HIST 1301: US History from pre Contact to 1877
Dr. J. Ross-Nazzal
Professor of History, Women and Ethnic Studies
DE 8 Weeks / Spring 2019
“It’s ok to fail. Not only is failure an option, failure is an expected outcome at some point this semester as it is in life. Do not panic.” -Me
Office Hours: On campus MW 8-9:30am. TuTh 9:30-11am. Online M-Th 1-2pm. I am not available after 5 during the traditional work week nor am I available on weekends, holidays, or any day HCC is closed. Online I am only available to you through the Inbox feature of Canvas.
E Communication: All electronic communication will take place through the internal email system of our Canvas classroom. Use the Inbox icon. If you contact me directly to my HCC email account using your HCC student email account, I will ask you to contact me via Canvas. I will not respond to anything sent to me using a personal email address due to federal privacy issues. There are many places in Canvas where you many leave me messages. The only place where you may leave a message in which I know you contacted me and thus I am able to respond is through the Inbox of Canvas. We will only communicate through the Inbox feature of Canvas.
Announcements: The Announcements section of the classroom is where I will alert you of a myriad of issues from changes to the syllabus to general observations or news about the class. You are required to check for new announcements every day, Monday through Friday.
Cisco Unity Connection Messaging System: People leave voice messages as attachments to my HCC email address.
I do not open those attachments as I do not know the sender. It is an unsafe practice to open attachments when you do not know the sender. If you need to contact me, please do so through the Inbox feature of our Canvas classroom.
“Any student who faces challenges securing their food or housing and believes this may affect their performance in the course is urged to contact the Dean of Students for support. Furthermore, please notify the professor if you are comfortable in doing so.”
Social Media:
Learning Web
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Eastside Project
Department Chair:
Dean http://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/james.rossnazzal www.linkedin.com/in/DrJRN http://drjrn.blogspot.com/ http://drjrn01.wixsite.com/drjrn https://ethnicgenderstudies.wordpress.com https://www.youtube.com/user/DrRossNazzal https://jamesrossnazzal.wixsite.com/eastside
Contact me for the password to enter the Eastside Project
Dr. Bennie Ables
Dr. Theodore Hanley
713-718-5779
713-718-2466 gisela.ables@hccs.edu theodore.hanley@hccs.edu
Course Description: This class is an in-depth, thorough examination of the founding and development of the
American nation from the pre-Columbian period to the end of Reconstruction in 1877 through the lens of liberty with an emphasis on women. Major themes to be covered include: the peoples and societies of pre-colonial North
America; the development of a particularly American culture, colonial politics and society; the American Revolution and republicanism; westward expansion and economic growth; the changing treatment and status of women and
Africans in American history; and, the Civil War and Reconstruction. Throughout, I will emphasize techniques of historical reasoning, analysis and college-level writing and thus the general goals of this course are to help you enhance your critical thinking skills, become better writers, improve your computer literacy, and have a better understanding of history-specific research techniques, facilities, and databases.
Core Objectives:
Critical Thinking Skills - to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information.
Communication Skills - to include effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication.
Social Responsibility: to include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities
Personal Responsibility - to include the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decisionmaking guidelines.
Course Student Learning Outcomes:
1. Discuss the Age of Exploration
2. Explain Colonization
3. Identify the Causes and effects of the American Revolution
4. Explain the origins and impact of Slavery
5. Analyze the formation of the Republic
6. Summarize the effects of Expansion and Innovation
7. Explain Nationalism and Sectionalism
8. Discuss the Civil War
9. Evaluate the effects of Reconstruction
Program Learning Outcomes:
1. Students will evaluate historical developments in an essay.
2. Students will read primary source documents.
3. Students will analyze historical evidence by writing an analytical essay.
4. Students will explain the importance of chronology and how earlier ideas and events shaped later events.
People: History is the culmination of the words and deeds of individual people, not “women,’ “slaves,’ or
“presidents,” to name a few. Every graded submission will be populated with the names, words and deeds of individual people. Non-elite people are better than elite people. There can never be too many people. Your grade depends on it.
Required Course Materials
I.
OER Textbooks and Supplemental Readings:
Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States , http://historyisaweapon.com/zinnapeopleshistory.html
Locke, Joseph. Ben Wright (eds.) The American Yawp http://www.americanyawp.com/
There will be other OER readings to supplement the Zinn and American Yawp textbooks either in the form of hyperlinks or pages to books stored in the Canvas classroom as PDF files from various online textbooks or other sources.
II.
E Reader: (Purchase access code from any HCC bookstore)
American Perspectives: Readings in American History , Vol I, 6 th ed. http://www.pearsoncustom.com/tx/hcc_hist1301/ (Purchase the Self-Study E-text only.)
III.
Monograph These are also required for successful completion of assigned readings, of the Research
Paper, and other assignments as/if applicable for this class.
Evans, Sara. Born for Liberty . ISBN-13: 978-0684834986.
Lerner, Gerda. The Grimke Sisters from South Carolina: Pioneers for Women’s Rights and Abolition ISBN-13: 978-
0807855669
Disclaimer: The lectures in Canvas are my intellectual property. I do not authorize my lectures to be downloaded, copied, transferred, or in any way removed from the online classroom.
Note Taking : You are required to take notes on every assigned reading and all lectures. Successful students follow directions. For on campus students: If you are not taking notes while I am lecturing then I will stop to enquire why you are not taking notes. I do this purposefully. If you wish to know the purpose, just ask me.
No Tech : You will take notes by hand. The brain remembers what you write not what you type. Furthermore, there will not be anything that resembles a computer. Nothing that makes a buzz, chirp, whirl, plays music, takes photographs, records audio, or records video. Stow everything but something to write on and something to write with. This is purposeful. If you wish to know what the purpose is, just ask me.
Course Calendar
1/14-2/10 Read/view all Announcements (this needs to be the first things you do every day).
Read/view everything in the How to Succeed and the How to Pass modules NLT 8/31.
Pass the Gate Keeper Quiz NLT 11:59pm Sunday, January 20 th .
1/27
2/10
-Once you pass the Quiz, the rest of the class will become available for you.
First Biography is Due
First Draft Research Paper is Due
“Pre Colombia North America” and “When Worlds Collide”
Read “The First Americans” in The American Yawp
Read “The Significance of 1492” in UH Digital History 1
Read “Pocahontas” in Women of Influence 2
Read Puritanism and Predestination
Read Religion and Gender
Read Zinn Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress
Read Zinn Drawing the Color Line
Read Zinn Persons of Mean and Vile Condition
Read
“The First American Women” and “The Women Who Came to North America” in Born for Liberty .
American Perspectives
Ch. 1 Deodat Lawson Describes Events in Salem
The Puritans and Sex
Four British Folkways in America
Ch. 2 Virginia Codes Regulating Servitude and Slavery
The Horrors of a Slave Ship
New York Slave Revolt
George Whitefield Admonishes Southern Slaveholders
Ch. 3 Susannah Johnson Recalls Her Captivity
Native Reactions to the Invasion of America
For online courses: Listen to all lectures in Modules 1-2, if provided.
“From Empire to Revolt,” War for Independence” and “Creating These United States”
1 This is part of a collection of documents located in the OER Textbook and Ancillaries folder in the How to Pass module.
2 This is a PDF book and is found in the OER Textbooks and Ancillaries folder in the How to Pass module.
Read In Women of Influence , “The Colonial Era” and “Birth of a Nation” 3
Read Deism and the Founding of the United States
Read Separation of Church and State: American Revolution to the Early Republic
Read Women and the American Revolution
Read Zinn Tyranny is Tyranny
Read Zinn A Kind of Revolution
Read “But What Have I Do With Politicks?” in Born for Liberty
American Perspectives
Ch. 4 A Great Deal of Noise About Religion
Association of the Sons of Liberty
Ch. 5
Shay’s Rebellion
The Witch and We, The People
Ch. 6 Racism and Religion in the Early Republic
Jefferson’s Correspondence with the Danbury Baptists
For online courses: Listen to all lectures in Module 3-5 if provided.
“The Agrarian Republic” and “Jacksonian America”
Read “Sacagawea” in Women of Influence 4
Read How Slavery Affected African American Families
Read Ch. 11 The Ultimate Violence (pp. 78-88) in A History of the Mexican People 5
Read Democracy in America in The American Yawp
Read Zinn The Intimately Oppressed
Read Zinn As Long As Grass Grows Or Water Runs
Read “The Age of Association” in Born for Liberty
American Perspectives
Ch. 7 Tecumseh Address to the Osages
Jeffersonian Foreign Policy
The Missouri Enabling Act
Ch. 8 The South Carolina Exposition and Protest
The Cherokee Removal Through the Eyes of a Private Soldier
Black Hawk’s Surrender Speech
For online classes: Listen to all lectures in Module 6-7
1/27
2/10
2/11-3/10
2/24
First Biography is Due
First Draft Research Paper is Due
“Slavery and Reform,” “Market Revolution and Reform” and “Antebellum Reform”
Second Biography is Due
3 This is a PDF book and is found in the OER Textbooks and Ancillaries folder in the How to Pass module.
4 This is a PDF book and is found in the OER Textbooks and Ancillaries folder in the How to Pass module.
5 This is a PDF book and is found in the OER Textbooks and Ancillaries folder in the How to Pass module. The hyperlinks within the PDF do not work.
TBD (Poss 3/9) Final Draft Research Paper is Due
Read Religion and Reform in The American Yawp
Read Beyond Seneca Falls (National Park Service)
Read “Breaking the Chains of Slavery” and “A Woman’s Right to Vote” in
Women of Influence 6
Read Zinn We Take Nothing by Conquest, Thank God
Read Zinn Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom 7
American Perspectives
Ch. 9 The Birthmark
The Tell-Tale Mark
Ch. 10 Annual Reports of the Massachusetts State Board of Education
Dorothea Dix on Prisons
A Marriage Under Protest
The Declaration of Sentiments
The Second Great Awakening: A Christian Nation?
Ch. 11 Vesey Uprising
Nat Turner Rebellion
Texas Slave Insurrection
Ch. 12 David Walker’s Appeal
The Meaning of July 4 th for the Negro
Murder of Lovejoy
Address of John Brown to the Virginia Court
For online classes: Listen to all lectures in Module 8-11, if provided.
“Snapping the Mystic Chords,” “And the War Came,” The Better Angels of Our Nature” and “Reconstruction”
Read “A Time of Division” in Born for Liberty
Read The Civil War in The American Yawp
Read Women and the Civil War MTSU and the Library of Congress
Read Zinn Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom
Read Zinn The Other Civil War
American Perspectives
Ch. 12 Reading Marx with Abraham Lincoln: Utopian Socialists
Ch. 13 Emancipation Proclamation
Gettysburg Address
Ch. 15 Transcript of the Homestead Act
Ch. 13 Transcript of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
No Peace Without Victory
Ch. 16 History of the Sioux War and Massacre
Testimony of Col. Chivington
Ch. 14 Mississippi Black Codes
6 This is a PDF book and is found in the OER Textbooks and Ancillaries folder in the How to Pass module.
7 Read up to when the Civil War begins, or about half of the chapter. You will finish this chapter when we get to
Reconstruction.
The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments
A Letter “To My Old Master”
The Ku Klux Klan: Organization and Principles
The Nadir of Nadir of Race Relations
Minor v. Hapersett
Ch. 16 First Report on the Battle of Little Big Horn
For all classes: Listen to all lectures in Modules 12-13, if provided.
Second Biography is Due
Final Draft Research Paper is Due
2/24
TBD (Poss 3/9)
Gate Keeper Quiz : Before gaining access to the Canvas classroom, you must take and pass the Gate Keeper quiz with a score of 100%. You may take the quiz as often as necessary. The final question states that you have examined everything in the How to Succeed and How to Pass modules, that you understand everything in those modules, and you are aware of the penalties for not adhering to everything in those modules. So, before taking the Gate Keeper
Quiz, please have all your questions answered because once you answer “Yes” to the final question, you are attesting that you will not have any questions on anything covered in those modules, which includes this syllabus.
See my Questions Policy below.
You will not have access to the class such as assigned readings, assigned lectures, collections of various sources that you will use in successful completion of your graded assignments, and other information that you are assigned to read/listen to and must use. And, I will not grade any submissions until you have passed the Gate Keeper Quiz.
Graded Work
Format: All work will be submitted as a single Word file, which means the extension is either .doc, .docx, or .rtf.
All written work will be double spaced using Times New Roman font, 12 size, with default margins. There will not be a cover page, headers, page numbers, or anything else not required by the assignment’s directions/requirements.
If you use a cover page or add anything not required then I will deduct 1% from the grade for each non-required item. Attention to detail. There are four assignments. Each assignment is worth 25% of your course grade.
Part of earning a grade is the successful submission of each assignment. Successful submission means that the assignment is uploaded to the proper assignment folder, in the proper format, and on time. I will grade what you submit. It is your responsibility to submit the correct file(s). If you submit the incorrect file your grade will ultimately suffer. If you submit the work in a format that is not supported by Canvas you will earn the grade of zero.
There is no re-do, there is no resubmit, there is no second bite at the apple. Attention to detail.
You have four submissions. There are 8 weeks in the semester. You will have something to submit roughly every two weeks. Except for the Final Draft of the Research Paper (which is TBD but may be due on Saturday March 9th), everything is due on Sundays and everything is due by 2359 or 11:59pm, whichever comes first. See my Late
Policy.
1 st Biography 1/27
1 st Draft Research Paper 2/10
2 nd Biography 2/24
Final Draft Research Paper TBD but possibly Saturday March 9 th
Short Biographies (60%)
This is worth 60% of your final grade (30% each). In a minimum of 250 words, write a biography adhering to the following requirements:
Select two people from the list below.
Evidence that is required for context will come from the following sources, at a minimum (ALL):
-American Perspectives
-my lectures
-anything in Canvas
Born for Liberty
Required for content:
-This is a research assignment so you will perform research. Research is not random Google searches. Research is performed at universities, historical associations, or government facilities or their websites. You will locate academic or government sources. I cover valid sources in the How to Pass module.
There is no minimum number of content sources, however, you must use an equal number of online and monograph sources IF you use online sources at all. You may submit biographies that use 100% monograph sources, but the opposite is not true.
TNR, 12 font. Cite using CMS as footnotes. Include a Bibliography.
Ballard, Martha
Barry, Catherine Moore
Clanton, Gertrude
(DeVoe) Smith, Emma
Dix, Dorothea (mental illness reform)
Dix, Dorothea (prison reform)
Fuller, Margaret
Grimke, Angelina
Ludington, Sybil
Palmer, Phoebe
Sanders, Elizabeth Elkins
Sawyer, Caroline Mehitable Fisher
Sedgwick, Catherine Maria
Research Paper: “Take your feet from off our necks.”
Get help from an HCC librarian! You may also may consider the college’s Inter-Library Loan service or see if any of our college’s databases contain any books you may need. Again, ask a librarian for help on the first day of the semester!
5-7 pages, TNR. 12 font, CMS footnotes and a Bibliography
First Draft. 15% (min 750 words; must use AP, Canvas, Born for Liberty )
Final Draft. 25% (Full and complete)
For Final Draft- Required for context (ALL)
-American Perspectives
-my lectures
-Canvas
Born for Liberty
The Grimke Sisters From South Carolina
Optional
-No more than two (2) websites
“I ask no favors for my sex. I surrender not our claim to equality. All I ask of our brethren is, that they will take their feet from off our necks, and permit us to stand upright on that ground which God designed us to occupy.”
-Sarah Grimke, July 17, 1837
Examine one way (not suffrage) in which women were unequal to men at that time and explain why that was the case. Then considering that one inequality, answer this: Have men taken their feet from women’s necks TODAY allowing women to stand upright “on that ground which God designated [women] to occupy’? Why or why not? Or to what extent? Explain, explain, explain.
Final Assignment Bonus. Do you want to earn a 10% bonus to your final assignment grade? If 70% of the class participates, I will add 10% to everyone's final assignment score. Please do not send me an email informing me that you submit the evaluation. You only get the bonus if 70% of the class participates so get your classmates to fill out the survey.
Instructions are at EGLS3 Evaluate your professors . Mobile devices can use MyEagle.hccs.edu, log in, and look for the EGLS3 button.
Resources
Required resources : Graded assignments will use a variety of evidence that may include the required e-textbooks, the e reader ( American Perspectives ), the monograph(s) you have selected/been assigned, my lectures, and appropriate articles, and essays and/or documents from the ethnic and gender ancillaries in the Canvas classroom or other online collections, for example. Each assignment ascribes specific resources so adhere to the requirements of each assignment.
Optional resources : Once you have exhausted the required resources, you may, if you chose to do so, use any of the optional resources. Please see the definitions of grades. One of the many characteristics of A work is the use optional resources. Optional resources are anything I have placed in the Canvas classroom that is not specifically required for you to use. You are not required to use optional resources but you will not use any optional resources until you have exhausted evidence from the required resources. If you locate a source that you wish to use that I have not identified as an optional source, please contact me. If approved, you may use that as an optional source. If you use a source that I do not approve, see the next paragraph.
Prohibited resources : Everything that is not required and not optional is prohibited. Never, ever use prohibited resources. If you use a prohibited source (even “just once”) your grade will be 69 or below. See the definitions of grades below.
Citations: For all assignments you will use footnotes in accordance with the Chicago Manual of Style. CMS is a footnote style used in History classes. An e handout on citing is part of your reading assignment in the “How to
Pass” module. Students who fail to cite using the required method will receive a grade of 69 or lower. Students who fail to cite at all will be given a 59 or lower. See definitions of grades below.
Additional Opportunities to Succeed: If I present such as opportunity, I will post such in the Announcements section. I do not guarantee there will be any such a thing. If I do, the turnaround will be short thus check the
Announcements section daily .
Extra Credit. Please do not ask me about any “extra credit.” Do your work as required at the level I require and you will not need to do any additional work and neither will I. You realize that when you ask for “extra credit” you are
also asking me to do extra work. I do not need to extra work because I did my original work just fine. To quote
Tongo Rad to Spock in the Star Trek episode The Way to Eden (1969) “Do we reach?” .
Assignment Feedback/Comments: Besides a grade, you will receive comments or feedback from me in your first three assignments. The comments are not to justify the grade. Please do not ask me “why” you received the grade you did. The grade earned is reflective of the characteristics of the grade defined in the syllabus. Grading is in part subjective and in part objective (see the definitions of grades below). My comments are therefore forward looking to give you a few ideas on how to improve your standing on the next assignment. I will provide you with two or three major issues you need to address on the next assignment. I cannot possibly point out every single problem with every students’ submissions. I am not your editor. Therefore, if you are in need of further assistance than I can offer, we have both online and on campus writing centers to assist students. For online support go here: http://www.hccs.upswing.io
. For assistance in person, here is where begin: http://ctle3.hccs.edu/alltutoring/ .
On campus writing assistance may not be available during the short December and May semesters.
Grades :
100-90 A
89-80 B
79-70 C
69-60 D
59- F
I do not round up grades. Please never, ever ask me to do so. Doing so is unethical and flies in the face of at least one Core Objective of this course.
Definitions of Grades:
The grade of A (100-90) reflects excellence . The A work offers an exceptionally well-focused and organized discussion appropriate to the instructor's assignment, reflects critical use of all relevant materials, and demonstrates effective and formal writing requirements. Work must demonstrate outstanding efforts to identify and use varied, pertinent, and exhaustive evidence from all required sources, to identify and use optional sources, to employ those materials critically in the text of the work, to critically analyze the sources, to use the words and deeds of people, including non-elite people, and to provide error-free citations of those resources. A work is handed in on time.
The grade of B (89-80) represents work beyond satisfactory and indicates the work was completed in an appropriate and competent manner and, in general, demonstrates a strong attempt at original and critical analysis, writing, and research. Work must demonstrate beyond satisfactory efforts to identify varied and pertinent evidence from all required sources. Submissions extensively use the words and deeds of individual people. The B paper may contain a number of minor errors of grammar or citation, and its thesis or its conclusions may be undeveloped or not strongly supported. Analysis is at times weak or underdeveloped. B work is handed in on time.
The grade of C (79-70) indicates that the work was done in a satisfactory or appropriate fashion and represents the average work expected for college courses . In order to obtain a C grade, your work must adhere to all of the assignment’s minimum requirements to include but not limited to page/word requirements, number of sources, types of sources, Bibliography, and proper citation method. The work is organized around a central idea with arguments supported by relevant examples from the available sources. The work is structured into correctly written paragraphs and sentences. Although fulfilling the assignment, the C work may exhibit one or more weaknesses including, but not limited to, errors of punctuation and grammar, imprecise or incorrect word use, inaccurate or uncritical use of
materials, a lack of or limited analysis, occasional inconsistency of organization or development, and lack of clear and direct relevance of the selected research materials to the topic. C work is handed in on time.
The grade of D (69-60) indicates that the work may have a poorly defined thesis (or lacks a thesis), lacks clear focus or organization, or contains generalizations, sweeping statements or unsupported conclusions. Research support
(citations) is inadequate, not clearly relevant, or improperly documented, but citations are still there. A less-thanminimal research effort may be evident. The work may also suffer from numerous or major formal writing errors. D work fails to adhere to any of the assignment’s minimum requirements. D work may contain at least one prohibited source. D work is handed in on time.
The grade of F (59-1) indicates that the work is not clearly relevant to the assignment or that its topic and thesis are nonexistent. The work may display inadequate organization or development and nonstandard formal features
(including language usage, sentence structure, and paragraphing). Research support is absent, or irrelevant to the assignment. Any submission that lacks citations earns the grade of F. F work is handed in on time.
The grade of 0 indicates that the work was not submitted at all or submitted after the due date/time, not submitted in the required format, or the submission had nothing to do with the assignment. Remember any cheating whatsoever will result in an F for the course. Do you remember what happened to SMU in 1987? http://time.com/3720498/ncaasmu-death-penalty/
Late Work: Even if you submit the work “just one minute late” it is still late. Late is late. I do not accept late work.
Please see the Introduction presentation in the How to Pass module. I will not entertain any excuse for submitting work late. I did not earn my BA in two years by allowing anyone or anything to get in the way of my success, and neither will you. I expect no less from you.
Excuses. Again, I do not accept late work. “Success” and “excuses” do not go hand in hand, not in my class and not in life. One reason why I earned my BA in just two (2) years was that I prepared for the widest array of problems, emergencies, and unexpected events. I expect no less from you. Prepare for things to go wrong. Have a Plan B in place. Do not allow life to blow you around like tree pollen in the Spring.
Incompletes: I do not offer Incompletes unless you meet the Department’s requirements: Completed at least 70% of the coursework with a course average of 70 or higher with no assignments remaining except for the final exam/assignment.
Extensions: Sometimes students cannot, for whatever reasons, get their work submitted on time so they ask me for an extension. The answer is no. Everything has a specific due date which I will not negotiate, extend, or alter. Never ask me for an extension. Part of success in this class, as well as in life, is learning to properly manage your time, juggle various deadlines, and handle diversity, problems, unexpected events, and emergencies when they arise. You should have a Plan B in place to be prepared for the unexpected. One reason why I earned my BA in just two (2) years was that I prepared for the widest array of problems, emergencies, and unexpected events. I expect no less from you. This is the third time on four paragraphs I have reminded you that I obtained my BA in two years. I will do this often throughout the semester as a reminder of the necessity to not allow anyone or anything to get in the way of you succeeding in this class. However . . .
When Life Gets in the Way: If something that lasts the entire semester affects your ability to successfully complete the class, then please meet with me so that we may discuss what we can do to help you to succeed -to come up with your Plan B that will encompass the entire (or rest) of the semester. After twenty years of service in higher education, I have experience with the widest array of personal tragedies to include sexual assault, homelessness, and domestic violence. Whatever you are going through, I have dealt with students who have gone through that.
Sometimes a Plan B to prepare for the cable going out is not the same plan as if something of significant tragedy happens.
A Final Thought on Grades: Getting good grades is easy. All you have to do is to keep up with the readings, attend class with a tenacity of purpose, take full and complete notes as I lecture and as you read, review your notes on a
daily basis, take advantage of my office hours, take advantage of any needed resources the college provides and put forth the required efforts on all assignments. No one has more control over your grades than yourselves. You will do well (i.e., pass) when you decide that studying is what is important and if you take the necessary steps to do well.
Ultimately, you are responsible for your success or failure. I am a proponent of personal responsibility.
Characteristics of Successful People: Successful people, in whatever endeavor, in whatever field, in whatever station in their lives, have five characteristics in common: Maturity, Dedication, Perseverance, Resiliency, and Grit. These are not inherent or organic. They are developed within each of us by our parents, by our K-12 teachers, and through our friends and relationships as we grow and develop. These characteristics can neither be taught nor learned in an 8 or 16-week semester. They are to be developed and nurtured over a lifetime. If you lack any of these characteristics, you may begin developing them through your attention in this class. If you are interested in developing these characteristics, make an appointment to see me. As someone who obtained three degrees in seven years, I know what it takes to succeed in the classroom.
My Final Adage: Never do the minimum of whatever is required and expect a superior outcome or commendation.
Policies: If you cannot or will not adhere to these polices then please do not take my class as I will not make any exceptions to individuals and thus never ask me to change my policies or to make an exception for you.
Academic Honesty: In the case of any form of cheating, including plagiarism you will receive an F in the course. If you drop the course after being caught cheating in any form, including plagiarism, I will change your final grade to an “F”. Plagiarism is the failure to cite your research/evidence or using the words or ideas of another without properly citing the source(s) while cheating includes any academic dishonest practice that offers you an unfair advantage. See the Student Handbook on plagiarism and cheating.
Participation: Participation is required if you want to succeed (i.e., pass): Participation means submitting graded and non-graded work and responding to my emails and class announcements when required or in-class discussions.
Students who fail to participate before the official day of record will be dropped from the class by the Registrar’s
Office. Students who do not participate after the official day or record will be given the grade of FX, unless the student drops the class.
Student Attendance: Life is too short to repeat in lectures what is available in your readings, thus relentless attendance is required. If you miss “just one day” you truly miss a lot because my lectures, like history, are tightly integrated. Successful students attend class with a tenacity of purpose. Successful students log into the class daily to get the latest Announcements and to read my daily emails. Attendance means logging in, opening files, or uploading assignments.
You are required to log into the classroom daily for online students and twice a week for on-campus students. Online students who do not log into the class at least 12.5% of the time may be dropped. On campus students who miss 12.5% of the class may be dropped. You are responsible for everything covered in class.
Withdrawal: Why would you want a “W” on your transcript? Please realize that when universities or employers see transcripts with Ws, the message they receive is that you cannot complete what you started. In other words, it is in your best interest to get a grade in this course. I will not withdrawal students. Quitting is the responsibility of the students as I will not facilitate quitting.
International Students: Receiving a W in a course may affect the status of your student Visa. Once a W is given for the course, it will not be changed to an F because of the visa consideration. Since January 1, 2003, International
Students are restricted in the number of distance education courses that they may take during each semester. ONLY
ONE online/distance education class may be counted towards the enrollment requirement for International Students per semester. Please contact the International Student Office at 713-718-8520 if you have any questions about your visa status and other transfer issues.
Reinstatement Policy: Students have a responsibility to arrange payment for their classes when they register, either through cash, credit card, financial aid, or the installment plan. Faculty members have a responsibility to check their class rolls regularly, especially during the early weeks of a term, and reconcile the official class roll to ensure that no one is attending class whose name does not appear on the rolls. Students who are dropped from their courses for nonpayment of tuition and fees, who request reinstatement after the official date of record (OE date), can be reinstated by making payment in full and paying an additional course reinstatement fee. A student requesting reinstatement should present the registrar with a completed Enrollment Authorization Form with the signature of the instructor, the department chair, or the dean, who should verify that the student has been regularly attending class. Students who are reinstated are responsible for all course policies and procedures, including attendance requirements. A dean may waive the reinstatement fee upon determination that the student was dropped because of a college error. The dean should note the nature of the error in a memo to the registrar with the appropriate documentation .
Questions Policy: I presume that the syllabus, Announcements, emails. etc. are crystal clear because I know what I want to say. However, I might not have said what I wanted to say clearly to you thus if anything I put out is confusing or you have questions on anything in the Announcements or anything I put out in class, it is your responsibility to contact me immediately if not sooner and seek my assistance. I do not want to hear on the third week of the semester that you are “confused” about this or that in the syllabus. You will contact me on day one if anything in the syllabus is confusing, for example. You are ultimately responsible for your success or failure. I am a proponent of personal responsibility. If you contact me after day one with a question on the syllabus, I will ask you why you did not contact me on day one -especially for an online class because you had the syllabus 10 days before the class began. That’s the stick. The carrot is that I will then attempt to answer your question or address your confusion.
You will contact me through the Canvas email system (use the Inbox icon). Each class offers different policies, procedures, etc. and if I do not know which class you are in I cannot give you the most accurate response thus do not contact me at my HCC email address. Do not contact me using a personal email address as I am not able to respond to emails sent via personal email addresses. Use the Inbox icon in the Canvas classroom.
Remember, read the syllabus before answering the final question of the Gatekeeper Quiz!
Everything you need to know about this class is in the syllabus. Please read every handcrafted word of the syllabus. Your success hinges on your willful, careful and critical reading of the syllabus.
I will not answer any questions having anything to do with technology because I am not trained on technology. If you have a tech issue or tech related question, please contact the tech department (Help Desk in Canvas).
Likewise, I will not answer any question that is covered in the Canvas orientation that the DE Department put out.
Again, my training is on the instructor’s side of creating and maintaining the Canvas classroom, not on the student’s side of using the Canvas classroom. So, if you have a question not pertaining to history, about Canvas please contact the DE department or tech department.
Finally, I do not teach college writing. You learned how to write on a college level in ENGL 1301 (which is a prerequisite for Hist 1301 and 1302) thus I will not answer any questions on material that was covered in ENGL
1301.
Virtual Classroom Conduct: As with on-campus classes, all students in HCC Distance Education/hybrid courses are required to follow all HCC Policies & Procedures, the Student Code of Conduct, the Student Handbook, and relevant sections of the Texas Education Code when interacting and communicating in a virtual classroom with your professor and fellow students. Students who violate these policies and guidelines will be subject to disciplinary action that could include denial of access to course-related email, discussion groups, and chat rooms or even removal from the class.
PowerPoint Lectures: I use Camtasia to create my videos. Each PowerPoint-driven video presentation has an audio component that automatically begins when you start the presentation and automatically plays on every new slide. If
you cannot hear the lectures (which you are required to use on assignments) you need to contact the tech department, not me. And Ian exceptionally clueless when it comes to Apple products. I use my iPad to create content, grade, and respond to questions, but I have no idea how to address any Apple product issue. For anyone who is having problems with those video lectures, then please contact the Help Desk.
Grades are earned not deserved: Years ago, I played in a school football league for boys between 4 th and 8 th grade.
My first year on the team, the team won the league championship. The rest of the 4 th graders and I were put into every game only after the win was assured and only to play offense. Our play never affected the outcome of any of our 12 wins. At the end of the year banquet, all players on our first place team received a trophy. At the age of 10 I remember not believing that I earned that trophy just because I was a member of the winning team. I believed that accolades need to be earned not deserved and so when we got home from the banquet I put the trophy in the back of my closet. Four year later, when I was in 8 th grade, our team once again won the league championship. I was the starting right guard on offense and right outside linebacker on defense. I recorded 34 tackles. I recovered six fumbles. I had three interceptions. I blocked one punt. I scored one defensive touchdown. The coaches voted me
First Team All-Star. In other words, I earned that first-place trophy and I was quite proud of my accomplishments when I received the All-Star distinction.
You do not “deserve” an A (or even a passing grade) just because you submitted something. For some, effort is equated to excellence. If that is what you have been taught, you were done a disservice. That mindset is unacceptable in my class and in life. Yet sadly in each class in every semester, there is always one student who tells me that he or she “deserves” an A or a better grade then they earned just because he or she submitted the assignment. You do not deserve to pass this class. You do not deserve to succeed in life. You earn a passing grade or you earn an F. Ultimately, the grade is in your hands. Please do not contact me telling me you “deserve” this or that.
You earn your way through life. Life does not owe you anything.
“But I’m a straight A student!” Students tell me that they have never “gotten” such a low grade before. Implying that the grade they earned in my class must be erroneous. That argument is not tautological.
I have heard that argument from students for 20 years. All my colleagues have heard that argument. Students at tier one research institutions have made that argument to me. You are in good company. But that belief is a common fallacy. Let me give you the example I give to every student who makes that statement.
Let’s say you purchase a lottery ticket from Convenience Store A and you win $100 dollars. The following week you purchase a lottery ticket from Convenience Store B and you win $50 dollars. The week after that you purchase a lottery ticket at Convenience Store C and you win $20 dollars. And on the fourth week you purchase a lottery ticket from Convenience Store D and win $2 dollars. Do you go back to the person who sold you the ticket at Convenience
Store D and tell him you “deserve” to win more money because you’ve always won more money in the past?
Or, here is a famous saying that stockbrokers tell their clients: “Past performance does not guarantee future results.”
One power of Santa Claus: According to the famous song “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (1934) one of the lines is “he knows when you’ve been sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sakes.” I have that same power in the Canvas classroom. Everything you do, from when you log into the classroom to when you log out, is recorded in the classroom activity log. Everything. So when students tell me that they submitted the assignment and cannot figure out why the assignment is not showing up in the assignment folder, I check the log. Never, not once, has the activity log ever supported the students’ claims of submission. Then I turn the log over to the DE tech department and ask them to verify my conclusions, so there is another pair of trained eyes looking at the log. Everything you do is recorded and I have access to that log.
Interestingly enough, the federal government has this same power. A formally Top-Secret computer operation called
XKeyscore recorded everything you did on your computer to include what you read or looked (when you stopped scrolling or are reading or looking at an image). Every keystroke. Even when you deleted key strokes. Interesting stuff. We cover that in Hist 1302.
“Don’t bring me a problem. Bring me a solution.” –Jack Welch
If anything, or anyone (including yourself) is getting in the way of your academic success and you still wish to continue in the class, then you must contact me immediately if not sooner. Please do not wait until after an assignment was due to inform me that this or that issue prevented you from successfully completing the assignment.
There is nothing I can do about it after the fact. Be proactive! Be in charge of your success! I want you to succeed
(i.e., pass). I want everyone to succeed. And so, you must take the lead and let me know when something, anything, is getting in the way of your success. But, you need to contact me BEFORE the assignment is due.
When you get your terminal degree, and start your career, your boss is not going to want to hear you point out all the problems with your job, the department, the company, or the boss. Rather, bosses want to hear solutions -so do I!
Thus, do not just present me with a problem. I want to hear your solution.
There is always a Plan B. My life has been one Plan B after another. YOU will present me with your Plan B and then we will refine it, adjust it, together.
Let this burn into your head: If passing is important to you, then regardless of your instinct to just drop the class or disappear into the abyss, you will contact me. Remember, fear is the mind killer.
Students with disabilities
Houston Community College is dedicated to providing an inclusive learning environment by removing barriers and opening access for qualified students with documented disabilities in compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Ability Services is the designated office responsible for approving and coordinating reasonable accommodations and services in order to assist students with disabilities in reaching their full academic potential. In order to receive reasonable accommodations or evacuation assistance in an emergency, the student must be registered with Ability Services.
If you have a documented disability (e.g. learning, hearing, vision, physical, mental health, or a chronic health condition), that may require accommodations, please contact the appropriate Ability Services Office below. Please note that classroom accommodations cannot be provided prior to your Instructor’s receipt of an accommodation letter and accommodations are not retroactive. Accommodations can be requested at any time during the semester, however if an accommodation letter is provided to the Instructor after the first day of class, sufficient time (1 week) must be allotted for the Instructor to implement the accommodations.
Ability Service Contact Information
Central College Coleman College
713-718-7376 713.718.6164
Northeast College
713-718-8322
Northwest College
713-718-5422/5408
Southeast College
713-718-7144
Southwest College
713-718-591
Adaptive Equipment
713-718-6629/5604
Interpreting/CART
713-718-6333
TITLE IX OF THE EDUCATION AMENDMENTS OF 1972, 20 U.S.C. A§ 1681 ET. SEQ.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 requires that institutions have policies and procedures that protect students’ rights with regard to sex/gender discrimination. Information regarding these rights are on the HCC website under Students-Anti-discrimination. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex-including pregnancy and
parental status-in educational programs and activities. If you require an accommodation due to pregnancy please contact an Abilities Services Counselor. Students who are pregnant and require accommodations should contact any of the ADA Counselors for assistance.
It is important that every student understands and conforms to respectful behavior while at HCC. Sexual misconduct is not condoned and will be addressed promptly. Know your rights and how to avoid these difficult situations.
Log in to: www.edurisksolutions.org
. Sign in using your HCC student e-mail account, then go to the button at the top right that says Login and enter your student number.
Tech Stuff: You are responsible to ensure the computer(s) you use is (are) properly equipped with software, hardware, and programs that afford successful completion of all assignments. For example you must ensure that your computer is running the latest version of Java. Older versions of Java will prohibit you from successfully completing assignments, assessments, and examinations. In addition, you must remove pop-up blockers to successfully complete assignments, assessments, and examinations. Failure to maintain the latest version of Java and/or remove pop-up blockers will negatively affect your grade from failing an assignment to failing the course.
You must run Microsoft Word. Neither HCC nor I support non Word files. Non Word submissions will be given zeros (see “Submissions” above) because I cannot open them. Word files are .doc, .docx, or .rtf.
If you are a Mac person you will need to secure Office 365 or contact other Mac users to see what app or program they use in order to hear my audio-embedded lectures. You must use a digital player that will play the lectures which are attached to my PowerPoint presentations. You must run Office or the Mac version in order to open the
PowerPoint presentations.
Unless otherwise noted, all assignments, assessments, and examinations will be submitted in the proper assignment folder in our classroom. I will not accept work submitted directly to my HCC email account or the in-class email system (via the Inbox icon). Again, part of earning a grade begins with the successful submission of assignments.
As this class meets online or has an online presence you must have access to a computer with constant and reliable internet service. That computer must be running the latest version of Java and you must remove any pop-up blockers.
If you experience any technical issues, please contact the tech department as I am not trained in or knowledgeable about tech issues.
Success or failure is squarely in your hands. Success and failure are choices. To quote the old knight in Indiana
Jones and the Last Crusade, “Choose wisely”.
Campus Carry:
“At HCC the safety of our students, staff, and faculty is our first priority. As of August 1, 2017,
Houston Community College is subject to the Campus Carry Law (SB11 2015). For more information, visit the
HCC Campus Carry web page at http://www.hccs.edu/district/departments/police/campus-carry/ .”
.