HIST 335
Augustana College
The West
in American History and Culture
Spring 2009  Olin 302, MWF 2:30 – 3:45 am  Prof Lendol Calder  Old Main 320  Office Hours: by appt., 7679
All America lies at the end of the wilderness road, and our past is not a dead past, but still
lives in us. Our forefathers had civilization inside themselves, the wild outside. We live in
the civilization they created, but within us the wilderness still lingers. What they
dreamed, we live, and what they lived, we dream.
T.K. Whipple, Study Out the Land
The Big Questions
“History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions.” --Auden

How has the American West been understood by the peoples who have lived
there?

How has the American West been interpreted by documentary filmmakers and
historians?

How well do filmmakers and historians serve the public with their
representations of western history?
 How does Western History matter?
REQUIRED TEXTS




Milner, O’Connor, Sandweiss, The Oxford History of the American West
The Journals of Lewis & Clark (National Geographic Adventure Classics edition)
John G Neihardt, ed., Black Elk Speaks
Elinore Pruitt Stewart, Letters of A Woman Homesteader
COURSE DESCRIPTION
In this course you will learn history by doing history. What does this mean?
A lot of people think “history” is what they find in a book or hear in a lecture. If this were the whole truth,
then learning history would be a simple thing. All people would have to do is read, listen, and repeat what
others have written and said about the past. Pretty simple. Pretty boring. Fairly useless.
Actually, it’s a misconception to think that being “good” at history means remembering stuff. If history
was only a subject—say, “the American West”—then learning it would mean mastering a body of facts.
But history is first and foremost a discipline, which means that “nothing that can be memorized is history”
(Collingwood). Like other disciplines—e.g., natural science, theology, or mathematics—history teaches a
particular way of perceiving and understanding the world. To be “good” at history, then, means mastering
a certain way of thinking that is useful for making sense of our world.
HIST 335 will teach you something about history as a way of thinking and knowing. For this reason, we
will make no attempt to “cover” the whole of Western history in class, as if that were even possible.
“Covering” history inevitably “covers up” how historians come to know what they say they know. It
remains true that factual knowledge is important. Your knowledge of key facts, dates, and ideas will be
regularly assessed and will count for part of your grade. But most of your efforts in this course will go
toward learning to think historically. Thus, in this course you will learn to apply historical methods to
questions about the Western experience that are of interest to scholars, the general public, and to us.
The particular way we are going to “do history” involves an approach called “Problem Based Learning.” I
assume that most students in the course will bring their own problems to our subject—problems of
identity (Who am I? What do I love?), public policy (Is unrestricted immigration a good idea?), moral
inquiry (How should we live?), and the like. But the critical problem we will tackle together is this:
What is the potential of documentary film
for representing the history of the American West?
In the process of studying this “real-world” problem, you are necessarily going to learn a good deal of
history and come to a deeper understanding of what it has meant—and means—to be a Westerner, an
American, and a human being.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO LEARN IN THIS COURSE
1.
Knowledge of and appreciation for the history of the American West




2.
Visual literacy: an ability to critically assess film versions of Western history



3.
What are the major events in Western history, and when did they happen?
What are some plausible ways to periodize Western history?
What are some of the major questions, issues, texts, subjects, and historiographical debates in the
scholarly study of Western history?
Why study Western history?
What are reasonable criteria for a “good” historical documentary film?
What are the elements of a helpful film review?
What are the interpretative “scripts” often used by filmmakers to make sense of Western history?
Research and communication skills



Where can I go for reliable information about Western history?
Where can I find good film reviews?
How can I share with others the results of my learning?
THE DESIGN OF THE COURSE
HIST 335 gives students a large responsibility for constructing the course as we go along. Each of the three
units in the course follows the same pattern of instruction:
Questioning:
What do we
need to
know?
In-class Workshops
State of the Art:
What do scholars say?
Readiness Test
Teaching
Presentations
Primary Source:
How does the film
compare to a
primary source?
Final
Take
Read: Primary Source
Out of Class
Film
Screenings
Read: Oxford
History of the
American West
Prepare: Presentation (1 of 3 units)
Write: Film Review (2 of 3 units)
1. Film Screenings: Each unit begins with screenings of a documentary film made to teach Western
history.
2. Workshop on Questions: After viewing the film, the class meets to ask, “What do we need to know
about Western history to judge whether this film did a good job teaching its subject?” At this meeting, we
will draw up questions that set the agenda for the rest of the unit. Research topics will be assigned to
students who volunteer to take a question and prepare a teaching presentation.
3. Workshop on the “State of the Art”: On this day we consider what scholars of Western history have
to say about the questions we are examining in the unit and about other issues they consider important. A
Readiness Test assesses how well students understand the scholarship on the period and subject.
4. Teaching Presentations: Student historians research and present answers to the questions the class
wanted to know more about. The presentations provide information and ideas for class members
preparing to write a critical film review for this unit of the course.
5. Workshop for Primary Source Analysis: On this day we compare the story told in the film with one of
its key documentary sources.
6. Final Take: On the last day of the unit, students will compare the arguments they are making in the
rough drafts of their film reviews, sharpening each other’s ideas. I will share final thoughts about issues
raised by our subject.
7. Film Review Essay: The units conclude with the writing of a 4-5 page review of the film under
discussion, making use of what students have learned since watching the film. Two review essays must be
submitted to complete the course. Students may elect to write a third essay if they wish; the highest two
grades will be recorded.
EVALUATIONS & GRADES
Your final grade will be determined by your performance on the following:
20%
20%
30%
20%
10%
Readiness Tests [1/3 individual test + (2/3 group test X peer evaluation)]
Film Review #1
Film Review #2
Teaching Presentation
Course Contribution (attendance + questions + assistance w/my self-study)
The Readiness Tests (RTs) are given during the Workshop on the “State of the Art.” RTs are a
mechanism ensuring that students are exposed to basic concepts and information important for the unit
and have achieved a minimum readiness to go on to higher-order thinking. Students prepare for the test by
reading assigned chapters in The Oxford History of the American West. The RT begins with an individual test
made of short answer and multiple choice questions targeting major points of information. Then students
re-take the same test in the group they have been assigned to for the duration of the term. After the group
test has been scored, groups may petition to achieve credit on questions they feel were misleading or
inaccurate. How the individual and group tests are weighted will be decided by the class on the first day.
At the end of the term, students will evaluate the peers in their group, giving a score for every individual
which will be used as a multiplier on the total group score for that individual.
The film reviews will show your progress toward an important goal of the course: to learn how to
critically evaluate films about Western history. Of the three films screened and examined in the course,
you will review at least two of them (your choice). Re-writes will not be accepted. Instead, you may
choose to review a third film with the higher grade substituting for an earlier lower grade.
The teaching presentation entrusts you with responsibility for assisting classmates who are writing film
reviews. The fifteen-minute presentations will address questions identified by the class to be essential for
understanding a particular film and its relation to history. The challenge will be to research, organize,
condense, and present the material you uncover in a way that combines scholarly integrity with audience
engagement. The presentations are not mere “reports” read out to a passive, bored audience. Rather, with
assistance from the professor, you will work to make your presentation an effective medium for learning.
In this course students play a large role in setting agendas, researching questions, and presenting material.
Your course contribution measures the responsibility, initiative, and artfulness you bring to the class.
Your grade for this element will be determined by three indicators of contribution:
1. Attendance
2. Questions in class
3. Assistance with a self-study I am making of this course. I hope you will consent to assist me
with a study I am making of this course for future publication. During the unit in which you
are neither writing a review nor giving a presentation, I may ask you to respond in writing to
survey questions, attend a focus group, agree to be interviewed, or to complete some other
task that will help me answer questions I have about teaching history.
Statement on Plagiarism
I expect students to be familiar with the Augustana norms governing plagiarism (Inside Augustana: Student
Handbook, pp. 16-17. If you copy sentences and/or paragraphs from film reviews not your own or from other
published work, you will be given an F on the assignment. I reserve the right to penalize egregious cases of
plagiarism with an F for the course.
OUT OF CLASS FILMS
Several films are scheduled for viewing as part of the required “reading” for the course. These required
screenings are listed on the syllabus.
In addition, I encourage you to “go to the movies” as often as you can. Viewing several Hollywood
“westerns” can help us see what stories of the West have meant for the way Americans in the twentieth
century have thought about themselves, and how these stories have changed over time. Some films that
would be good to see include: Stagecoach (1939), They Died With Their Boots On (1941), My Darling Clementine
(1946), Shane (1953), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Little Big Man (1970), Dances With Wolves (1990), A
River Runs Through It (1992), and Smoke Signals (1998).
CLASS MEETINGS & ASSIGNMENTS

Screenings
of Lewis
& Clark:
#3
MONDAY
Mar 9 Where the West Begins
WEDNESDAY
11 Screening: Lewis & Clark
Episode 1
FRIDAY
13 Screening: Lewis & Clark
Episode 2
16 What is the Story of the West?
18 What is the “New Western
History”?
20 History Workshop—Questions
Read: Turner, “The Significance of the
Frontier in American History”
23 History Workshop—State of the Art:
What do scholars say about themes
raised by Lewis & Clark?
For today: 1. Introduction to OH; 2.
Foreward to The West as America; 3. [OH
ch 21 recommended]
25 Presentations
What do we need to know to understand
and review Burns’ Lewis & Clark?
Presenters meet with Dr Calder after
class today.
27 No Class
#4
For today: OH ch 1 “Native Peoples and
Native Histories; ch 4 “American
Frontier”; ch 5 “National Initiatives”
Readiness Test #1
30 Presentations

Apr 1 History Workshop—Primary
Source: How does Lewis & Clark
compare/contrast with The Journals of
Lewis & Clark?
3 Final Take:
Exploring Lewis & Clark
For today: Journals of Lewis & Clark
L&C review due Monday
6 Screening: The Way West
Episode 2
8 Screening: The Way West
Episode 4
10 Easter Holiday
14 History Workshop—Questions
15 History Workshop—State of the Art:
What do scholars say about themes
raised by The Way West?
For today: OH ch 6 “Entering the Global
Economy,” ch 9 “A Saga of Families”; ch
10 “Religion & Spirituality,” ch 11
“Violence”
Readiness Test #2
22 History Workshop—Primary Source:
How does The Way West compare/
contrast with Black Elk Speaks?
17 Presentations
For today: Black Elk Speaks
The Way West review due Monday
29 Screening : Heartland
May 1 History Workshop: Questions
Screenings
of The Way
West
#1
What do we need to know to understand
and review Ric.Burns’ The Way West?
#3
Presenters meet with Dr Calder after class
today
20 Presentations
27 Screening: Heartland
24 Final Take: Meet the Filmmaker: Ric Burns
What do we need to know to
understand and review Heartland?
4 Reading Day
Presenters meet with Dr Calder today.
11 Presentations
6 History Workshop—State of the Art:
What do scholars say about themes
raised by Heartland?
For today: OH ch 8 “An Agricultural
Empire”; ch 20 “The Literary West”
Readiness Quiz #3
13 History Workshop—Primary
Source: How does the story of Heartland
compare/contrast with Letters of a
Woman Homesteader?
8 Presentations
15 Final Take: Rediscovering the
West
Heartland review due 5 pm Monday
For today: Ls. of a Woman Homesteader
This syllabus is subject to change