History 7740 (Economy and Society) Summary Syllabus
Instructor: Randall L. Patton
Office: SO 4130/Office Hours: xxxx-xxxx and by appointment
Phone: 770-423-6714/e-mail: rpatton@kennesaw.edu
Course Summary: The purpose of this online course is to help students to meet the economics
requirements for broad field certification in social studies education and National Board
Certification and enhance their ability to incorporate economic topics into their US history
courses. Students will examine the ideas of major economic theorists and the development of
what Robert Heilbroner has called “economic society” focusing on the interactions among
economy, society, politics, and culture. The course will also focus on applying economic
concepts/ideas/methods to gain a greater understanding of US culture and society. The course
addresses National Standard 3 (content knowledge), with specific emphasis on the economics
subfield.
Texts:
David Harvey, “Reading Marx’s Capital,” podcast available free via iTunes U.
Robert Heilbroner and Scott Milberg, The Making of Economic Society Pearson, 2011, 13th
edition, print only.
Robert Heilbroner, The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times, and Ideas of the Great
Economic Thinkers, 7th edition, Simon & Schuster, 1992. Also available in a Kindle edition.
Robert Heilbroner, Teachings from the Worldly Philosophers, Norton, 1997. Also available in a
Kindle edition.
Louis Hyman, Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink (Princeton and Oxford:
Princeton University Press, 2011. Also available in a Kindle edition.
Joseph Stiglitz, Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy, Norton,
2010, available in print and via Kindle.
Wright, Gavin, Sharing the Prize: The Economics of the Civil Rights Revolution in the American
South, Belknap, 2013. Also available in a Kindle edition.
Eh.Net website (Economic History Network, the website of the Economic History
Association) http://eh.net/. This site contains a number of useful resources, including the Eh.Net
Encyclopedia, databases, and the “How Much Is That?” calculators.
Articles and excerpts from books to be found via web links/pdf files located in modules found on
D2L course home page.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
identify and place in chronological order major schools of economic thought, including
pre-modern, classical, Marxian, neo-classical, Keynesian, Austrian, and heterodox.
define each school and describe, analyze, compare and contrast the major ideas
developed by theorists.
identify and place in chronological order major events/trends in the economic history of
the United States.
apply the ideas of major schools of thought to the economic history of the United States
and appraise the value of different theories in explaining major events/trends, including
regional economic history and the economic significance of social movements.
define, explain the significance of, and illustrate using charts, graphs, and online
calculators concepts such as economic growth, inflation, GDP, interest rates.
Grading and assignments:
Assignments will be posted within course modules.
I. Two essay exams (mid-term and final). These exams will cover assigned readings and course
materials, including multimedia materials and Power point presentations. Each will count 20 %
of the final grade. On the exams, students will be explaining material for a college-instructor
audience.
II. One student presentation/paper, 20% (proposal 5%, paper 15%). Each student will be
responsible for one class presentation (roughly 15-20 minutes), to be accompanied by a brief
research paper (10-12 pages, double-spaced, 12 point font, footnotes or endnotes in the Chicago
style) based on a theme/topic related to the course. Think of your presentation as an overview of
a lesson plan you might develop for one of your economics or history classes. The
presentation/paper should identify at least one primary source that could be used with students
and a discussion of relevant secondary sources. Effective presentations often focus principally
on using a selected primary source (or small set of sources) to highlight a major theme related to
economic history; you might then proceed to “unpack” and interpret the source(s) based on
relevant secondary sources. Presentations/papers related to the economics of the civil rights
revolution are encouraged. Presentations via Voice Thread.
Students will submit a 1-page proposal outlining the proposed topic and sources to be used (see
schedule for due date). The instructor welcomes and encourages communication via e-mail prior
to submitting the proposal. The proposal will count 5%. Students may submit a rough draft of
the paper and presentation no less than two weeks prior to the due date. The instructor will offer
constructive feedback within 5 days.
III. Participation in class discussions via discussion board and Voice Thread will count 20%.
Each module will include a discussion assignment. Rubrics for discussion posts can be found
under the tab “Other” at the top of the D2L home page. In these exercises, students will
communicate with the instructor and fellow students.
Discussion is essentially the heart of this course. The key to making this online version of the
course equivalent to the face-to-face version is in translating the discussions to the web. We will
use the discussion board and Voice Thread to do that. Participation in the discussions is critical.
The instructor will participate actively in the discussions and offer weekly feedback and
assessments of discussion/Voice Thread performance. The discussions and Voice Threads will
be assessed on the basis of the rubric, but keep in mind that the rubric and the grade is intended
only as an imperfect codification of the instructor’s assessment of a student’s ability to describe,
explain, compare, apply, etc. It is, in the end, a judgment call….
Voice Thread: Students will participate in Voice Thread activities posted by the instructor and
will also develop their own. Click the link below to get started.
https://apps.kennesaw.edu/files/pr_app_uni_cdoc/doc/VoiceThread.pdf
The link is repeated separately in this Start Here module to highlight it.
IV. 2 Short presentations (3-4 slides) based on Eh.Net “How Much is That?” databases, and
Encyclopedia; 5% each. Think of the audience for these short presentations as students from a
high school class. (Presentations via Voice Thread)
Support Services: KSU offers a several venues for support services that are generally either
technical in nature or academic. Such technical support includes D2L help and maintenance
schedule, ITS training and a browser check. Academic support includes writing and math labs,
and student support services. Check out the links below for explanations of these services (links
to these services are also provided under the Support webpage for this course.)
D2L Help for Students:
https://kennesaw.view.usg.edu/shared/Documentation/10.2/Student/index.htm
Student Success Services:
http://www.kennesaw.edu/studentsuccessservices/
KSU Writing Center
http://www.kennesaw.edu/writingcenter/
Course Policies
Rules of conduct for discussion boards and email: All posts and correspondence on
discussion boards and email should be composed in standard English. Discussion posts in D2L
are restricted to relevant course material and questions. All communications must be respectful at
all times of other students and the professor. Profanity or derogatory comments are not allowed.
You will receive one warning for any postings or emails that are deemed inappropriate or
disrespectful. After the first warning, you will receive zero credit for any disrespectful postings
and the postings will be deleted. Continued misuse of the discussion board, email will lead to a
failing grade in the course. Please refer to the rules of etiquette
(http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html)
Communication Policy: Communicate via D2L e-mail. Expect a reply from the professor within
24 hours Monday-Friday; within 48 hours if your e-mail arrives after 5 PM Friday. In addition,
the instructor will monitor e-mail during virtual office hours, MW xxxx-xxxx (2 hour block each
of those two days). During these time periods, the instructor will respond within an hour of
receiving an e-mail. Telephone appointments may also be made.
Academic Integrity: Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and
will be handled through the duly constituted processes at KSU. All assignments and course work
must reflect the student’s understanding, explanations, and interpretations of course materials.
Limited quoting, use of the concepts and ideas of others, etc., with appropriate citations, are
crucial to the academic enterprise. Copying and pasting entire chunks of the work of others is
not a legitimate part of the academic enterprise. All students are subject to, and should carefully
review, KSU’s academic honesty policy at https://web.kennesaw.edu/scai/content/ksu-studentcode-conduct#2
ADA Statement: Kennesaw State University provides program accessibility and reasonable
accommodations for persons defined as disabled under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Kennesaw State University’s Disability Support
Services can be accessed at http://www.kennesaw.edu/stu_dev/dsss/policies.html
Technology Requirements: For this class, you will need regular access to the internet
and to D2L. For class assignments, you will need access to Microsoft Word and Powerpoint,
Voice Thread, Windows Media Player (free download for Mac and PC) and Adobe Reader (free
download here). You must be able to send email with attachments, and upload documents. If
you have any questions about D2L, please refer to the HELP link at the top of the D2L page or
contact the Online Learning Services office at 770-423-6670.
Sample Weekly Schedule: The following suggested schedules offer advice to students on time
management. Whatever the schedule, students should refrain from attempting to jam all a
week’s course work into one day.
Patton Sample schedules for student work in HIST 7740
My name is
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday Thursday
2 hours
1 hour
1.5 hours
3 hours
Read
Read
Review
Participate
assigned
ahead in
notes and
in class
course
Sharing
readings
discussion
materials
the Prize for the
board/voice
for
or Debtor week.
thread
upcoming Nation to Complete
exercise or
session.
prepare
selfcomplete
Take
for
assessment short essay
notes.
sessions
exercise.
assignment.
later in
the
semester.
Alternative
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesda
Friday
Saturday
2 hours
Compile
bibliography,
review materials,
and [later in
semester] work on
final
paper/presentation.
Thursday
Friday
Satu
1 hour
Read assigned
course materials
for upcoming
session. Take
notes.
1 Hour
Read
assigned
course
materials
for
upcomin
g
session.
Take
notes.
1.5 hours
Review
notes and
readings
for the
week.
Complete
selfassessmen
t exercise.
y
3 hours
Participate
in class
discussion
board/voic
e thread
exercise or
complete
short essay
assignment
rday
1 hour
Compile
bibliography,
review materials,
and [later in
semester] work on
final
paper/presentation
.
1 hour
Compile
bibliography,
review materials,
and [later in
semester] work on
final
paper/presentation
.
Reading Schedule
History 7740
Patton
Week
1
Module
1: Early Economic
Thought/History
2
2: The Commercial
Revolution
3
3: The Classical
Economists
4
4: The Industrial
Revolution
5: Marx
5
6
6: The Victorians,
N.E.C. (Not Easily
Classified, a play on
the Economic Census
category)
Resources
WP 1
Teachings 1
Polanyi, “Societies and Economic Systems,” excerpt from The
Great Transformation (pdf)
MES 1
WP 2
Teachings 2
Polanyi, “Societies and Economic Systems,” and “Evolution of
the Market Pattern, excerpts from The Great Transformation
(pdf)
MES 2
WP 3-4
Teachings 3
MES 3
Web-based readings and presentations
WP 5-6
Teachings 4
Audio, Reading Capital, episode 1
MES 4
WP 7 Teachings 5
MES 5
Paper proposal due (see
syllabus)
7
7: Veblen, Keynes and
Schumpeter
8
9
8: Mid-term
10
9: Consumption, Debt,
and the Golden Age
WP 8-10
Teachings 6
MES 6
Mid-term essays
WP 11
MES 7
Debtor Nation
MES 8-9
11
10: The Regional
Economy of the South
MES 10
Gavin Wright, “The Long View of Southern Land and Labor,”
12
13
14
15
16
excerpt from Old South: New South: Revolutions in the
Southern Economy Since the Civil War (pdf)
Sharing the Prize 1-4
MES 11-12
11: The Economics of
the Civil Rights
Revolution
11: Economics of Civil Sharing the Prize 5-8
Rights, continued
MES 13-14
12:
Papers/Presentations
13: The Great Crash of Freefall
2008
Final exam essays
Resources Key:
WP=Robert Heilbroner, The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times, and Ideas of the Great
Economic Thinkers (New York: Touchstone, 7th edition, 1998; available in print and via Kindle.)
Teachings=Robert Heilbroner, editor, Teachings from the Worldly Philosophy (New York:
Norton, 1998; available in print and via Kindle.)
MES=Heilbroner and Milberg, The Making of Economic Society (New York: Pearson, 2011, 13th
edition, print only.)
Sharing the Prize=Gavin Wright, Sharing the Prize: The Economics of the Civil Rights
Revolution in the South (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2013,
available in print and via Kindle.)
Debtor Nation=Louis Hyman, Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink (Princeton and
Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2011, available in print and via Kindle.)
Freefall=Joseph Stiglitz. Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World
Economy (New York: Norton, 2010, available in print and via Kindle).
Eh.Net=Eh.Net: Economic History Services, the website of the Economic History
Association, http://eh.net/. We will use a number of resources available through this site,
including the Eh.Net Encyclopedia, the “How Much is That” inflation/relative value calculators,
databases (including historical real and nominal annual GDP estimates for the US and UK), and
book reviews.
“Reading Capital”=David Harvey, “Reading Marx’s Capital,” podcast available free via iTunes
Other listed resources will be available either via direct web links or as files stored on the D2L
course site.