American West
History 308
Morgan 302 TTH 12:30-1:45pm
Office: Morgan Room 203-E
Office hours: TTH 11-12:30pm and by appointment
Phone numbers: Dept. 298-1053 and Office 298-1575
Email: G-Hall@wiu.edu
Fax number: 298-2540
Webpage: www.wiu.edu/users/gh101
Course Description and Objectives:
In this course, students will analyze the history of the American West as a distinctive region of the United States. The lectures, readings, and films will cover the West’s development as it evolved from the homeland of Native Americans to a contested frontier zone to a major economic, political, social and cultural contributor to American society in the 19th and 20th centuries. Also, human interaction with the western environment over time will receive ample attention. The course will contrast the historical experiences of different social groups in the region and their contributions to the West’s history. Moreover, students will examine U.S. federal policy, resource issues, and the West’s relationships with the rest of the country and with other parts of the world. It is important that students come away from this course with a critical understanding of the American West’s historical significance.
Prerequisites:
History 105 or 106 or consent of the instructor
Required Text:
Oxford History of the American West
Recommended Texts:
Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual
Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers
Exams:
There will be three in-class exams in this course. The first and second exams will act as midterms and the third will act as your final. For each exam you will need to answer two essay questions. Each exam will be worth up to 100 points. A make-up for missed midterm exams will be given to a student with an acceptable and documented excuse. The make-up must be taken before the regularly scheduled exams are handed back. The day and time of the make-up exam will be taken when mutually convent for the professor and student. If a day and time cannot be agreed upon then the make-up exam(s) must be taken at the end of the semester in conjunction with the course final. No make-up exam finals will be given.
Think-Piece Paper:
Students will be responsible for writing one think-piece paper in the course, based on a topic of their choice. However, the topic and the book titles necessary for completion of the assignment must be cleared by the professor and a list of book titles before work on the paper is to begin. I will not accept a think-piece paper without previous clearance. The essay must be approximately seven to ten pages in length. Your papers must be typed and double spaced, twelve-point font, and standard one-inch border. I expect two copies of the essay to be turned in on the assigned due date. Late papers will be docked five points for every day that they are late. I will not count weekends or holidays. I will not accept essays turned in more than five days late. The think piece will be worth up to 100 points.
Attendance:
Students are expected to attend every class session, but attendance is not mandatory. It is your choice as to whether you want to attend class sessions. The consequences of absenteeism are your own. I require students to arrive to class on time and to leave when the class period is over.
Student Behavior:
Students are expected to behave with respect toward the course, their fellow students, and the instructor. Cell phones and other electronic devices are prohibited in the classroom. If a student uses such a device in class then the student will be asked to leave. Conversations and other disruptive behavior that interferes with teaching and/or learning will not be tolerated and can result in an assigned classroom seat or expulsion from the class. Continued disruptive behavior on the part of a student can result in an “F” in the course.
Academic Accommodations:
“In accordance with University policy and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), academic accommodations may be made for any student who notifies the instructor of the need for an accommodation. It is imperative that you take the initiative to bring such needs to the instructor’s attention, as he/she is not legally permitted to inquire about such particular needs of students. Students who may require special assistance in emergency evacuations (i.e. fire, tornado, etc.) should contact the instructor as to the most appropriate procedures to follow in such an emergency. Contact Disability support Services at 298-2512 for additional services.”
Academic Dishonesty:
Academic honesty is expected of all students. Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated on any course assignments. Cheating is broadly defined as any activity, method, or technique which gives a student an unfair advantage over other students in the completion of evaluated work or which substitutes work done by another for one's own. Cheating can result in failure in the course. For example, if a student tries to use a cell phone or other electronic device during an exam, the student will be given an automatic “F” and will be excused from class. Plagiarism involves submitting as one's own the words, ideas, or information of others without proper and customary acknowledgment of one's sources. To avoid plagiarism, students must use a citation. When directly using an author's words in a paper, students must use quotation marks to distinguish a source's words from their own. Students who plagiarize in their think piece paper risk failing the course. Collaborative writing on the think piece paper will not be tolerated. It can result in failure in the course.
Grading policy:
I will base your final grade on a 400-point scale. The midterms and final exam will make up 300 points and the think piece paper 100 points.
A=400-360; B=359-320; C=319-280; D=279-240; F=239-0
This syllabus is subject to revision at the discretion of the professor as necessary.
Course Schedule:
Week One: Oxford History of the American West (OHAW) chapter one
1/15 Introduction; 1/17 lecture “The Native American West before Contact”
Week Two: OHAW chapter two
1/22 lecture “The Spanish West”; 1/24 lecture cont.
Week Three: OHAW chapter four
1/29 lecture “Trailblazers and Capitalists: Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Great West”;
1/31 lecture cont.
Week Four: OHAW chapter five
2/5 lecture “Conquest of an American West and the Oregon Trail”; 2/7 Think-piece paper topic and booklist due and lecture cont.
Week Five: OHAW chapter six
2/12 lecture “‘Boom and Bust’: The California Gold Rush to the Coeur d’ Alene Mining Wars”; 2/14 lecture cont.
Week Six: OHAW, chapter eight (for midterm exam #2)
2/19 Midterm Exam #1; 2/21 lecture “Final Conquest of American Indian Independence”
Week Seven: OHAW, chapter seven
2/26 lecture “Railroads, Cowpunchers, and Sodbusters”; 2/28 lecture cont.
Week Eight: OHAW, chapter eleven
3/4 lecture “Immigration and the Wageworkers’ Frontier; 3/6
Week Nine: Spring Break
3/11 No Classes; 3/13 No Classes
Week Ten: OHAW, chapter twelve
3/18 lecture “The Radical West and World War I”; 3/20 lecture cont.
Week Eleven: OHAW, chapter thirteen
3/25 lecture “Great Depression and the New Deal in the American West”; 3/27 lecture cont.
Week Twelve: OHAW, chapter fifteen (for final exam)
4/1 Midterm Exam #2; 4/3 lecture “World War II and the Postwar West”
Week Thirteen: OHAW, chapter twenty-one
4/8 lecture “Native Americans and the West after 1941”; 4/10 lecture cont.
Week Fourteen: OHAW, chapter eighteen
4/15 Think-piece paper due and lecture “The Chicano Movement”; 4/17 lecture cont.
Week Fifteen: OHAW, chapter seventeen
4/22 lecture “Environmentalism and the West”; 4/24 lecture cont.
Week Sixteen: OHAW, chapter nineteen and twenty-two
4/29 film TBA; 5/1 film TBA
Week Seventeen: Final
5/6 Final Exam 1pm