to arrive familiar with each week’s assigned reading material Each student will write a mid-term and end-of-term essay that will be derived from a list of provided paper topics In both cases, the essays are to be typed, presented in proper academic form, and fully referenced Please be aware that while mid- and end-of-term essay subjects will be provided, each student may propose their own assignment topic and will have it reviewed and more than likely approved In tutorials, each student will present a brief paper on any aspect of the subject matter covered in lecture that week or derived from the pertinent tutorial material Percentages for these means of assessment and how they contribute to a final grade are provided below A student’s ability to demonstrate mastery of the material from the assigned reading material and lectures serves as the basis for grades Plagiarism or any other form of academic dishonesty is unacceptable, will be reported, and will be dealt with in terms of CUHK’s policy for such transgressions Our classroom is not a lounge; so, sleeping, eating, telephoning, texting, or any other leisure time activity is not permitted and will serve as cause for ejection In the 2008/2009 academic year CUHK implements a mandatory program to facilitate academic honesty Students must now upload a soft copy of all text based assignments (essays) to the university’s CUPIDE (Chinese University Plagiarism Identification Engine) program The system can accommodate documents in a variety of formats including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, HTML, and plain text; for this course please use Word as your primary format Upon uploading your document the system issues a receipt containing a declaration of honesty, which students sign and attach to the hard copy of their assignment prior to submission Work submitted without the CUPIDE issued receipt will not be graded After comparing the assignments alongside each other and reviewing them against other documents in the central database, digital libraries, and the Internet, CUPIDE e-mails an originality report to each teacher that highlights suspected plagiarized content with detailed analytic and statistical data For CUPIDE purposes everybody’s tutorial presentation constitutes Assignment #1 Assessment: Lecture attendance, written assignments, and tutorial participation [contributions to discussion and presentation(s) on related topics], 35% Mid-term Paper of about 2000 words due on or before 24 February 2009, 25% Final Term Paper of about 3000 words due on or before 14 April, 40% Lecture & Tutorial Schedule: Week One, January 2009: Introduction “A More Perfect Union,” Administration, Class goals Alan Brinkley, Chapter 5: “The American Revolution,” The unfinished nation: a concise history of the American People (New York: A.A Knopf, 1997): 115-149 Week Two, 13 January 2009: The Business of America Is Business Howard Zinn, Chapter 5: “A Kind of Revolution,” A people's history of the United States, 1492-present, (New York: Perennial Classics, 2003): 76-101 Jacqueline Jones, et al., Chapter 16: Standardizing the Nation: Innovation in Technology, Business, and Culture, 1877-1890, Created equal: a social and political history of the United States (New York: Longman, 2003): 538-571 Week Three, 20 January 2009: From Sea to Shining Sea B W Beacroft, Chapter 6, Manifest Destiny, The making of America: from wilderness to world power, (Essex : Longman, 1982): 68-83 Jacqueline Jones, et al., Chapter 11: Expanding Westward: Society and Politics in Age of Common Man, 1819-1832, Created equal: a social and political history of the United States: 354-389 Assignment #2: Write 200-word informative abstract of Frank Prochaska’s article, “The American Monarchy,” History Today 57:8 (2007): 22-29 Week Four, 27 January 2009: Holiday Week Five, February 2009: Power to the People George Brown Tindall, Chapter 10, “The Jacksonian Impulse,” America: a narrative history, (New York: Norton, 1996): 301-329 Alan Brinkley, Chapter: “The Rise of Progressivism,” The unfinished nation: a concise history of the American People: 581-609 Assignment #2 due: Hand in your informative abstract of “The American Monarchy.” Assignment #3: Examine the collection of images from the American West and write a 500-word reaction to what a single, several, or all of the representations say about the period and the people who populated it You may delve into the historical significance of the event and/or person(s) being depicted, engage in a comparative analysis of mixed messages, or investigate the success of the image(s) as political or cultural propaganda Tutorial One: An American Storyteller Primary Reading: Mark Twain, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County Complementary Reading: S J Krause, “The Art and Satire of Twain’s ‘Jumping Frog” Story, American Quarterly 16:4 (Winter 1964): 562-576 Week Six, 10 February 2009: Three-Fifths of a Man Carl N Degler, Chapter 6: The American Tragedy,” Out of our Past: The Forces that Shaped Modern America, (New York: Harper & Row, 1970): 175-204 Howard Zinn, Chapter 7: “Slavery without Submission, Emancipation without Freedom,” A people's history of the United States, 1492-present: 167-205 Cornel West, Chapter 8: “Malcolm X and Black Rage,” Race Matters, (Boston: Beacon Press, 1993): 93-105 Assignment #3 due: Submit reaction to images of American West Assignment #4: Compose an outline that addresses one of the supplied essay topics Week Seven, 17 February 2009: A Trail of Tears Howard Zinn, Chapter 7: “As Long as Grass Grows or Water Runs,” A people's history of the United States, 1492-present: 124-146 Alan Brinkley, Chapter 16: “The Conquest of the Far West,” The unfinished nation: a concise history of the American People: 454-486 Assignment #4 due: Hand in your outline of your chosen essay topic Assignment #5: Discussion of mid-term essay Tutorial Two: Depictions of the American West Primary Material: Painting and Photographs of the American West Complementary Reading: David M Wrobel, “Exceptionalism and Globalism: Travel Writers and the Nineteenth-Century American West,” The Historian (22 September 2006): 431-460 Week Eight, 24 February 2009, A House Divided Jacqueline Jones, et al., Chapter 14: “To fight to Gain a Country: The Civil War,” Created equal: a social and political history of the United States: 462-498 Alan Brinkley, Chapter 15: “Reconstruction and the New South,” The unfinished nation: a concise history of the American People: 454-486 Week Nine, March 2009, In God We Trust Gary Scott Smith, “Introduction,” Faith and the presidency: From George Washington to George W Bush, (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2006): 3-19 Carl N Degler, Chapter 12: The New World A-Coming,” Out of our Past: The Forces that Shaped Modern America, 368-411 Week Ten, 10 March 2009, Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick George Brown Tindall, Chapter 22, “The Course of Empire,” America: a narrative history, 663-693 Barry M Rubin, Chapter 6: “Cold War and Coca Cola, Hating America : a history, (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 125-154 Assignment #5 due: Mid-term essay submitted Tutorial Three: Remembering the Maine Primary Reading: Examples of Yellow Journalism Complementary Reading: Richard L Kaplan, “American Journalism Goes to War, 1898-2001,” Media History 9:3 (2003): 209-219 Week Eleven, 17 March 2009, Buildings that Stretch towards Heaven Carl N Degler, Chapter 11: Alabaster Cities and Amber Waves of Grain,” Out of our Past: The Forces that Shaped Modern America, 331-367 Alan Brinkley, Chapter 18: “The Age of the City,” The unfinished nation: a concise history of the American People: 510-534 Assignment #6: Discussion of end-of-term essay Week Twelve, 24 March 2009, You Oughta be in Pictures F Scott Fitzgerald, Chapter 3, The Great Gatsby, (New York: Bantam Books, 1974) Jacqueline Jones, et al., Chapter 21: “The Promise of Consumer Culture,” Created equal: a social and political history of the United States: 702-732 George Brown Tindall, Chapter 10, “Through the Picture Window,” America: a narrative history, (New York: Norton, 1996): 981-1004 Tutorial Four: The American Jukebox Primary Reading: Song Lyrics Complementary Reading: Marybeth Hamilton, “Sexual Politics and African-American Music; or Placing Little Richard in History,” History Workshop Journal Issue 46 (1998): 161-176 Week Thirteen, 31 March 2009, Brother Can You Spare a Dime? Howard Zinn, Chapter 11: “Robber Barons and Rebels,” A people's history of the United States, 1492-present: 247-289 Jacqueline Jones, et al., Chapter 24: “Hardship and Hope in the 1930s: The Great Depression,” Created equal: a social and political history of the United States: 736-767 Week Fourteen, April 2009, The Good and Bad Wars Alan Brinkley, Chapter 28: “America in a World War,” The unfinished nation: a concise history of the American People: 748-772 Jacqueline Jones, et al., Chapter 26: “The Nation Dvides, The Vietnam War and Social Conflict, 1964-1971,” Created equal: a social and political history of the United States: 866-898 Week Fifteen, 14 April 2009, Woodstock, Watergate, and Beyond Alan Brinkley, Chapter 32: “The Crisis of Authority,” The unfinished nation: a concise history of the American People: 861-875 George Moss, Chapter 14: “An Era of Limits,” America in the Twentieth Century, (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2004): 479-516 Assignment #6 due: End-of-term essay submitted Tutorials During term the course includes four tutorials during which students will have the opportunity to clarify and to discuss issues rose in the lectures as well as to review class assignments While the tutorials will present a forum to thrash out matters raised in the course as a whole, each will have a focal point from which to advance These topics will largely try to refine the lectures’ broader pictures and focus upon how the lives of ordinary people were affected by the sweep of history Each student will present at least one short paper (1000 words) in the tutorials based on that week’s subject matter A possible essay topic is supplied for each week, but you are free and encouraged to write an essay of your own inspiration Be expansive in your thinking about your tutorial assignments For example, while the tutorial’s primary reading about the evils of the African slave trade, you can write about any of the multiple social and/or economic impacts from this linchpin of Britain’s, greater Europe’s, and the United States’ commercial development as well as the deleterious effect on Africa On the weeks you not present a paper, students should come to the tutorial prepared to pose pertinent questions to their fellows who are presenting All elements of tutorial activity, papers, prepared questions, and discussions contribute to this portion of your final grade The articles noted as pertinent for tutorial reading are available via the CUHK Library site; go through “E-Journals.” Remember, for CUPIDE purposes everybody’s tutorial presentation constitutes Assignment #1 U S History Bibliography (In no way consider this the last word on source material for essays, other projects, or enhanced understanding.) * = On Desk Reserve * Beacroft, B W The making of America: from wilderness to world power Essex : Longman, 1982 CALL NO E178.1.B33 1982 Boorstin, Daniel J A history of the United States Lexington, MA: Ginn, 1981 CALL NO E178.1 B716 1981 * Brinkley, Alan The unfinished nation : a concise history of the American People New York: A.A Knopf, 1997 CALL NO E178.1 B75 1997 Brogan, Hugh Longman history of the United States of America London: Guild Publishing, 1985 CALL NO E178.B7 Carnes, Mark C The American nation : a history of the United States New York : Longman, c2003 CALL NO E178.1 G24 2003 Conlin, Joseph Robert The American past: a survey of American history Belmont, Calif : Wadsworth, c2004 CALL NO E178.1 C76 2004 Current, Richard Nelson American history : a survey New York: Knopf, 1961 CALL NO E178.1.C39 Davidson, James West After the fact: the art of historical detection Boston: McGrawHill, c2000 CALL NO E175 D38 2000 * Degler, Carl N Out of our Past: The Forces that Shaped Modern America New York: Harper & Row, 1970 CALL NO E178.D37 1970 Divine, Robert A., et al America, past and present New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1991 CALL NO E178.1.A4894 1991 Fine, Sidney The American past; conflicting interpretations of great issues New York : Macmillan, 1970 CALL NO E178.6.F52 1970 Frazier, Thomas R The underside of American history; other readings / New York : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1971 CALL NO E178.F78 Garraty, John Arthur Historical viewpoints; notable articles from American heritage, the magazine of history New York : American Heritage Pub Co., [1970] CALL NO E178.6.G26 Grob, Gerald N and George Athan Billias eds Interpretations of American history : patterns and perspectives New York: Free Press ; London: Collier Macmillan, c1982CALL NO E178.6.I53 Hamilton, Neil A Rebels and renegades : a chronology of social and political dissent in the United States New York: Routledge, 2002 CALL NO HN90.R3 H354 2002 Handlin, Oscar America; a history New York : Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968 CALL NO E178.H23 Johnston, Robert D The making of America : the history of the United States from 1492 to the present Washington, D.C : National Geographic, 2002 CALL NO E178.3 J735 2002 * Jones, Jacqueline, et al Created equal : a social and political history of the United States New York: Longman, c2003 CALL NO E178 C86 2003 Leeming, David and Jake Page eds Myths, legends, and folktales of America : an anthology New York : Oxford University Press, 1999 CALL NO GR105 M94 1999 Meinig, D W (Donald William), The shaping of America Vol 2, Continental America, 1800-1967 [electronic resource] : a geographical perspective on 500 years of history New Haven: Yale University Press, c1993 CALL NO E178 M57 1993eb * Moss, George America in the Twentieth Century Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2004 CALL NO E741.M67 2004 Nash, Gary B., et al The American people : creating a nation and a society New York: Harper Collins, c1990- CALL NO E178.1 A49355 1990 Nash, Roderick From these beginnings ; a biographical approach to American history New York : Harper & Row, 1973 CALL NO E178.N18 Nevins, Allan and Henry Steele Commager A Short History of the United States New York: A A Knopf, 1966 CALL NO E178.N44 1966 * Rubin, Barry M Hating America : a history Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2004 CALL NO E183.7 R89 2004 Sellers, Charles Grier A synopsis of American history Boston : Houghton Mifflin, c1985 CALL NO E178.1.S46 1985 * Smith, Gary Scott Faith and the presidency: From George Washington to George W Bush Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2006 Streitmatter, Rodger Mightier than the sword : how the news media have shaped American history Boulder, CO : Westview Press, 1997 CALL NO PN4888.I53 S77 1997 * Tindall, George Brown America: a narrative history New York: Norton, 1996 CALL NO E178.1 T55 1996 Turner, Frederick Jackson The significance of the frontier in American history Madison, WI: Silver Buckle Press, c1984 CALL NO E179.5 T958 1984 Woods, Randall Bennett The American experience : a concise history Fort Worth : Harcourt College, 2000 CALL NO E178.1 W94 2000 Woodward, C Vann (Comer Vann) The future of the past New York: Oxford University Press, 1989 CALL NO E175.5.W66A2 1989 * Zinn, Howard, A people's history of the United States, 1492-present New York : Perennial Classics, c2003 CALL NO E169.1 Z53