State University of New York
School of Education
SPRING 2010
HIST 53OB/EDUC 508: Issues in American History After
1877
Professor: Melyssa Wrisley
Office:
Class Times:
AB-G14
Thurs. 4:25-7:25 PM
Meeting Place: AB-125
Office Hours: Thursdays 3:15-4:15 and by appt.
E-Mail:
mwrisley@binghamton.edu
This graduate seminar is intended to bolster students’ understanding of key themes in American
history and the teaching of American history. Weekly seminars will explore important works in
history and historiography. Each week we will also experiment with teaching techniques and
ideas. Interested students can gain credit toward a Certificate in the Teaching of American
History.
LIST OF REQUIRED BOOKS

Sam Wineburg, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts : Charting the
Future of Teaching the Past

David Blight, Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory.

Michael McGerr, A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in
America, 1870-1920.

Kathy Peiss, Cheap Amusements.

Edward Larson, Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s
Continuing Debate over Science and Religion.

Alan Brinkley, Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great
Depression. Everything Was Better in America?

Judy Barrent Litoff and David Smith, Since You Went Away: WWII Letters from
American Women on the Home Front

Elaine Tyler May, Homeward Bound

John Dittmer, Local People: the Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi.

David Farber, The Age of Great Dreams: America in the 1960s

Ruth Rosen, The World Split Open: How the Modern Women’s Movement Changed
America

Lisa McGirr, Suburban Warriors: the Origins of the New American Right.
I. CLASS MEETINGS
The class meets on Thursday afternoons from 4:25-7:25 pm in AB 125. This is a discussionbased course. The assigned readings are the basis for the discussions, and students are expected
to carry the bulk of our conversations. Students should come to class prepared to critique the
readings assigned for that afternoon's meeting. A high level of participation is expected. For
most class meetings we will spend about one-half of our time discussing the reading. The other
portion of the class will be devoted to reviewing peer work and developing teaching strategies
and lessons with primary documents through the internet.
Attendance: Due to the fact that our class meets only once per week, attendance at all class
meetings is mandatory. If an emergency occurs and a student must miss a class, she or he must
meet with me at a convenient time to discuss the class proceedings. If a second class is missed,
the student must write a five-six page review essay of that week’s reading AND meet with me to
discuss it. If more than two classes are missed, or if a student does not make up missed classes,
there will be a grade penalty on the student’s participation grade. Penalties may range from a
severe grade penalty on the participation grade to a grade of incomplete for the entire course, at
the discretion of the instructor.
II. COURSE DETAILS
Readings/Discussions: The goal of assigned readings (indicated in schedule of class meetings) is
for students to engage one another with regard to the material at hand and unpack the ways in
which historians practice their craft through the use of evidence, argument, theoretical paradigm,
and methodology. Students must commit to open and respectful discussions. See Student
Handbook for details: http://studenthandbook.binghamton.edu/
III. STUDENT REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING
Students will complete a range of written assignments. These include a book review or
discussion leadership narrative, a medium-length paper, a documents-based question, and an
annotated compendium of internet resources.
Class participation: 15% of the course grade:
Students will come to each class prepared to discuss the reading assigned for that day.
Discussion formats will vary; at times I will lead the class in the discussion, at other times I will
divide the class into smaller discussion groups which will have their own discussions. Students
will also lead discussions for the books they choose to review.
Book Review: 15% of the course grade
Students will select one of the required readings to review. The book review is limited to five
pages. Students will email their book review to me no later than the Tuesday before class; I will
then forward the review to the rest of the class so that all will have read it by the time we meet.
You may revise and resubmit your book review if you wish. First and second grades will be
averaged for an improved final grade. See appendix for details.
Paper: 25% of the course grade
Students will write a ten-fifteen page paper on any historical topic covered in this course. They
may choose to write either a primary-source analysis paper or a teaching-unit paper. You will
NOT be able to revise and resubmit your paper. The draft you turn in to me will earn the final
grade. See appendix for details.
Documents-Based Question: 25% of the course grade
Students will create a DBQ, based on any topic from the period 1877-1990 that consists of two
parts: a short-answer section where the scaffolding questions come directly from primary
documents and an essay section where students must answer a capstone question using the same
documents. The primary documents should come from the semester-long compendium project.
Students will present their DBQs throughout the semester. Students will email their DBQ to me
no later than the Tuesday before class. I will make it available electronically for the rest of the
class to preview. You may revise and resubmit your DBQ if you wish. First and second grades
will be averaged for an improved final grade. See appendix for details.
Annotated Compendium: 15% of the course grade
The purpose of the annotated compendium is to introduce students to using the internet for
scholarly and pedagogical purposes, to critically consider methods for using it as a teaching
resource, and to help students produce a reference of web-based materials for use in their own
classrooms. Students will assemble, organize, and critically comment on websites that track the
topics of this course. See appendix for details.
Web source presentation: 5% of the course grade
Students will choose one online teaching resource that relates to assigned readings, and will
present this website to the class, highlighting the site’s strengths and weaknesses and the ways in
which this site could be used in the classroom. This site can also be included in the annotated
compendium.
IV. CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
The faculty and staff in the School of Education are committed to serving all enrolled students.
The intention is to create an intellectually stimulating, safe, and respectful class atmosphere. In
return it is expected that each of you will honor and respect the opinions and feelings of others.
V. ACCOMMODATIONS
If you are a student with a disability and wish to request accommodations, please notify the
instructor by the second week of class. You are also encouraged to contact the Office of Services
for Students with Disabilities (SSD) AT 777-2686. Their office is in LH-B51. The SSD office
makes formal recommendations regarding necessary and appropriate accommodations based on
specifically diagnosed disabilities. Information regarding disabilities is treated in a confidential
manner.
VI. ACADEMIC HONESTY
"All members of the university community have the responsibility to maintain and foster a
condition and an atmosphere of academic integrity. Specifically, this requires that all classroom,
laboratory, and written work for which a person claims credit is in fact that person's own work."
The annual university Student Handbook publication has detailed information on academic
integrity. Binghamton University has obtained a license with Turnitin.com to facilitate faculty
review for potential plagiarism of papers and projects in their courses, which they are
encouraged to do. "Students assume responsibility of the content and integrity of the academic
work they submit. Students are in violation of academic honesty if they incorporate into their
written or oral reports any unacknowledged published or unpublished or oral material from the
work of another (plagiarism); or if they use, request, or give unauthorized assistance in any
academic work (cheating)." (SOE Academic Honesty Policies) Neither plagiarism nor cheating
will be tolerated in this class. Incidents of either will result in a failing grade for the assignment
in question, at the minimum. If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism or
cheating, PLEASE ASK ME! See also http://soe.binghamton.edu/faculty/policies.html#honesty
SCHEDULE OF CLASS MEETINGS
January 28: Introductions
February 4: What is history? How can we teach it?
Required reading: Sam Wineburg, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts
February 11: Life after the Second American Revolution
Required reading: David Blight, Race and Reunion
February 18: The Progressives
Required reading: Michael McGerr, A Fierce Discontent
February 25: City Life and Changing Culture
Required reading: Kathy Peiss, Cheap Amusements
March 4: In-Class Workshop
"Women, Industrialization, and Reform."
No required reading.
March 11: Confronting Modernity?
Required reading: Edward Larson, Summer for the Gods
March 18: FDR and the New Deal
Required reading: Alan Brinkley, Voices of Protest
March 25: World War II and its Aftermath
Required reading: Judy Barrent Litoff and David Smith, Since You Went Away
April 1: No Class—Spring Break
April 8: Postwar America
Required reading: Elaine Tyler May, Homeward Bound
April 15: The Civil Rights Movement
Required reading: John Dittmer, Local People.
April 22: The 1960s
Required Reading: David Farber: The Age of Great Dreams
April 29: The Women’s Movement
Required reading: Ruth Rosen, The World Split Open
May 6: The Right Turn in American Politics
Required reading: Lisa McGirr, Suburban Warriors
Research paper due no later than May 7.
Web compendium due no later than May 11.
HIST 530b/EDUC 508
Appendix I:
Assignment I: Book Review or Formatted Discussion Leadership and Narrative
OPTION ONE: BOOK REVIEW
Write a critical, analytical review of any assigned book. The book review is limited to five
double-spaced pages. Students will email their book review to me no later than the Tuesday
before class; I will then forward the review to the rest of the class so that all will have read it by
the time we meet. When class meets, the reviewers will lead the discussion.
A good book review will contain these fundamental features


I. Essential facts about the book:
o Identify the main thesis
o What are the major questions/historical problems being addressed?
o How does the author develop the argument?
o What primary sources were used?
II. Your original analysis:
o What the author proposes that is new
o Where the book fits into historical literature on the subject
o Theoretical and methodological approaches used by the author
o Strengths and weaknesses of the author's use of sources - is this a convincing
argument?
Is there a model for me to use?
There is no single definitive way of doing this type of assignment. In general, however, an
academic book review should read very differently from one submitted for Amazon.com or other
popular resources. Rather than a personal view of the book, you should provide a guide for other
historians who are thinking of reading this book or who want to know what it is about without
actually reading it. See samples of book reviews in journals such as the American Historical
Review and the Journal of American History for models of academic book reviews. I have also
posted sample student book reviews on Blackboard.
Some online guides/tips:
http://www.westga.edu/~dkwillia/HIST%204485%20-%20book%20review%20guidelines.htm
Citations
Citation is slightly different in book reviews than in other history papers. You still need to cite
(and quote!) every time you use someone else’s words, and whenever you refer to a specific
piece of evidence from the book, but you may simply put the page number in parenthesis at the
end of the sentence (after quotation marks and before the period) instead of using footnotes. Use
footnotes if you choose to bring in outside materials.
Do I need to bring in outside materials?
If you have the knowledge at your fingertips and doing so is appropriate to your review, then go
right ahead, but it is not required.
HIST 530b/EDUC 508
Appendix II:
Assignment II: Synthetic Research Paper OR Teaching-Unit Paper
OPTION ONE: SYNTHETIC RESEARCH
Write a medium-length paper (10-15 double spaced pages) that addresses a topic of your
choosing from American history between 1877-1990. Your paper must articulate an original
thesis and it must draw a substantial amount of its evidence from primary documents, including
the primary documents that you are already gathering for your compendium. You must also
include at least one secondary source, preferably from our class readings, to provide
background/historical context for your argument. The paper is due no later than May 7.
Some Guidelines:
Of course, your readings can shape your thinking and your argument. You must cite them
whenever it is appropriate. Use Chicago-style footnotes or endnotes to identify your sources.
But remember: the key to this assignment is to use documentary evidence—from primary
sources to explore your topic, and these should factor prominently in the paper.
A good thesis matters.
If you can lay out your thesis as clearly as possible at the start of the paper, you will be making
your position clear and you will be framing the boundaries in which you will tackle this
historical issue.
Some tips on developing a strong thesis:
The University of North Carolina has an excellent handout on thesis statements:
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/thesis.html
Harvard also has a useful handout:
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/documents/Thesis.html
How do I use footnotes?
Consult any academic historical writing for examples. Our books generally use this format. For
more details, consult a style guide, such as the Chicago Manual of Style Quickguide:
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html or Turabian’s
Do I need to bring in secondary materials from beyond our list of required readings?
You are not required to use secondary materials other than those on our list of required readings,
but I encourage you to do so if it will strengthen your discussion and analysis of your topic.
Due date: May 7, 2009
HIST 530b/EDUC 508
Appendix II:
Assignment II: Synthetic Research Paper OR Teaching-Unit Paper
OPTION TWO: TEACHING UNIT
Write a description of a teaching unit about one theme or event in American history between
1877-1990. How would you teach this using a rich collection of readily available primary
sources? Your paper should include a few key parts:
Rationale:
Why is this an important theme or event? How can the use of primary
documents help enrich its teaching? How is it presented in a standard textbook?
How can you incorporate a rich collection of primary documents to encourage
students to think in an authentically historical way?
Document set: What documents would you use to teach this unit? For each document, you need
to explain its context, theme, and main points.
Teaching approach: How will you use these documents? What methods will you incorporate
into your unit? How will you assess learning?
Purpose:
The goal of this assignment is to push you to combine an analysis of documents with a
thoughtful presentation of how they can be used in a classroom.
Sources:
For this assignment, you will need to access a set of relevant documents. You will also need to
refer to secondary sources to explain the background of the topic. You may use our required
readings as these sources if you wish. Finally, you should include at least one history textbook
to compare your document-based approach to that of a standard curriculum.
Format:
You should use the standard format preferred by historians, Chicago style. For a style guide,
consult the Chicago Manual of Style online: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html
In short, though, you can copy the style of professional articles in journals such as the Journal of
American History (http://www.indiana.edu/~jah/) or American Historical Review
(http://www.indiana.edu/~ahr/).
Your essay is limited to 10-15 double-spaced word-processed pages.
Due date: May 7, 2009
HIST 530b/EDUC 508
Assignment III: Documents Based Question
The Assignment:
Create a Documents-Based Question (DBQ) based on any topic of your choosing from this
course. Your primary documents (a maximum of 8) should come from the compendium that you
have been working on all along. Students will present and submit their DBQs throughout the
semester. You must email your DBQ to me by the Wednesday before class. I will post your
DBQ for the class to preview.
The DBQ should consist of two parts: a short-answer section where the scaffolding questions
(maximum of 10) come directly from these documents and an essay section where students must
answer a capstone question using the same documents. Unless you have a strong reason to design
a question for another age group, such as a plan to teach only middle school, please assume this
is an assignment for high-school students (i.e., grade 11).
In addition, you need to write three things:
1. A cover sheet for the DBQ that clearly and succinctly lays out the directions, the brief
historical background for the questions, and an explanation of the task. YOU MAY COPY THIS
FROM EXISTING TEMPLATES.
2. An explanation of the documents you've chosen -- what they are, what their purpose is, why
you have selected them.
3. An explanation of how this will be graded, i.e., identify what will constitute a good response
to your questions.
Some Guidelines: What is this supposed to look like?
There are many places you can look to see examples of a DBQ in its component parts. Here are
three:
http://www.nysedregents.org/testing/socstre/regentushg.html. NY State Department of
Education > State Assessment > History and Government Regents Exams. Choose a test date
(downloads as a pdf) and then scroll to the DBQ portion of the test. Pdf files require Adobe
Acrobat Reader, or equivalent, to open.
http://www.edteck.com/dbq/dbquest/quest11.htm
Peter Pappas, "teaching with Documents" > Grade 11 > Civil War
http://womhist.alexanderstreet.com/teacher/dbqs.htm
This site is part of the Center for the Historical Study of Women and Gender in the
"Teacher's Corner."
HIST 530b/EDUC 508
Assignment IV: Annotated Compendium
The Assignment
The purpose of the annotated compendium is threefold: to give students practice mining the web
for scholarly and pedagogical purposes, to critically consider methods for using the web as a
teaching resource, and to help students produce a reference of web-based materials for use in
their own classrooms. Compendia should cover the range of topics we have studied in this
course. Focus on websites that are document-rich.
The Compendium is due no later than May 11.
II. Annotations
What constitutes a good annotation is really up to you -- after all, this is an assignment that you
can draw upon long after this course is over. The more you have written now, the more useful it
will be to you later. That said, I am looking to see that you have put some real thought and
substantive effort into this project, and the quality of the annotations is one measure of that.
Follow this basic rule of thumb: an annotation should have the web address (the URL), the title
of the site, and then several sentences of your comments/analysis. Questions to consider: what
were the most useful documents from this site? What feature of this site did I find particularly
useful? What do you want to remember about this site for future use? If it is easier or clearer for
you, feel free to organize your information about each site in a bulleted list.
III. Organization
How you organize your compendium is again up to you. In the past, students have created
categories into which they placed their annotated websites. These could be chronological (late
19th century, America between the wars, etc.) or thematic (gender, class, ethnicity, race) or
topical (migration, democracy, capitalism, etc.). It's your choice.
IV. Length
Your compendium should include at least fifteen references. You may include many more if you
wish.
V. Format
You may turn in a hard copy or a digital copy. You may write this as a Word document, or as a
spreadsheet, or in any practical format you choose. Again, this is your choice -- but do not turn
in printouts of these websites. Save trees!