Spring 2014 ♦ Tues-Thurs, 12:00-1:15 pm ♦ Old MAIN 225
Dr. Colleen O'Neill
History Department
colleen.oneill@usu.edu
435-797-1297
Office Hours: Wed: 2:30-3:30 pm and by
appointment
Old Main 321E
(Western Historical Quarterly Office)
GA: Paige Tuft, paige.tuft@aggiemail.usu.edu
Office Hours for Paige: Tues/Thurs 1:20-2:20
This course examines the larger historical processes that shaped the migration of peoples
to America’s shores and within its shifting borders. Students will explore the global
economic changes, shifting demographics and political institutions that created the
United States’ culturally diverse landscape. Studying the past from a social historical
perspective, we will examine the historical roots of worldwide migrations, including the
slave trade, the Irish Diaspora, and European migrations, as well as the migration
strategies of Asian and Mexican workers. Students will examine the “push” factors that
inspired many of these communities to leave their homes, as well as the cultural and
racial landscape they encountered when they arrived in America.
Upon completion of this class students will:
•
understand the historical roots of the U.S. cultural map, and explain how migrants
shaped and were shaped by historical conditions.
•
compare the histories of major ethnic and racial groups in the United States to
comprehend what made their experiences similar, and/or unique, and why.
•
understand the global forces that influenced the changing social status of these
communities within the United States.
•
explore the various political, economic, and cultural strategies ethnic and/or racial
communities employed to create social change.
•
develop critical thinking skills through analysis of a variety of texts, including
fictional narratives, historical documents, music and visual materials.
•
employ those insights to construct historical arguments.
Grading: Mid term exam 100 points
Final exam 100 points
Analytical essay 50 points
Quizzes: 50 points (25 points each)
Weekly i-cliker responses: Weekly i-cliker responses: 24 points (2 points
each) I-cliker quizzes are intended to measure your class participation. So,
they cannot be "made up" or taken ahead of time.
USU 1320 / page 2
Required Texts:
1. Ronald Takaki, A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America, revised
edition (Back Bay Books, 2008).
2. Additional required reading and viewing available on Canvas as pdf files, noted
with:ê
3. Choose one of the following novels/memoirs:
•
Mary Doyle Curran, The Parish and the Hill (NY: Feminist Press, 1986).
•
Anzia Yezierska, Bread Givers: A Novel (NY: Persea Books, 2003).
•
Carlos Bulosan, America is in the Heart: A Personal History (Seattle: University
of Washington Press, 1973).
•
Frances Esquibel Tywoniak and Mario García, Migrant Daughter: Coming of Age
as A Mexican American Woman (University of California Press, 2000).
You will be required to read the assigned readings, attend video showings, and come to
class prepared to engage the lecture (take notes and ask questions) material. Attending
class is very important! What we discuss in class will not be easy to "look-up" in a
textbook or on a website. It is your responsibility to participate in creating a dynamic and
respectful intellectual climate by coming to class on time and prepared. Please turn off
your cell phones before class begins. I will allow you to use computers in class to take
notes. However, surfing the web, checking email, or any other type of computer use
(other than word processing for note-taking), is extremely disruptive and distracting to
your classmates, and will not be tolerated. If you insist on using your computer in those
ways during class, you will be asked to leave the room.
Please note: Plagiarism policy
Plagiarism is a serious offense and will not be tolerated. According to USU policy,
plagiarism is “knowingly representing, by paraphrase or direct quotation, the published or
unpublished work of another person as one's own in any academic exercise or activity
without full and clear acknowledgment (footnote or citation in the text). Please see the
USU Student Code of Conduct:
http://www.usu.edu/studentservices/studentcode/article6.cfm
A helpful website that provides a good definition of plagiarism and offers hints on how to
avoid it: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/02/
Plagiarism is on the rise and my tolerance is wearing very thin. Consider this notice a
warning. It is much better to receive a "C" on an average paper than failing the class for
turning in a well written, plagiarized essay. Your own work is always best. Please do not
risk your academic career by making such a shortsighted choice to "cheat."
USU 1320 / page 3
Assignment Schedule:
Pre-Colonial America
1/7:
Introductions, Expectations and Responsibilities
1/9:
Native peoples of the Southwest
Reading: “How the World Began” by Ramon A. Gutiérrez, ê
http://southwestcrossroads.org/record.php?num=492
1/14:
Native peoples of the Northeast
Reading: "Father Le Jeune on the Importance of Native American Women, 1633"ê
European Societies
1/16:
Changing Social Order in Early Modern Europe
Reading: "Ordinance of the Spurriers' [Spurmakers'] Guild of London, England
1345ê
Sir Thomas More, "Some Results of the Enclosure Movement," (excerpt
from Utopia). ê
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/ralph/workbook/ralprs22b.htm
1/21:
Crisis of Feudalism and the Consolidation of European Nation States
Reading: Takaki, chapter 1.
Colonial Economies
1/23:
1/28:
Labor, Gold and Fur
Reading: Bartolome de las Casas, "On Spanish Treatment of the Indians," from
History of the Indies (1528) ê (and listen to John Sayles reading from
part of that document -- see audio link on Canvas)
Columbus "Utilizing the Native American Labor Force." ê
Sylvia Van Kirk: "The Role of Native Women in the Creation of Fur
Trade Society in Western Canada, 1670- 1830." ê
Settler Colonialism
Reading: Adam Smith, "The Results of Colonization," 1776ê
“Scottish Immigration to the American Colonies, 1772” ê
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1772Scot-immig.html
Takaki, chapter 2, (including the introduction to Part 1) “The 'Tempest' in
the Wilderness: A Tale of Two Frontiers."
Africa and the Global Implications of the Slave Trade
1/30:
Africa before the European Slave Trade
Reading: View the image and read the associated text on the following website:
A King and his Judicial Court, Sierra Leone, 1764ê
http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/slavery/details.php?categorynum=2&cat
egoryName=PreColonial%20Africa:%20Society,%20Polity,%20Culture&theRecord=151
&recordCount=240
Takaki, chapter 3: "The Hidden Origins of Slavery."
USU 1320 / page 4
2/4:
The Global Impact of the African Slave Trade
Reading: Takaki, chapter 5: “No More Peck o’ Corn: Slavery and Its Discontents."
2/6:
Reading Quiz #1
film: Africans in America (segments)
Imperialism and American Migrations
2/11:
British Imperialism in Ireland
Reading: Listen to Sinead O'Connor's performance of an Irish Famine folk song:
"Dear Old Skibbereen" (see Canvas link for You Tube).
(ignore the video, just listen to the song) ê
Read text and view images of the famine at: The Illustrated London News,
Aug. 12, 1843
http://adminstaff.vassar.edu/sttaylor/FAMINE//ILN/TheIrish/TheIrish.htm
lê
Read Articles from the Cork Examiner, September 1846 (Browse others
if you are interested) ê
http://adminstaff.vassar.edu/sttaylor/FAMINE//Examiner/Archives/
Sept1846.html
2/13:
The Irish in America
Reading: Takaki, chapter 6: “Fleeing the Tyrant’s Heel: 'Exiles' from Ireland."
Video: When Ireland Starved (segments).
2/18: No class, follow Tuesday class schedule
2/20:
Mexican War and Manifest Destiny
Reading: Takaki, chapter 7: “Foreigners in their Native Land: The War against
Mexico."
2/25:
Western Imperialism and Chinese Migration
Reading: Takaki, chapter 8: “Searching for Gold Mountain: Strangers from a
Different Shore, Pioneers from Asia."
Anti Chinese Migration Cartoons on Canvas
Mark Twain, "On Imperialism."
2/27:
American Indian Removal
Reading: Takaki, chapter4: “Toward the Stony Mountains: from Removal to
Reservation;" and chapter 9: "The Indian Question:' From Reservation to
Reorganization."
3/4:
Mid Term Review
3/6:
Mid Term Exam
3/11-3/13: No Class Spring Break.
USU 1320 / page 5
New Migrations in the Late Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
3/18:
Reconstruction and Jim Crow
Reading: Jourdon Anderson, “A Letter to My Old Master, c. 1865.”ê
“The Black Codes of St. Landry’s Parish, 1865.” ê
Without Sanctuary: http://www.withoutsanctuary.org/
3/20:
Migration from Eastern Europe:
Reading: Takaki, Chapter 11: “The Exodus from Russia, Pushed by Pogroms."
Documenting the "Other Half": the Photography of Jacob Riis and Lewis
Hine ê
(http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA01/Davis/photography/slideshows/slides
hows.html)
3/25:
North from Mexico
Reading: Takaki, Chapter 12: “El Norte: Up from Mexico."
Video: “Teresa Urrea” (segment from Nobody’s Girls: Five Women of
the West)
3/27:
The Great Migration of African Americans to the North
Reading: Takaki, Chapter 13: “To 'the Land of Hope: Blacks in the Urban North."
audio file and lyrics: “Times Is Gettin Harder”: Blues of the Great
Migration, ê http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5333/
4/1:
Quiz #2/Discussion of Memoir/Novel Assignment
4/3:
Novel Memoir/Novel Discussion #1 -- come to class if you read one of the
following novels/memoirs:
(You should have finished reading the novel/memoir you chose from the list above.)
•
•
4/8:
Mary Doyle Curran, The Parish and the Hill
Carlos Bulosan, America is in the Heart: A Personal History
Memoir/Novel Discussion, #2: come to class if you read one of the following
novels/memoirs:
•
•
Anzia Yezierska, Bread Givers: A Novel
Frances Esquibel Tywoniak and Mario García, Migrant Daughter:
Coming of Age as A Mexican American Woman
4/10:
Depression and War
Reading: Takaki, Chapter 14: “World War II: American Dilemmas."
Henderson, “Dust to Eat.” ê
4/15:
Post World War II migration overview
Memoir paper due
4/17:
Latino Migrations in the 20th Century
Reading: Takaki: Chapter 15: "Out of the War: Clamors for Change."
USU 1320 / page 6
4/22:
Post 1965 immigrants
Reading: Excerpt from Mexican Lives, "the Border,"ê
Takaki, Chapter 16, “We Will All be Minorities."
4/24:
Review for Final Exam
Final Exam: Tuesday, April 29: 11:30 am - 1:20 pm, Old Main 225.
No rescheduling – earlier or later -- unless you have a conflict with a USU sponsored event, and
you have discussed this with me prior to the exam date. Please make your summer plans
accordingly!
USU 1320 / page 7
USU 1320: Global Origins of US Cultures
Guidelines for writing your analytical paper
So far we have employed historical analysis to understand the experience of a variety of
ethnic groups in the United States. Now we are turning to literature, memoirs and
biographies to understand migration. Early in the course, I described culture as ideas,
customs, and material objects people use to organize and interpret their lives. Culture
gives meaning to what people produce, consume, distribute, exchange and believe. But,
as we see in the books we are reading, culture is always changing – and can be both a
source of strength for some individuals, and quite oppressive to others, even within the
same community or family.
Your essay needs to include a thesis statement, preferably within the first paragraph.
Support that thesis with your insightful analysis of the book, using brief quotes (long,
block quotes are inappropriate for a paper of this length) and description to illustrate your
main points. Make sure that you use appropriate quotations and parenthetical references
to the author and page number you are quoting (i.e. Bulosan, 39). I do not want simple
plot summaries of the books. This is not a “book report.” You need to build an argument
based on your analysis of the novel/memoir you read. Do not use outside sources (the
internet, book reviews, background information about the author, etc.). You may use
other readings from this class if appropriate.
I will distribute questions that will help you focus your topic in the first few weeks of
class.
Your paper will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
Quality of writing
Depth of your analysis
How well you use the book to make a larger argument about ethnicity and culture in
migrant communities in the United States.
Your paper should be approximately 1000-1250 words, (4-5 pages in 12 pt font with 1
inch margins, double spaced). And is due, in class on April 15th.
I will be happy to discuss your papers with you and help you think about various ways
you might approach this assignment. Please make an appointment or see me during my
office hours. Or, you can talk with Paige to discuss your ideas and questions. The paper is
due in class April 15th. Please hand in hard copies, do not email your papers to me. Late
papers will be penalized 1/2 a grade for every day it is late.