HIS 134.017: US History Survey, 1877 to the Present
Spring 2015
Tuesday/Thursday 11:00-12:15
Dr. Court Carney
email: [email protected] / [email protected]
Office: LAN 358
Tel: 468-2039
Office Hours: MW) 2-2:30; 3:45-5; T/Th) 10:15-11
S.I.: Chloe Palacios ([email protected])
Required Books
Michelle Alexander: The New Jim Crow. New Press, 2012.
Ralph Young, Dissent in America. Pearson: Concise Edition, 2008.
Howard Zinn: A People’s History. Free and online at: http://www.historyisaweapon.com/zinnapeopleshistory.html
Course Description
This course is designed to provide students with knowledge of the history of the United States since 1877. With a
focus on the creation of modern American, this course will provide an examination of the political, economic,
social, and cultural forces that defined this historical period. In general, this course will emphasize four main
themes: 1) the expansion of business and the corporate state; 2) The consolidation of power by the federal
government; 3) the struggles of individuals and groups to gain and retain power; and 4) the transformation of
American life due to urbanization, territorial expansion, and social changes.
Assignments and Grades
There will be two exams for this course. The midterm exam is worth 35% of your final grade and the final is worth
40% (75% total). In addition, there will be a series of quizzes throughout the semester; together, these quizzes will
represent 23% of your final grade. Finally, there will be an assessment exercise that will be worth 2% of your final
grade. I will provide more information on this project in class.
Attendance
Regular (and preferably attentive) attendance is mandatory for your success in this class. Also, you are responsible
for all material that you missed, regardless of reason. Course schedules occasionally change and all major changes
will be announced in class—you are responsible for all changes announced in your absence. I do not provide students
with my lecture notes or PowerPoint slides, so please do not ask for them when you miss class. Make sure you get
the lecture notes from a classmate as soon as you are able. Excessive absences will make it difficult for you to
achieve a good grade in this course. For more information on the university-defined parameters of class attendance,
see: http://www.sfasu.edu/policies/class_attendance_excused_abs.asp
Professionalism
Excessive talking, cellular phone use, and general noisemaking/rabblerousing cause clear disruptions to the class
and will not be tolerated. If you would like to record any lecture or use a computer to aid you in taking notes,
please come and talk to me first. I reserve the right to restrict the use of laptops in the classroom. Also, please do
not email me through D2L—all email correspondence should be sent to the email addresses listed above.
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Make-Up Exams
No make-up exams will be given unless you make prior arrangements to miss the regularly scheduled exam due to a
specific university-approved excuse. If you miss an exam due to an emergency on the day of an exam, you will not
be allowed to take a make-up until you provide written documentation to justify your absence. All make-ups should
be taken within one week of the missed exam.
Late Work
All work must be submitted by the due date. Late work will incur a ten-point penalty for each day past the due date.
Extra Credit
Other than opportunities I provide for the entire class, no extra credit assignments will be offered during the course of the
semester, after the semester is over, or on an individual basis.
Academic Integrity (A-9.1)
Academic integrity is a responsibility of all university faculty and students. Faculty members promote academic
integrity in multiple ways including instruction on the components of academic honesty, as well as abiding by
university policy on penalties for cheating and plagiarism.
Definition of Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty includes both cheating and plagiarism. Cheating includes but is not limited to (1) using or
attempting to use unauthorized materials to aid in achieving a better grade on a component of a class; (2) the
falsification or invention of any information, including citations, on an assigned exercise; and/or (3) helping or
attempting to help another in an act of cheating or plagiarism. Plagiarism is presenting the words or ideas of
another person as if they were your own. Examples of plagiarism are (1) submitting an assignment as if it were one's
own work when, in fact, it is at least partly the work of another; (2) submitting a work that has been purchased or
otherwise obtained from an Internet source or another source; and (3) incorporating the words or ideas of an
author into one's paper without giving the author due credit. Please read the complete policy at http://
www.sfasu.edu/policies/student_academic_dishonesty.pdf
Students with Disabilities
To obtain disability related accommodations, alternate formats and/or auxiliary aids, students with disabilities must
contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS), Human Services Building, and Room 325, 468-3004 / 468-1004
(TDD) as early as possible in the semester. Once verified, ODS will notify the course instructor and outline the
accommodation and/or auxiliary aids to be provided. Failure to request services in a timely manner may delay your
accommodations. For additional information, go to http://www.sfasu.edu/disabilityservices/.
Program Learning Objectives
This is a general education core curriculum course and no specific program learning outcomes for this major are
addressed in this course.
General Education Core Curriculum Objectives and Student Learning Outcomes
This course has been selected to be part of Stephen F. Austin State University’s core curriculum. The Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board has identified six objectives for all core courses: Critical Thinking Skills,
Communication Skills, Empirical and Quantitative Skills, Teamwork, Personal Responsibility, and Social
Responsibility. SFA is committed to the improvement of its general education core curriculum by regular
assessment of student performance on these six objectives.
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Assessment of these objectives at SFA will be based on student work from all core curriculum courses. This
student work will be collected in D2L through LiveText, the assessment management system selected by SFA to
collect student work for core assessment. LiveText accounts will be provided to all students enrolled in core
courses through the university technology fee. You will be required to register your LiveText account, and you will
be notified how to register your account through your SFA e-mail account. If you forward your SFA e-mail to
another account and do not receive an e-mail concerning LiveText registration, please be sure to check your junk
mail folder and your spam filter for these e-mails. If you have questions about LiveText call Ext. 1267 or e-mail
[email protected].
The chart below indicates the core objectives addressed by this course, the assignment(s) that will be used to assess
the objectives in this course and uploaded to LiveText this semester, and the date the assignment(s) should be
uploaded to LiveText. Not every assignment will be collected for assessment every semester. Your instructor will
notify you which assignment(s) must be submitted for assessment in LiveText this semester.
Core Objec*ve
Defini*on
Cri$cal Thinking Skills
To include crea$ve thinking, innova$on, inquiry, and analysis, evalua$on and synthesis of informa$on.
Communica$on Skills
To include effec$ve development, interpreta$on and expression of ideas though wri@en, oral, and visual communica$on.
Empirical and Quan$ta$ve Skills
To include the manipula$on and analysis of numerical data or observable facts resul$ng in informed conclusions.
Teamwork
To include the ability to consider different points of view and to work effec$vely with others to support a shared purpose or goal.
Personal Responsibility
To include the ability to connect choices, ac$ons and consequences to ethical decision-­‐
making.
Social Responsibility
To include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effec$vely in regional, na$onal, and global communi$es.
Course Assignment Title
The New Jim Crow
Date Due in LiveText
5/15/2015
Withheld Grades (Semester Grades Policy, A-54)
Ordinarily, at the discretion of the instructor of record and with the approval of the academic chair/director, a grade
of WH will be assigned only if the student cannot complete the course work because of unavoidable circumstances.
Students must complete the work within one calendar year from the end of the semester in which they receive a
WH, or the grade automatically becomes an F. If students register for the same course in future terms the WH will
automatically become an F and will be counted as a repeated course for the purpose of computing the grade point
average.
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Course Schedule:
Jan. 20 - 22
Jan. 27 - 9
Feb. 3 - 5
Feb. 10 - 12
Feb. 17 - 19
Feb. 24 - 26
Mar. 3 - 5
Mar. 10
Introduction: a new foundation in Manhattan / New South
Young: 173-5; Zinn: Chapter 11
The Closing of the Frontier / Rise of the Corporation
Young: 191-211, Zinn: Chapter 11
(Im)Migration and America in the World / U.S. Empire
Young: 183-191, 218-277; Zinn: Chapters 12-13
The Era of Reform / World War One
Young: 233-273; Zinn: Chapters 13-14
The 1920s / Transformation of American Culture
Young: 273-282; Zinn: Chapters 14-15
Great Depression / The New Deal
Young: 282-288; Zinn: Chapter 15
From New Deal to World War
Young: 282-288; Zinn: Chapters 15-16
Double V Campaign
Young: 292-335; Zinn: Chapters 15-16
Mar. 12
MIDTERM EXAM
Mar. 17 - 19
Mar. 24 - 26
SPRING BREAK
Cold War Politics / Cold War Culture
Young: 292-335; Zinn: Chapter 16
Mar. 31 - Apr. 2
Apr. 28 - 30
The Civil Rights Movement
Young: 335-363; Zinn: Chapter 17
Black Power and Identity Politics / Vietnam
Young: 335-363; Zinn: Chapter 18
A Long Strange Trip: America in the 1960s / Protest
Young: 395-417; Zinn: Chapter 19
Age of Diminishing Expectations
Young: 423-428; Zinn: Chapters 20-21
America in the 1990s / The Age of Obama
May 5 - 7
Young: 428-472; Zinn: Chapters 22-23
Modern America and the Question of Social Justice
Apr. 7 - 9
Apr. 14 - 16
Apr. 21 - 23
Young: 469-479; Zinn: Chapters 24-25
May 12
FINAL EXAM (10:30-12:30)
Any good history begins in strangeness. The past should not be comfortable. The past should not be a familiar echo of the
present, for if it is familiar why revisit it? The past should be so strange that you wonder how you and the people you know and
love could come from such a time.
Richard White
It is well that we keep in mind the fact that not all of American history is recorded. And in some ways we are fortunate that it
isn’t, for if it were, we might become so chagrined by the discrepancies which exist between our democratic ideals and our
social reality that we’d soon lose heart. Perhaps that is why we possess two basic versions of American history: one which is
written and as neatly stylized as ancient myth, and the other as unwritten and chaotic and full of contradictions, changes of
pace, and surprises as life itself.
Ralph Ellison
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