HIST
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The United States in the Twentieth Century
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Brief DescriptionHIST 203 is the third in a three-quarter sequence of courses surveying U.S. history. Taking HIST 201 and/or 202 is helpful, but it is neither necessary nor required to do well in this course. HIST 203 covers much of the twentieth century, a period that British historian Isaiah Berlin called "the worst century there has ever been." Americans have tended to be more optimistic and also more arrogant. In 1941, publisher Henry Luce proclaimed "the American century" and declared that the United States should "exert upon the world the full impact of our influence, for such purposes as we see fit and by such means as we see fit." Supreme confidence in the purposes of the American nation-state may be older than the nation-state itself, but the unprecedented power to realize and enforce these purposes, both at home and abroad, was a key feature of U.S. history only during the twentieth century. In addition to surveying major events that shaped domestic society and eventually made the United States into a global superpower, a central goal of this course will be to come to terms with the meaning of modern America. What exactly makes modern America modern? In answering this question, we will pay particular attention to how people, ideas, governments, and social movements shaped a wide range of public and private issues: immigration, work, reform, war, peace, consumption, politics, mass culture, economic crisis and abundance, education, health, race and ethnicity, family, childhood, sexuality, and other aspects of everyday life. Another important goal of the course is to introduce students to history as a way of thinking about the world. What is history all about? Who belongs in it? Why does history matter? How do historians do what they do? Format |
Writing AssignmentsThere will be two short (3-page, double spaced, 12-point type) writing assignments, a midterm exam, and a final exam. The short essays will interpret documents; the first one is due during week 3 and the second one is due during week 7. The goal is to expose students to the primary sources that historians use and the way that historians work with them to write history. Exams will cover material from lectures as well as required readings. You can expect them to include short and long essay questions as well as brief identifications. The midterm exam is scheduled for Friday, May 2, 2008 and will cover material assigned during the first four weeks of the course. The final exam is scheduled for Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 10:15 am. It will be comprehensive. Note: GTFs may also give short quizzes or other brief assignments in discussion sections. The specifics of the short essays may also vary from section to section. |
Reading RequirementsEric Foner, Give Me Liberty! (W.W. Norton, 2005). Give Me Liberty! Source of Freedom Digital History Center, online sources Frederick Winslow Taylor, The Principles of Scientific Management (Dover, 1998).[The full text can be found online through Google book search.] Waldo E. Martin, Jr., ed., Brown v. Board of Education: A Brief History with Documents (Bedford/St. Martin's, 1998). Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried (Broadway Books, 1998). Ken Ellingwood, Hard Line: Life and Death on the U.S.-Mexico Border (Vintage, 2004). |
RulesAcademic Honesty Lateness Policy Attendance Policy Accommodations |
Gradestwo 3-page papers: 15% each Grades for HIST 203 will be recorded in Blackboard, where you can access them at your convenience. All other information about the course can be found here. |