Course Syllabus

Summer 2023 | HIS-1212-VO01 - U.S. History Since 1865

Online Class

Online courses take place 100% online via Canvas, without required in-person or Zoom meetings.

Faculty

James Blynt
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
Hiring Coordinator for this course: Gilberto Diaz Santos

General Education Requirements

Note

Many degree programs have specific general education recommendations. In order to avoid taking unnecessary classes, please consult with additional resources like your program evaluation, your academic program catalog year page, and your academic advisor.

Courses may only be used to meet one General Education Requirement.

Course Description

Beginning with Reconstruction, this course traces the social, economic, political, and cultural forces that have shaped the history of the United States to the present day. The course emphasizes understanding of contemporary issues in light of historical events.

Essential Objectives

1. Describe the military, economic, social, and political elements of the Reconstruction period and the evolution of structural racism.
2. Discuss efforts to expand or restrict civil rights from Reconstruction to the present.
3. Assess the role of the Supreme Court in determining the rights and opportunities of disenfranchised demographic groups.
4. Discuss the significance of western expansion and the idea of the American frontier, along with its implications for indigenous peoples, immigrants, and other historically disadvantaged populations.
5. Analyze the diverse effects of urbanization, industrialization, and technological innovation in the United States.
6. Compare and contrast major social reform movements in the United States since the Civil War, including their lasting impacts on American society.
7. Analyze the immediate and lasting consequences of the Great Depression, including its influence on the evolving role of government in people’s lives in the modern age.
8. Explain how successive waves of immigration shaped culture and affected the diversity of American society and analyze how immigrant populations have been perceived, portrayed, and treated by dominant cultures over time.
9. Trace the development of American foreign policy and analyze America’s role in global affairs.
10. Analyze the theses, context, values, perspectives, and facts in primary and secondary sources.
11. Engage in and evaluate historical research using information literacy skills.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV IT Support page. https://support.ccv.edu/general/computer-recommendations/

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

*** This is a low cost ($50 or less) textbook or resource class ***

This course uses one or more textbooks/books/simulations.

Summer 2023 textbook details will be available on 2022-11-28. On that date a link will be available below that will take you to eCampus, CCV's bookstore. The information provided there will be specific to this class. Please see this page for more information regarding the purchase of textbooks/books.

HIS-1212-VO01 Link to Textbooks for this course in eCampus.

The last day to use a Financial Aid Advance to purchase textbooks/books is the 3rd Tuesday of the semester. See your financial aid counselor at your academic center if you have any questions.

Methods

How this ONLINE course works:

• The link on the online homepage will take you to the modules page (or use the link below or in the sidebar).
• Each module represents 1 week of the 12-week course (not counting the General Information and Reference modules).
• Each week runs from Tuesday through the following Monday (discussions are open Tuesday through Sunday).
• Each module gives the topic(s) and time frame for the week.
• Each module gives information and work for that week.

The modules are:

General Information
Reference Materials
Week 1 - Industrial America
Week 2 - Imperialism at Home and Abroad
Week 3 - The Progressive Era
Week 4 - World War I & Its Aftermath
Week 5 - The Roaring Twenties
Week 6 - The Great Depression
Week 7 - World War II and the Cold War
Week 8 - Life in Postwar America
Week 9 - The Sixties
Week 10 - The Unraveling
Week 11 - The Conservative Reaction
Week 12 - The Recent Past

About this course and its texts:

This course emphasizes reading. Your most frequent task will be reading the assigned texts and discussing them each week. It is absolutely vital that you keep up with the reading each week. You will also write one essay, based on the Johnson biography. The main text of this course is The American Yawp, a free, open-source textbook. The Johnson biography probes the life and psychology of one of our most important and controversial presidents. The book on the Watson family's journey to Birmingham is a young adult novel that will give insight into mid-century America and the Civil Rights movement through the eyes of an African-American family on a road trip in 1963. To summarize, the texts are:

The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open U.S. History Textbook (provided free online)

Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream by Doris Kearns Goodwin (any edition)

The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis (any edition)

Doing the work:

You will work in a self-directed manner in each area, completing all reading by the appropriate deadlines, participating in discussion forums each week, and turning in the quizzes and essay assignment on time. You will have plenty of time to complete all work. Late work will not be accepted for any reason.

WEEKLY DISCUSSIONS. The discussion forums are the central component of the course and take the form of written comments that you will make each week as you interact with the instructor and other students. They are entirely in written form; there is no Zoom or in-person discussion. You can drop in on the discussion whenever you choose, but you are expected to adhere to the Discussion Guidelines in all discussions. Discussions are open from Tuesday morning through the end of the day on Sunday. Most weeks will have one discussion, but occasionally there will be two.

QUIZZES. Quizzes cover each Yawp chapter and consist of 15 multiple-choice questions.

ESSAY ASSIGNMENT. Information on the essay assignment is given in the GENERAL INFORMATION module at the start of the course. This includes guidelines, the essay prompt, the rubric by which the essay will be graded, and the due date. Additional information may also be given throughout the course. Your essay should represent weeks of thought, writing, rewriting, editing, proofreading, and a good understanding of the material on which you are writing. Papers must be presented in exact MLA format. You will submit your work electronically by uploading a file. It is especially important that you make sure you know how to do this in advance of the deadline. It is also important that you seek help in the online learning center if writing essays is not your best area. As always, late work will not be accepted for any reason.

Evaluation Criteria

Your final grade will be a straight average of the following assessments:

• Discussion grade - first half of semester
• Discussion grade - second half of semester
• Discussion grade - The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
• Discussion grade - Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream
• Essay on Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream (counts twice)
• Fifteen multiple choice quizzes covering the Yawp reading
• Overall Participation

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Participation Expectations

Students are expected to follow all guidelines for the course and to be active participants in the weekly discussion boards.

Missing & Late Work Policy

Students have many days, and in some cases many weeks or months in which to complete assignments. Late work will not be accepted for any reason.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity