Spring
2013
History
1378 , U.S. from 1877 to the Presen
Bob
Buzzanco
Office
Hours: by appointment
Teaching Assistants
Charlotte Whatley
whatleycc@gmail.com
T, Th 1:00-2:30
Savannah Williamson
slwilli5@central.uh.edu
T, Th 10:30-12:00
Jason Rodriguez
daishigajo@gmail.com
M, W 3:30-5:00
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Required
Books:
America Since
the Civil War
package, which includes
Books available at bookstore or
at this site
Textbook,
American
Power, American People
Nunn-McGinty Reader Series, As They Said It , volume 2
Nunn-McGinty Reader
Series, American Society
Since 1900
Grading:
Your grade in this course will be based on your scores on three exams [which may include essays
and IDs], two
during the semester, at dates announced in class and on WebCt,
and a final exam. Practice questions will be given
out before the tests and review sessions with TAs will be
scheduled.
Makeup
Policy--read carefully. We do not want to get flooded
with requests for makeups. Do everything in your power
to be here on test dates. If you miss an
exam due to verifiable emergency conditions, with proper
documentation, there will be makeup tests given on a case-by-case basis, at the
discretion of the professor/TAs. On the day of your
scheduled make-up, you
will be required to make up all missing tests. The only excuses for missing that day
will also be medical or other emergencies [not travel plans], for which you must
provide written documentation. If you miss the makeup test, you will receive
zeroes for those tests. Additionally, it is your responsibility to notify your TA
that you have missed an exam and to schedule a make up as soon
as possible.
Make sure you attend class
regularly and keep up with the assigned readings. If at any time you are
unsure of the material we are covering,
please ask the T.A. or me.
Read this carefully, because
it is an issue every semester.
Deadlines and important dates:
Dates for drops, graduation, etc, can be found at:
http://www.uh.edu/academics/catalog/general/Cal_event_f05s06.html
If you want to drop the
class, that’s your responsibility. To drop, get a drop
form and bring it to me to sign. It’s not my
responsibility to drop the class for you. If you want to
drop, check the deadlines and meet them. Don’t come to me
at the end of the semester and ask me to drop the class for
you. Also, don’t ask me for an “incomplete” unless you
have serious mitigating circumstances–incompletes are allowed
only for “emergency” situations and not simply because you’ve
fallen behind in class or aren’t doing well. If you sense
that you’re not going to perform at the level you want to and do
not want to complete the class, withdraw from it rather than
asking me for an incomplete.
The key to success in this class
is simple: attend class regularly, and do all the
readings.
Faculty Handbook: Incomplete (I)
Grade Policy
The grade of "I"
(Incomplete) is a conditional and temporary grade given when
a student is passing a course but for reasons beyond his or
her control has not completed a relatively small part of all
requirements. The student is responsible for informing the
instructor immediately of the reason for not submitting an
assignment on time or not taking an examination. The grade
of "I" must be changed by fulfillment of course requirements
within one year of the date awarded or it will be changed
automatically to an "F" or a "U" (Unsatisfactory). The grade
of "I" may not be changed to a grade of "W" (Withdrawn), but
may only be changed to another letter grade. Once the
student has completed the remaining work for the course, the
instructor should submit an Academic Record Adjustment form
to change the "I" grade to the grade the student has earned.
Some colleges require the student to sign an agreement with
the instructor indicating when the requirements will be met.
NOTE: Students
should be instructed not to re-register for the same course
in a following semester in order to complete the incomplete
requirements.
Procedure for questioning grades:
If,
after we have turned back your exams, you have any questions or
complaints,
this is the procedure to follow:
First,
we will not discuss your tests right after we turn them back to
you;
please
look over your exams upon return and wait a day before
contacting us.
Next,
make an appointment with your TA and come to that meeting with
specific
questions or concerns, in writing. If you believe you deserved a
higher
grade, be prepared to explain specifically why you believe that.
Do
not
simply say "I studied and thought I should have done better."
Then,
if the TA and you do not reach an agreement, the TA will
re-grade the
entire
test and your final grade may be raised, stay the same, or
lowered.
If,
at that point, you are still not satisfied, bring your exam to
me,
again
with specific questions or concerns in writing, and I will go
over it
with
you.
At the end of the semester, DO NOT send me an email
asking for your grade
to be raised simply because you need extra
points to maintain your grade point
average or to graduate or for other such
reasons. If you have a question about
a particular grading decision, you may of
course talk to us, but don't simply beg
for points or a grade.
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Academic
Honesty:
You
are expected to do your own work in this class. The tests will
consist
of
in-class essays and you will be expected to write your answers
on your
own.
If you have any questions about the University of Houston
plagiarism
policy,
please consult the University Handbook.
Also,
there are now many websites covering various aspects of U.S.
history.
Feel
free to peruse them--many are quite useful--but do not turn in
work
from
the web as your own. We are all familiar with the various
resources on
the
web and will be able to notice any cases of turning in
information from
the
web as your own.
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Classroom
Decorum:
It
goes without saying that you are expected to arrive in the
classroom on
time,
remain seated and quiet, and remain until the class ends.
Please
turn off all pagers and cell phones before entering the
auditorium.
Remember,
this is a college course; you have decided to enrol and attend.
Therefore,
if you are in class it is imperative that you remain silent for
the
full time that class is in session. If you decide to move about
or
make
noise, or otherwise disrupt your fellow students, university
regulations
allow us to remove your name from the roster. The TAs and I
will
be vigilant in enforcing procedures on behavior.
Should
problems arise, the class will be given a single warning. If
disruptions
persist after that, the professor reserves the right to take
appropriate
measures.
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E-Mail
and Discussions:
We
will be using WebCT for this class. To get started go to
http://www.uh.edu/webct
I'll also give more information in class.
**************************
Lecture
materials and notes:
I
consider the lectures I deliver to be my intellectual property
and no one
should
post them on a web site or otherwise make them available
publicly
without
my permission.
**************************
Some materials
presented this semester may contain images or language that
one may find offensive. They are presented as part of
the historical legacy of the United States and are necessary
to understand American history, and are not presented for
sensational purposes or necessarily reflective of the
instructor's personal views.
TOPICS AND
READING ASSIGNMENTS
Week 1
Background: Capitalism, Labor Wars,
Empire
American
Power, American People, chapter 1
As They Said It, chapter
1
Week
2
Imperialism, Markets and the Great
War
American Power, American People,
chapters 3-4
As They Said
It, chapter 2
American
Society Since 1900, chapter 1
Week
3
The Aftermath of War, Abroad and At
Home
American Society Since 1900, chapter
2
As They Said It, chapter
3
Week
4
The 1920s
American
Power,
American People, chapter 5
Week
5
FDR and the New Deal
American Power, American People,
chapter 6
Week
6
The Onset of War
American
Power,
American People, chapter 7
American Society Since 1900,
chapter 3
Week
7
War, the Bomb, and Cold War
American
Power, American People, chapter 8
American
Society
Since 1900, chapter 4
Week
8
The War at Home: Domestic Containment,
Beaver,
Beatniks, and Conformity
American Power, American People,
chapter 9
As
They Said It, chapter 4
Week
9
Taking the Third World
As They Said It, chapter
5
Week
10
Questioning Authority in the 1960s
As
They Said It, chapter 6
American Society Since 1900,
chapter 6
Week
11 Test 2
The Modern Civil Rights Era
American Power, American People,
chapter 10
As They Said It, chapter
7
American
Society
Since 1900, chapter 5
Week
12
Vietnam and the Limits of Power
American Power, American People,
chapter 11
Buzzanco,
Vietnam
and the Transformation of American Life ,
at http://vi.uh.edu/pages/buzzmat/vntalpdf/vntalpdf.html,
intro and chapters 1-4
Week
13
Backlash and H2Ogate
American Power, American People, chapter 12
American Society Since 1900,
chapter 7
Week
14
Reagan's America
Clinton
and the Republicrats
American Society Since 1900,
chapter 8
Week
15
Background to 9/11: The U.S. and the Middle East
American Power,
American People, chapter 13
As They Said It, Chapter
8
American
Society
Since 1900, chapter 9
Final Exam, consult
http://www.uh.edu/enroll/rar/final_exam_schedule.htmlm_schedule.html