UNITED STATES HISTORY FROM 1877

Rogers State University

Dr. David A. Tait

Associate Professor

 

HIST-2493I                                                                                         Fall 2006

ZAP 1333                                          KRSC-TV                               MWF 11:00

 

Getting In Touch With Your Professor

Office: Auditorium Lower Level

(“The Bunker”)

Claremore Campus

 

E-Mail:dtait@rsu.edu                                                             Phone: (918) 343-7746

 

Website: http://www.rsu.edu/faculty/dtait/

 

E-mail is often the most efficient way to communicate. Use it!  You may get a quicker reply to your question or concern than with any other method.  Your e-mail should always include the course and your full name in the subject line.  For example: U.S. History, George W. Bush.

 

Office Hours

 

My office is in the basement of the Auditorium on the Claremore campus.  The easiest entrance is through the side doors. 

Office hours on the Claremore campus:

Ø      Monday 12:30-1:30 and 3:30-5:00

Ø      Wednesday   12:30-1:30 and 3:30-5:00

Ø      Thursday 11:00-12:00 and 1:00-3:00

Ø      Friday 1:00-3:00      

Other times:

Ø      Available by special arrangement

 

WHERE TO FIND THINGS IN THIS SYLLABUS

                       

.Class Calendar; pages 2-11

Course Description and Prerequisites, page 12

Course Objectives and Approach to learning, page 12

Required Work and Grading, page 13

Course Policies, page 15

Required Books, page16

 

 

CLASS CALENDAR

 

This calendar lists course topics, reading assignments, exam dates, and other deadlines.  It is subject to revision by the professor during the semester.

 

 

Website

 

Up-to-date information about this course can be found on your professor’s website. Visit the website regularly to look for new information.   If there are changes in the course calendar and/or course requirements, you will find them there.  http://www.rsu.edu/faculty/dtait/

 

 

 

Unit 1

Westward Expansion

August 21, 23, 25

 

In the closing decades of the nineteenth century, economic development, immigration and internal migration led to the subjugation of American Indians and the emergence of new economic activities on the Plains and in the West.  In 1893 a prominent historian proclaimed the "end of the frontier."

 

Objectives

 

1)  Become familiar with patterns of expansion in the West after the Civil War.

2)  Explore the impact of this expansion on American Indians

3)  Note key developments in agriculture

 

Required Reading

 

BRN     (Brinkley, Unfinished Nation)

 Preface pgs. xxv-xxvii 

 Chapter 16, “The Conquest of the Far West”

 

MJP      (Hoffman and Gjerde, Major Problems in American History)

Preface pgs. xvii-xviii

 

MJP      Chapter 2. Introduction (pgs. 38-39)

Documents 1 (Homestead Act), 3 (Federal Government & Confederate Indians),

4 (Katie Bighead on Custer & Little Big Horn),  5 (Chief Joseph Surrenders), 

6 (Dawes Severalty Act), 8 (Southern Freedmen Move West), 10 (Frederick Jackson Turner and Frontier Thesis)

 

MJP      Essays by Billington and Limerick, pp. 51-65

 

REL      Baker,   Religion in America  

Religion and Native Americans, page 298

Documents 7:5 (Sun Dance), 7:6 (Ghost Dance), 7:7 (Christ’s Visit to Wovoka)

 

 

Unit 2

Industrial Society

August 28 & 30, September 1

 

DUE: Unit 2 worksheet

9:00 A.M. on Friday September 1

 

Rapid economic change after 1877 transformed the United States into the world's greatest industrial power.  Massive immigration provided laborers for industry.  Labor organizations sought to advance the interests of wage earners in the new world of large-scale business enterprise.

 

Objectives

 

  1. Trace the developments that made the United States a major industrial power at the beginning of the 20th century. 
  2. Become familiar with the role immigration played in the process, and note the challenges that large numbers of immigrants presented to American Society. 
  3. Examine the development of large cities.
  4. Become acquainted with major changes in race relations in this period.

 

Required Reading

 

BRN     Chapter 17, Industrial Supremacy

             Chapter 18, Age of the City

 

MJP Chapter 3, Introduction (pages 66-67)

Documents 1 (Emma Lazarus); 2 (Slovenian Boy)

3 (Thomas O’Donnell & Plight of Worker)

6 (Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth)

MJP      Essays by Handlin and Rosenzweig (80-95)

 

REL      Preface, xiii-xiv

            Chapter 6, Introduction, 245-46

            Documents 6.1 (Carnegie), 6.2 (Horatio Alger), 6.3 (Acres of Diamonds)

 

 

 

 

Unit 3

Populists and Politics

September 6 & 8

(No class Monday September 4)

 

Farmers struggling with powerful economic forces joined in a reform movement that briefly challenged the entrenched two-party system.  Political defeat and resurgent prosperity ended the Populist bid for power.

 

Objectives

 

  1. Become familiar with the problems that farmers faced in an industrializing America, and with some of the ways in which they tried to address those problems.
  2. Examine the Populist challenge to the two-party system in the 1890s.
  3. Note the Populist proposals that were implemented later by others.
  4. Examine religious responses to social and economic change.

 

Required Reading

 

BRN     Chapter 19, From Stalemate to Crisis

Chapter 16, pages 450-454, (agriculture)

Chapter 19, read carefully "Debating the Past", pages 524-525

 

REL      Religious Criticism of Wealth & Robber Barons, page 262

Chapter 6, Documents 6.5 (Mark Twain), 6.6 (In His Steps),

6.7 (Rauschenbusch), 6.8 (Social Ideals of the Churches), 6.10 (Applied Judaism), 6.12 (Catholic Bishops)

 

Unit 4

The Progressive Era:

Reform, Democracy & Social Control

September 11, 13 & 15

 

Exam #1 Friday September 15

(No class September 15)

 

Progressivism is a broad term that covers a variety of ideas, political initiatives, and reform efforts between 1890 and 1920. Primarily a middle-class phenomenon, Progressivism promoted efficiency, morality and social organization and grappled with the problems of immigration, education, health and safety, and concentrated economic power. 

 

Objectives

 

  1. Develop a sense of the various aspects of “Progressivism,” from muckraking journalism to foreign policy, from social work to government regulation of business.
  2. Trace the development of Progressivism from urban reform to a national political phenomenon.

 

Required Reading

 

BRN     Chapter 21, The Rise of Progressivism

Chapter 22, The Battle for National Reform, 580-593

Chapter 21, Read carefully "Debating the Past," pages 574-575

 

MJP      Chapter 5.  Introduction (pages 121-122).  

Documents 3 (Addams), 4 (Theodore Roosevelt), 5 (Prohibition),

7 (Sumner), 8 (Rewriting Constitution)

MJP      Essays by Hofstadter and Woods (pages 134-147). 

 

REL      Religious Reponses to Industrial Urbanization, page 278

Document 6.14 (Social Relief Work)

Americanization: Adaptation and Acceptance, page 288

Documents 7:1 (Our Country), 7:2 (Church and Republic), 7:3 (Pittsburgh Platform), 7:4 (Why I am a Mormon)

Religion and The Women’s Movement, page 309

Documents 7.8 (Social Purity), 7.9 (On Alcohol), 7.10 (Ecclesiastical Emancipation), 7.11 (Commentary on Genesis), 7.12 (Lest Catholic Men Be Misled), 7.15 (Sermon on Alcohol)

 

 

Unit 5

A Splendid Little War

September 18, 20, 22

 

Due: Unit 5 Worksheet

9:00 A.M. Friday September 22

 

The Spanish-American War in 1898 made the US an imperial power and strengthened its position in the Pacific.  After the war, military reforms improved America's military capabilities.

 

Objectives

 

  1. Become familiar with the variety of factors that stimulated a more active interest in foreign affairs.
  2. Become familiar with Mahan’s strategy for an imperial America.
  3. Explore the war of 1898 and its impact on American power in the world.
  4. Note the continuing development of American foreign policy in the first years of the 20th century.

 

Required Reading

 

BRN      Chapter 20, The Imperial Republic.

Chapter 22, The Battle for National Reform, pages 593-601.

 

MJP      Chapter 4, Introduction (pages 97-98)

            Documents 1(Roosevelt), 2 (Filipino Leader), 3 (Anti-Imperialist),

4 (Mark Twain), 5 (A Soldier Criticizes), 7 (Platt Amendment)

 

MJP    Essays by Bederman and Rosenberg (pages 107-120).

 

REL      Religious Debate over American Imperialism, page 372

Documents 8.1 (March of the Flag), 8.3 (Decision on the Philippines), 8.4 (Outlook Interview)

 

 

 

 

 

Unit 6

The Great War

September 25, 27, 29

 

When war erupted in Europe in 1914, the United States stayed out of the fight.  The US finally entered the war in 1917 and contributed to an Allied victory over Germany.  President Wilson’s foreign policy influenced the postwar settlement, but many of his goals were not realized.

 

Objectives

 

  1. Examine the development of US policy between 1914 and 1917.
  2. Become familiar with the US entry into World War I and the US role in the war.
  3. Investigate President Wilson’s foreign policy objectives, and assess his effectiveness in achieving them.
  4. Explore the political tensions and social changes accompanying the war.

 

Required Reading

 

BRN Chapter 23, America and the Great War

 

MJP      Chapter 6, Introduction (pages 148-149)

Documents 1 (Declaration of War), 2 (La Follette’s Dissent),

3 (Union Organizer), 5 (Fourteen Points), 6 (Patriotic Song),

8 (Selling the War), 9 (League of Nations Cartoons)

 

MJP      Essays by Schulte-Nordholt and Smith (pages 164-180).

 

REL      Religious Responses to America’s 20th Century Wars, pages 390-391

Documents 8.10 (I denounce), 8.11 (Is War Ever Justifiable?), 8.13 (Challenge of Present Crisis), 8.14 (Must German Men be Exterminated?), 8.15 (To Love Is to Hate), 8.16 (Lessons of War)

 

Unit 7

Coolidge Prosperity

October 2, 4, and 6

 

In the 1920s a long economic expansion brought prosperity to many Americans.  They built homes, bought cars, and embraced commercial radio.  Popular culture blossomed, but conflicts over issues like immigration, prohibition, and Darwinian evolution divided the country. 

 

Objectives

 

  1. Examine the development of a consumer economy in the 1920’s.
  2. Explore the limited role of the federal government in that economy.  
  3. Become familiar with major cultural conflicts of the 1920’s such as the controversy over Darwinian evolution and education.

 

Required Reading

 

BRN     Chapter 24, The New Era

 

MJP       Chapter 7, Introduction (pages 181-182)

             Documents 1 (Governor of California), 2 (Ku Klux Klan), 3 (Richard Wright

On Jim Crow), 4 (Langston Hughes), 5 Clarence Darrow, (6) Bruce Barton on Jesus), 7 (The Automobile), 8 (A Survey)

 

MJP      Essays by Fass and Larson (pages 195-213)

 

REL      Revivalism in the New Urban Setting, page 322

Documents 7.16 (Sundayisms), 7.17 (Four Square Gospel)

            Family Feud: “Fundamentalism” Versus Modernism, page 337

Document 7.18 (Fundamentals of Faith), 7.19 (How Much Left of Old Doctrines?), 7.20 (Shall Fundamentalists Win?), 7.22 (Humanist Manifesto), 7:23) A Common Faith

 

 

Unit 8

A New Deal:

Economic Disaster & Political Response

October 9, 11, 13

 

Exam # 2  Friday October 13

(No class October 13)

 

 

 

After the prosperity of the 1920s came the Great Depression, the worst and the longest economic downturn in US history.  Elected President in 1932, Franklin D. introduced many programs that became known collectively as the New Deal.  Some New Deal programs like Social Security and government insurance of bank deposits continue to this day.

 

Objectives

 

  1. Examine the Great Depression and its impact on American society. 
  2. Become acquainted with Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. 
  3. Take note of the transformation in the size and power of the federal government and its expanding role in the US economy.

 

Required Reading

 

BRN     Chapter 25, The Great Depression

            Chapter 26, The New Deal

 

MJP      Chapter 8, Introduction (pages 215-216).  

             Documents 1 (Herbert Hoover), 2 (The Nation), 3 (Henry Ford), 4 (John

 Steinbeck), 5 (Woody Guthrie), 6 (Franklin Roosevelt), 7 (Architect of Social Security), 8  (Social Security Advisers), 10 (Nelson Rockefeller)

 

 

Unit 9

A Global Crisis

October 16 & 18

 

In World War I President Wilson sought to end all wars and make the world safe for democracy. But the postwar world proved hostile to democracy.  By the 1930s, peace was imperiled on many fronts, and in 1941 a Japanese surprise attack brought the United States into the Second World War.

 

Objectives

 

  1. Become familiar with US foreign policy in the 1920s and with the challenges to that policy in the 1930s.
  2. Examine US participation in the Second World War. 
  3. Explore social changes on the domestic front during the war.

 

Required Reading

 

BRN     Chapter 27, The Global Crisis, 1921-1941

            Chapter 28, America in a World at War

 

MJP      Chapter 9, Introduction (pages 245-247).

Documents 1 (Adolf Hitler), 2 (Japan’s New Order), 3 (President Roosevelt), 4 (Winston Churchill), 5 (Four Freedoms), 6 (African American Soldier), 7 (Stanford Professor), 8 (General Eisenhower)

 

MJP      Essays by Ambrose and Brinkley (pages 261-277)

 

REL      Religious Reponses to America’s 20th Century Wars, pages 390-91

Documents 8.17 (What Should Pacifists Do Now?), 8.18 (To Jewish Servicemen), 8.19 (Onward Christian Soldiers), 8.20 (Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition),

 

Unit 10

The Cold War

October 23, 25, 27

 

During World War II the United States and the Soviet Union fought together against Nazi Germany.  After the war, however, the pressures of events and conflicting interests divided the former allies and initiated the Cold War, a lengthy struggle for dominance around the globe.

 

Objectives

 

  1. Examine the emergence of the Cold War and become familiar with the dynamics of the conflict. 
  2. Explore the impact of the Cold War on American culture and domestic politics.

 

Required Reading

 

BRN     Chapter 29, The Cold War

            Chapter 30, pages 805-810 (Eisenhower, Dulles & Cold War)

Chapter 31, pages 824-827 (“Flexible Response” & Cold War)

 

MJP      Chapter 10, Introduction (pages 279-280)

Documents 1 (Stimson & Atomic Bomb), 2 (Kennan on Containment), 3 (Henry Wallace Dissent), 4 (Soviet Ambassador), 5 (Truman Doctrine), 7 (NSC-68), 8 (Joseph McCarthy), 10 (Eisenhower on Military-Industrial Complex)

 

MJP      Essays by LaFeber and Gaddis (pages 293-308)

 

Unit 11

Consumer Society:

Suburbs, Babies and Affluence

October 30, November 1 & 3

 

 

After World War II heavy consumer spending fueled an economic expansion that continued, despite occasional recessions, until the early 1970s.  Families were bigger and more stable than they were before the war.  Not everyone was happy or prosperous, however.  The Civil Rights Movement fought an entrenched system of racial discrimination.

 

Objectives

 

  1. Become familiar with the growth of the US economy and the expansion of suburbia.
  2. Examine family life and mass culture in the 1950s. 
  3. Note the stirring of social and political conflict in the supposedly quiet 1950s, especially the Civil Rights Movement

Required Reading

 

BRN     Chapter 30, The Affluent Society

 

MJP      Introduction (pages 309-311)

Documents 1 (baby Boom), 3 (Teenage Market), 4 (Young American), 5 (Pledge of Allegiance), 7 (Growing Up Absurd), 8 (Adlai Stevenson), 9 (Betty Friedan)

 

MJP      Essays by Diggins and Coontz, pages 323-341)

 

MJP      Chapter 14, Introduction (pages 406-407).

Documents 1 (Ho Chi Minh), 2 (President Eisenhower & Falling Dominos)

 

Unit 12

Riots and Rockets

The 1960s

November 6, 8, 10

 

Exam #3 Friday November 10

( No Class November 10)

 

The 1960s brought continued economic growth and technological feats like the space program.  But American life was far from peaceful.  Assassinations, riots, urban crime and protests against the Vietnam War shattered the apparent tranquility of the 1950s.

 

Objectives

 

  1. Examine the presidencies of Kennedy and Johnson and the Great Society initiatives. 
  2. Explore the development of the Civil Rights movement and the mounting challenges to it 
  3. Become familiar with the radical left and counter-culture of the 1960’s.  Notice the beginnings of a new kind of conservatism.
  4. Examine the controversy about the Vietnam War and its impact on electoral politics and foreign policy.

 

Required Reading

 

BRN     Chapter 31, The Ordeal of Liberalism

            Chapter 32, pages 843-855 (Youth Culture, Minorities, Feminism)

 

MJP      Chapter 13, Introduction (pages 373-375)

 

MJP      Documents 1 (John F. Kennedy), 3 (Johnson’s War on Poverty), 4 (Young

Americans for Freedom), 5 (Students for a Democratic Society), 6 (George Wallace and Segregation), 9 (Betty Friedan)

 

MJP      Essays by Cmiel and Carter (pages 386-405)

 

MJP      Chapter 14 Documents 3 (Johnson on Vietnam), 5 (George Ball on

Vietnam), Martin Luther King, Jr., on Vietnam)

 

REL      Religious Responses to America’s 20th Century Wars, pages 390-391

Documents 8.22 (Was God Listening?), 8.23 (In Conscience, I Must break the Law), 8.24 (Declaration of Conscience), 8.25 (Military Victory – A Moral Defeat)

 

Unit 13

The Nixon Shocks

Whatever Happened to America?

November 13, 15, 17

 

In the 1970s inflation and growing unemployment made Americans anxious about their economic future.  A serious political scandal forced Richard Nixon to resign as President in 1974.  Diplomatic efforts to limit or end the Cold War seemed successful, but by the end of the decade it was becoming clear that the Cold War was as dangerous as it had ever been.

 

 

Objectives

 

  1. Become familiar with the economic difficulties,(especially the combination of high inflation and economic stagnation. 
  2. Examine  the crisis in the presidency, including Watergate.

 

Required Reading

 

BRN     Chapter 32, pages 860-876

            Chapter 33, pages 880-890

 

MJP      Chapter 14 Documents

            9 (John Dean’s Enemies List), 10 (Senator Ervin on Watergate)

 

 

Unit 14

Free At Last:

Dreams of Liberation

November 20

(No class November 22 & 24)

 

The Civil Rights Movement ended legalized racial discrimination and opened more opportunities to black Americans.  This movement inspired many other movements for social change.  But the gains in civil rights did not remove all of the obstacles to full black participation in American life.

 

 

Objectives

 

  1. Become familiar with the background to the post-World War II Civil Rights Movement, including the differing views of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, black experiences during World War II, and the Supreme Court decision on school segregation in 1954.
  2. Examine the Civil Rights Movement, the leadership of Dr. King, the major achievements of the movement, and the issues it was unable to resolve.
  3. Explore other movements for reform and liberation by American Indians, women, gays and lesbians, and persons with disabilities. 

 

Required Reading

 

BRN     Review pages  732-735, 799-803, 819-824, and 852-855

 

MJP      Documents

            Chapter 2 #8 (Southern Freedmen Move West)

            Chapter 4 #5 (Racism and the Philippines)

            Chapter 5 # 9 and # 10 (Booker T. Washington & W.E.B. Dubois)

            Chapter 7 #3 and #4 (Richard Wright & Langston Hughes)

            Chapter 11 Introduction and Chapter 11 Documents:

            2 (Supreme Court Rules), 3 (Martin Luther King, Jr.),

4 (Henry Louis Gates, Jr.), 7 (Voting Rights Act), 8 (National Organization of Women), 10 (Indians and Alcatraz Island), 11 (Americans With Disabilities Act)

 

MJP      Essays by Sitkoff and Garrow (pages 358-372)

 

Unit 15

End of New Deal and Cold War Era

November 27, 29, December 1

 

After 1980 domestic politics and international affairs changed significantly.  Support for massive government programs like the New Deal steadily declined.  The end of the Cold War seemed to promise a safer world. 

 

Objectives

 

  1. Become familiar with the presidency of Ronald Reagan. 
  2. Explore the final years of the Cold War.
  3. Take note of the Gulf War of 1991.

 

Required Reading

 

BRN     Chapter 33, From “The Age of Limits” to the Age of Reagan

            Chapter 34, The Age of Globalization

 

MJP      Chapter 15, Introduction (pages 438-39). 

            Documents 1 (Jimmy Carter), 2 (Ronald Reagan on a Stronger America),

3 (Reagan on Sin, Evil and Communism), 5 (National Review and Social Conservatism), 5 (Jerry Falwell), 6 (Earnings, Inequality and Imports), 7 (Export of Jobs), 9 (Immigrants and Sweatshops), 10 (Clinton, “It’s The Economy”)

 

MJP Essays by Anderson and Friedman (pages 452-464)

 

Unit 16

American Hegemony

December 4, 6, 8

 

At the beginning of the twenty-first century American economic, and military strength and cultural influence made the US far more powerful than any other nation-state.  Countries and groups opposed to American hegemony looked for ways to challenge this dominant superpower.

 

Objectives

  1. Become familiar with the presidency of Ronald Reagan. 
  2. Explore the final years of the Cold War.
  3. Examine U.S. policies in the Middle East and the “War on Terrorism”

Required Reading

 

BRN     Chapter 34, The Age of Globalization

 

FINAL EXAM: Wednesday December 13

 

 

KEY INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CLASS

 

 

 

Course Description

 

Catalogue Description: “Post-reconstruction, industrialism, immigration, reform movements, race, gender and ethnicity, cultural conflicts, the welfare state, and international relations.”

 

Prerequisites

 

There are no formal prerequisites such as required courses.   But this course presupposes college-level reading and writing skills.  The reading will be difficult for students who do not read English well.  Students who do not write Standard English competently may have trouble with the writing assignments.  If you have not satisfactorily completed English Composition I, it is strongly recommended that you take it concurrently with this class. It is also expected that students can perform simple mathematical operations such as the calculation and comparison of averages, ratios and percentages.  Some exam questions may require these skills. It is expected that students can identify or locate all 50 states on a map and all nation-states that are mentioned in course materials, including books, assigned online sources, and unit introductions.

 

Course Objectives

 

Students who complete this course satisfactorily will be able to:

1.  describe and discuss the development of the United States as a global power from the 1870s to the present;
2.  describe the economic development of the United States from 1877 to the present;
3.  discuss major political events and significant changes in the size and functions of the federal government; and
4.  describe and discuss major periods of social and cultural conflict.

 

 

Approach to Learning

This is a lecture class.  Students learn in three principle ways: by listening carefully to the lectures; by reading carefully all of the assigned material; and by completing a variety of assignments, including examinations.  In addition, students my advance their learning by asking questions in class; visiting with the professor during office hours; reviewing the professor’s evaluations of their assignments; talking with the professor by phone; or corresponding with the professor by e-mail.

 

REQUIRED WORK AND GRADING

Your grade in this class will be based on two worksheets and four exams.

 

Worksheets (50 points)

            There are two worksheets, one in Unit 2 and one in Unit 5.  The deadlines are included in the course calendar.  The worksheets and the instructions will be available on the professor’s website.  Each exam is worth 25 points.

 

Exams (550 points)

 

            There are four exams, including the final.  The first exam is worth 100 points.  Each of the remaining three exams is worth 150 points.  Exams may include essays (take-home or in-class), identifications, multiple-choice and true-false questions, item matching, and map questions.  Detailed advance instructions for each exam will be posted on the professor’s website.  Proctored exams will be given at the RSU Testing Center on the Claremore campus.  Exams must be taken on the dates scheduled.  Make-up exams are generallynot available in this class.

 

Determining Your Grade

 

Your semester grade will be determined by the number of points you earn, provided you have met all course requirements, including those stated in the Course Policies section below.

 

A         540 points or better

B         480-539 points

C         420-479 points

D         360-419 points

F          359 points or below

 

There is no curve and there is no automatic rounding up of grades. (For example, a total of 419 points may mean a semester grade of D).  No extra credit will be made available for individuals.  If any extra credit is offered, it will be made available to the entire class.

 

COURSE POLICIES

 

 

Expectations of Students

 

            The path to success in the class begins with the attitudes and actions of students and the professor.  This is what I expect of students:

1. complete all required work on or before the due date, and keep up to date on the assigned reading;

2. conduct yourself in class so that lectures and other scheduled activities can proceed without distraction or interruption (no talking, whispering, or other actions that can interfere with orderly learning). No communications devices (telephones, beepers, pagers, etc.); if you have such devices, they must be turned off for the entire class period.  Treat other students with respect at all times.  Students who disrupt the class in any way may be dismissed from the classroom;

3. comply with all relevant Rogers State University policies, especially those concerning academic integrity; and

4. attend all classes, arrive on time, and stay to the end.  If you miss a class for any reason, it is your responsibility to obtain the notes and other necessary information from other members of the class who are willing to help you.  Please note: class attendance is very important, because exams are based in large part on what happens in class and because each student’s input is needed in discussions.

 

The Professor’s Responsibilities

 

The professor has certain responsibilities, too.  You can expect that I will:

1.  lecture on topics mentioned in the course calendar, or related to them;

2.  provide reasonable advance notice of changes in the course calendar and/or required work;

3.  maintain regular office hours for students; and

4.      grade and return your work in a timely manner.

 

 

Special Student Needs

 

Rogers State University is committed to providing students with disabilities equal access to educational program and services. Any student who has a disability that he or she believes will require some form of academic accommodation must inform the professor of such need during or immediately following the first class attended. Before any educational accommodation can be provided, it is the responsibility of each student to prove eligibility of assistance by registering for services through Student Affairs.

 

Students needing more information about Student Disability Services should contact the Office of Student Development at 918-343-7707.

 

Please make your requests for accommodation by e-mail.

 

Academic Misconduct

 

            Students are expected to follow university policies as

put forth in the institution's Student Code of Responsibilities and

Conduct.  In accordance with Title 12 of The Student Code.

instances of alleged academic misconduct will follow the policies and

procedures as described in Title 12.  As a general rule, faculty at

Rogers State University have the responsibility of enforcing the

academic code.  Therefore, if academic misconduct is suspected I will

submit a letter of alleged academic misconduct to the Office of Student

Affairs. 

 

Non-academic misconduct

 

            In order to maintain an effective learning environment, students

are expected to fully comply with The Student Code.  Disruptive

behavior will not be tolerated.  It is the responsibility of each

student to read and become familiar with the policies of The Student

Code.

 

Deadlines

 

This class has very strict deadlines. Normally missed deadlines for assignments or exams mean no credit.  If you miss a deadline, you may make a written request for an extension.  In exceptionally compelling circumstances, the professor may make exceptions on a case-by-case basis.

 

Keep copies of all your work

 

Always keep a copy of any work you turn in.  Although it doesn’t happen often, an assignment could get misplaced.  If it does, you need to have a backup copy.  It is recommended that you keep a hard copy as well as a computer file.

 

 

 

Required Books

 

Three books are required.  They are available at the RSU bookstore, and may be available from other vendors.  It is the student’s responsibility to secure copies of these books so that all assignments can be completed on time.

 

Alan Brinkley. The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People, Fourth Edition.  Volume II: From 1865.  McGraw Hill, 2004.

 

Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman and Jon Gjerde.  Major Problems in American History.  Volume II: Since 1865.  Houghton Mifflin, 2002.

 

James T. Baker.  Religion in America: Primary Sources in U.S. History.  Volume II.  Thomson, 2006.