SOUTHWEST COLLEGE
HISTORY 1302
UNITED STATES HISTORY AFTER 1877
CRN #64862
Semester: Spring 2011
Instructor: Chastity S. Holman
E-mail: chastity.holman@hccs.edu
Office Hours: By appointment
Phone: (832) 971-3421
Location: Alief Campus, Room #B128
Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 7:00pm-8:30pm
Course Description
History 1302 is a survey of American history from 1877 to the present. It will focus on
the evolution of the economic, social/cultural and political institutions which define the
development of the modern United States and its people. Although this course is built
around historical events and processes, it is much more than a simple recitation of facts.
Students will learn and apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills and will work
with historical documents, maps and economic and demographic models.
History 1302 is a 16-week, 48 contact hour course which fulfills three hours of the statemandated six-hour history requirement.
Completion of this class will also improve performance in reading, writing, critical
thinking, communicating and computer skills.
Prerequisites: must be placed into college-level reading and college-level writing.
Learning Objectives
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Identify the major eras in U.S. history from 1877 to the present and understand the
characteristics which define and distinguish each.
Develop an understanding of the long-term effects that reform and third party
movements have on American Society.
Analyze the impact of foreign wars with regard to the U.S. economy and
government.
Understand how ethnic diversity contributes to America’s national identity.
Required Books (Available at HCCS Bookstores)
Text: Ayers, Gould, Oshinsky & Soderlund, American Passages 4th ed., Combined
Monographs: Arnesen, Black Protest and the Great Migration: A Brief History with
Documents
Daniels, Guarding the Golden Door
These books are available at the HCC Bookstores and through online sources such as
Amazon.com where they are generally less expensive. Used copies may be available at
Half Price Books and similar outlets. Copies may also be placed on reserve in the
Southwest College libraries. If you encounter difficulty in obtaining these books, inform
your instructor immediately so that she can assist you in finding copies.
Course Requirements
Graded Assignments: 4 major in class examinations, each worth 20% of the final grade.
Book review essays on the Arnesen and Daniels monographs, each worth 10% of the
final grade. Failure to turn in these essays will result in the automatic failure of the
course.
Grading and Grading Scale: A (90- 100%); B (80-89%); C (70-79%); D (60-69%);
F (below 60%). Grades are not curved and extra credit work will be assigned at the
instructor’s discretion.
Examinations
A major in class examination will be held at the conclusion of each of the four content
units that comprise History 1302. Each will be worth 20% of the final grade and will
cover material presented in the unit just concluded. Each will consist of a series of short
essay questions and two major essay questions. Essay questions will be selected from a
list of possible essays that will be handed out a week before the exam. A short review
session will be held before each exam. Exams will generally occur about every 3-4
weeks.
Make-up exams will only be administered for excused absences and taken immediately
upon the students return to class. The decision to categorize an absence as excused or
unexcused will be at the instructor’s discretion. Failure to take all four exams will result
in failure of the course.
Book Review Essays
Students will be required to read the two assigned monographs and write a 4-5-page book
review essay on each. For each book, students will be expected to write a coherent essay
answering a series of questions that will be provided by the instructor beforehand. The
Arnesen essay is due Wednesday, March 30th; the Daniels essay is due Monday, April
25th. Late papers will have a grade deducted for each calendar day they are late. Failure to
turn in these essays will result in failure of the course.
Attendance
It is your responsibility to be punctual for class. Students who are excessively tardy or
late to class will risk having their excessive tardies counted as one or more
unexcused absences.
HCC policy states that students may be administratively withdrawn if they miss more
than 6 hours of class. My policy is that you WILL be dropped from class if you have
more than 6 hours of unexcused absences. If you have a valid reason for missing class
– illness or accident, for example – and can document that, I will consider your absence
excused and will not count it against the 6-hour limit. Otherwise, you will be dropped.
If you stop attending class and do not complete the proper withdrawal forms, you will
receive and “F” for the course.
It is your responsibility to complete the necessary paper work before the official drop
date. Do not ask me to give you a “W”. Only under exceptional circumstances (i. e.
serious accident, illness, etc.), which are documented in writing, will late withdrawals be
given.
Regular attendance is essential to success in this class. Students who have excessive
absences are usually those most likely to earn a substandard or failing grade. If you miss
a class, you are responsible for all the information and assignments covered in that class.
Students who must complete 12 hours per semester to maintain their status-international
students, veterans, financial aid recipients, etc.-should make special note of my
attendance policy. You should be aware that under most circumstances a withdrawal that
brings you below the 12-hour minimum could result in a potentially damaging change in
status.
Disability Policy
Any student with a documented disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision,
hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the
Disability Support Service Counselor, Dr. Becky Hauri (713 718-7909) at the beginning
of the semester. Faculty members are authorized to provide only the accommodations
requested by the Office of Disability Support Services (DSS). Students who are requesting
special testing accommodations must first contact the office.
Academic Dishonesty
Plagiarism, cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty are prohibited by HCCS
policy and the rules of this class.
 Plagiarism is the use of the ideas or words of another person (either in whole or
in part) without crediting the source. Plagiarism amounts to the theft of another
person’s intellectual property. It is the most common form of academic
dishonesty. If you are unclear as to what constitutes plagiarism, you should seek
clarification before beginning an assignment.
 Cheating involves fraud and deception for the purpose of violating legitimate
testing rules. Cheating excludes, but is not limited to: copying from another
student’s test paper, using during an exam materials or resources not authorized
by the instructor; collaborating with another student during a test; knowingly
using, buying, selling whole or part of an unadministered test.
Academic dishonesty constitutes a severe violation of HCC policy and rules and is
subject to stringent penalties. Violations of these policies will result, at a minimum, in
the automatic failure of this course. Severe violations could result in suspension or
expulsion from HCC.
Classroom Etiquette
Please adhere to the following below listed guidelines;
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Cellphones must be kept on the silent or off position during class. If you
habitually have to be excused from class to answer your cellphone, that will be
counted as an unexcused absence and you will be asked to leave for the remainder
of the class session on that evening.
Please dress modestly when coming to class. Students who are revealing ANY
type of cleavage or wearing mid-drift tops will be asked to cover themselves
appropriately or leave class for the evening.
Computers are allowed in class ONLY for the purpose of taking notes. Any
student caught using their computer for any other purposes during class time will
not be allowed to bring their computer to class for the rest of the semester.
Taping lectures is permitted as needed by individual students. Please inform the
instructor if you will be taping lectures.
Class Calendar (subject to change)
January 19-Course Overview & Introduction
January 24-An Economy Transformed: The Rise of Big Business, 1877-1887
(Chpt.17)
January 26-Urban Growth and Farm Protest, 1887-1893 (Chpt.18)
January 31-A Troubled Nation Expands Outward, 1893-1901 (Chpt.19)
February 2-Video, “Ellis Island”
February 7- Theodore Roosevelt and Progressive Reform, 1901-1909 (Chpt.20)
February 9- Progressivism at High Tide, 1909-1914 (Chpt.21)
February 14- First Examination Review Session
February 16- First Examination
February 21-No Class, President’s Day
February 23-Over There and Over Here: The Impact of World War I, 1914-1921
(Chpt. 22)
February 28-The Age of Jazz and Mass Culture, 1921-1927 (Chpt.23)
Listen to excerpts from audio cd, “Harlem Speaks”
March 2- The Great Depression, 1927-1933 (Chpt.24)
March 7-The New Deal, 1933-1939 (Chpt.25)
March 9-Second Examination Review Session
March 14-20-Spring Break
March 21-Second Examination
March 23-The Second World War, 1939-1945 (Chpt.26)
March 28- Video, World War II
March 30-Discuss & submit Book Report due on “Black Protest and the Great
Migration: A Brief History with Documents”
April 4-Postwar America, 1946-1952 (Chpt.27
April 6- The Eisenhower Years, 1953-1960 (Chpt.28)
April 11- Third Examination Review Session
April 13- Third Examination
April 18- The Turbulent Years, 1960-1968 (Chpt.29)
Video excerpts from “Eyes on the Prize”
April 20- Crisis of Confidence, 1969-1980 (Chpt.30)
April 25-Discuss and submit Book Report on “Guarding the Golden Door”
April 27- From Reagan to Clinton, 1981-1995 (Chpt. 31)
May 2- A Conservative Nation in a Globalizing World, 1995-2008 (Chpt. 32)
May 4-Fourth Examination Review Session
May 9-Fourth Examination