HIS 131: American Culture Illinois State University: FALL 2016Time: MWF, 12-12:50 Place: SCH 242Instructor: Prof. Alan Lessoff Phone: 438-8083Office Hours: MW, 2-4:30 Office: Schroeder 327 Email: ahlesso@ilstu.edu

Webpage:www.ilstu.edu/~ahlessoBulletin board: Via ReggieNet, https://reggienet.illinoisstate.eduAssistant: Ben Henderson, bhender@ilstu.edu; office hours: Th, 3-5

Goals : This course is an option in the United States Traditions segment of the ISU General Education Program. The class, therefore, is meant both as a general introduction to college-level U.S. history and as a chance to exercise analytical and research skills emphasized by the Gen Ed program. I have designed assignments and tests to develop students’ ability to read historical documents and to imagine and describe the situation, point of view, and mindset of people involved in historical events. This is how practicing historians attempt to understand and explain culture in the past. This is a hard thing to do—most of us aren't even sure what goes on in our own heads, let alone someone dead for 200 years. Still, with care and practice, we probably can arrive at a decent understanding of past cultures and mindsets. In any case we benefit from the attempt.

Courtesy Vanderbilt Historical Review, https://twitter.com/VUReview

Organizing the class around the concept of “culture” has advantages. But this word has several meanings and is often used in a vague way that can confuse students as to what the course is about. Social scientists often contrast the term with another grand concept, “society.” Roughly, “society” suggests how people live and interact with one another, while “culture” suggests what people think and believe and how they express themselves and communicate. Culture suggests mentalities, beliefs, traditions, desires, and creative activities, as opposed to economics, institutions, politics, social relationships, household and family patterns, and technologies. Of course, how a society is organized, operates, and changes depends upon what people perceive, believe, and want. So culture can provide a way to begin understanding many aspects of American history. But it isn’t the same as a complete version of U.S. history.

Two grand themes to keep in mind are: 1. the variety of elements that have gone into the shaping of American culture; and 2. the ways that culture has changed as the United States has gone through sweeping social changes, especially the growth over the centuries of commerce, industry, cities, mass marketing and communications, and modern technology. Students should consider how the diverse ethnic, racial, regional, and religious origins of the American people have contributed to a lively, varied, but conflict-ridden culture. Students should also think about how social and economic changes have reshuffled people's understanding of and attitudes toward personal identity and achievement, social status and class relations, family structure and the meaning of womanhood, manhood, and childhood.

General Education outcomes: For interested students, below is a summary of the General Education program’s goals for U.S. Traditions courses such as this. For the complete document, go to: gened.illinoisstate.edu/downloads/syllabus/12 United States Traditions courses.docx

In United States Traditions courses, students study the historical and contemporary influences affecting changes in American society within broader traditions. The course focuses on the diverse individuals, social values, beliefs, and institutions that have shaped and continue to shape American culture. Special emphasis is placed on demographic (such as race, class and gender), political, legal, scientific, technological, economic, artistic, and literary forces that have influenced and continue to influence the many varieties of American culture.

Courses in the United States Traditions category of General Education address the following program objectives:I. knowledge of diverse human cultures and the physical and natural worldII. intellectual and practical skillsIII. personal and social responsibility

IV. integrative and applied learning

Format : As you can see from the attached outline, the course is divided into units, with each unit corresponding roughly to a theme in the course. Unless otherwise noted, readings will be discussed on the last class of each unit and must be completed by then. Quizzes will take place whenever we are discussing a reading. Much of the material on which you will be tested will be covered only in lecture, so you must both attend and read to do well. Make sure to write down the outlines and other information I project onto the board, as these provide the general plan for each day's class. Requirements : 1. Assessing Columbus, approx. 500 words. due Sept. 12………………..……………...…50 pts.2. In-class test, Fri., Sept. 23...……………………………..………….…………………...200 pts.3. Historical Hamilton paper, 5 pages, due Mon, Oct. 24…………………..........................200 pts.4 Urban underworld paper , 6-7 pages, due Weds., Nov. 30..............................…...................250 pts.5. Final test, date & time TBA......……….................…..................................................................230 pts.6. Quizzes............................................................................…..…....................................................…70 pts

1,000 pts.

Extra credit:Online document questions.....................................................................................................up to 50 pts. Extra quiz points…………………………………………………….…………..……up to 70 pts.

{Grading: A=900 & above, B=899--800, C=799--700, D=699--600, F=599 & below}About two weeks before each large assignment is due, I will provide an instruction sheet, so don't fret over details now. Assignments will be circulated via email and also posted on the webboard. The two tests will consist of essay, document, and identification questions drawn from readings, lectures, and class discussions. Essays will count for 50% on each test. Your instruction sheet will have a list of terms from which identification questions will be drawn. As circumstances permit, we will arrange study sessions outside class.

The Assessing Columbus assignment will consist of a short essay, 450-550 words, which you should post in the appropriate place on ReggieNet or submit to me via email. You’ll answer one from a selection of questions how we understand Columbus as a product of and influence on his time, based on the documents you will read in the Christopher Columbus book. These documents provide a clear and fascinating summary of how we know what we know about Columbus as a person and as an explorer. They offer an excellent example of how historians piece together complex historical events.

The Historical Hamilton paper is for me an opportunity, since the musical Hamilton has sparked popular interest in a fascinating, crucial member of the country’s founding generation. I think Hamilton has appeal now for many of the reasons that playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda suggests in the musical. The historical Hamilton was indeed, as the play asserts, about personal and national ambition, economic development, finance, cities, immigrants, and global connections. In class, I’ll play selections from the musical, which you can then compare to the understanding of Hamilton that appears in historian Noble Cunningham’s collection of documents concerning Hamiltons policy and political disputes with another fascinating founding father, Thomas Jefferson.

Late in his life, George Appo, a reformed New York criminal, wrote a memoir—which historian Timothy Gilfoyle has edited along with some background and related documents—that should undermine anyone’s tendency to find romance in the urban underworld or in the lives of gangsters. But from Appo’s memoir and the other documents in Gilfoyle’s

book, one learns a tremendous amount, not just about the seamier sides of city life, but about policing, criminal justice, and social attitudes in a country rapidly becoming dominated by large cities. You will write a paper that brings together Appo’s account with further reading drawn from a selection that I will make available.

Quizzes: On each occasion when reading is due—14 times during the semester—I will give a brief quiz, worth 10 points total. At least 3 of the 5 questions will based on the reading, but 1 or 2 questions may be based on that unit’s lecture. You can accumulate points on these throughout the semester. Up to 70 points will apply to your normal grade. Everything beyond ( up to 70 points) will count as extra credit. There are NO makeups for missed quizzes, since you can be absent for 7 quizzes and still fulfill the requirement. The times in the class period when I’ll give the quiz will vary randomly, basically so that students can’t know in advance when the quiz will take place.

Online document questions (extra credit): As I’ll demonstrate in class, our online textbook contains a series of primary documents that we will discuss in class according to the schedule listed in the course outline. Below each document are discussion questions, which you may fill out and submit for extra credit. I’ll give up to 5 points extra credit for these document questions, up to 10 documents per person, or a potential total of 50 extra points. To receive extra credit, you must fill our ALL PARTS of the assignment. (There are usually two-three questions per document.) AND you must submit your answers before the start of the relevant class. Fudge factor: I reserve the right to mark borderline students up a notch (or in extreme, adverse cases down a notch) to account for unquantifiable factors such as demonstrably strong engagement with the course, exceptional effort, or improvement over the term.

ReggieNet: Everyone should automatically be signed up for the ReggieNet board for this class. I will use this as a place to post assignments and announcements and to receive assignments from you. I do not post grades on ReggieNet. My job is to keep you focused on the substance of your work, rather than on what grade you are getting from week to week. You should be able to keep track of your own grades from your returned assignments.

Miscellaneous Policies:1. Missed exams; late papers: It is the student's responsibility to turn in projects on time and to arrange to make up missed exams. If you miss an exam or turn in a project late without a valid reason (verified illness, accident, or unavoidable circumstance), I reserve the right to take off up to

10 points per day (including weekends) on a case-by-case basis, according to my judgment of the validity of your reason for missing. I am MUCH more likely to accept an excuse as valid if you discuss it with me before the test or due date.2. Plagiarism & academic integrity: Regarding plagiarism, cheating, and other miscreant behavior, one assumes that people will adhere to university guidelines on academic integrity. Still, EVERY SEMESTER, some students commit verifiable acts of plagiarism. There is a link to an efficient definition of plagiarism on the Classes page of my website. Cheating or plagiarism on an assignment or test will result in a 0 grade for that assignment and perhaps failure for the course and other penalties. This will depend on the grievousness of the offense. Students caught obtaining papers from paper exchanges or writing services will receive a 0 on the assignment, have 250 additional points deducted from their grades, and have disciplinary action filed against them. Further, I reserve the right to give a failing grade (point value at my discretion) on any assignment if a student cannot, upon request, produce the books and notes on which the assignment was based.3. Common courtesy: Please, among other things, carry on conversations elsewhere, don’t use your cellphone, don’t read the paper, don't chronically come in late or leave early, and if you must come late or leave early, sit as near the door as possible.4. Facebook, surfing the internet, email, texting, Snapchat, Twitter, etc.: All these are useful innovations, but people can be compulsive about them in ways that will make an instructor grouchy. Any student whom I encounter using electronic devices during class time for purposes unrelated to class may, depending on my mood, be grouched at or asked to leave the room. Students are allowed to use computers and tablets during class for class-related activities.5. Fairness of grading: In grading, the primary concern is to maintain fair standards. Ask me if you do not understand why a factual answer was marked incorrect or an essay graded as it was, or if you believe your grade does not reflect the quality of your work.6. Return of assignments: I will return assignments as promptly as circumstances allow. In practice, this means two weeks, unless otherwise announced in class.7. Free speech: Feel free to raise your hand with a question or comment. These will be answered to the extent that time permits. Reducing confusion, providing clarification, or responding to curiosity form an important part of the classroom process.8. Consultation: Office hours exist for your sake. You do not need an appointment to drop by then. For other times, make an appointment. I am easiest to reach via email, but you may use voice mail as well, when I am not around.9. Accessibility: Any student needing to arrange a reasonable accommodation for a documented disability should contact Student Access

and Accommodation Services at 350 Fell Hall, 309-438-5853. Visit the website at StudentAccess.illinoisstate.edu.10. Extra credit: There is no credit apart from what is listed elsewhere on the syllabus.

Readings: Books are available at the University Bookstore & at Alamo II. Copies of paper books will also be on reserve at the library. When you buy the book package for the course, you will receive an access code to the digital textbook.

Henretta, et al., America’s History, 8th ed., digital text at http://www.macmillanhighered.com/launchpad/henretta8e/3774891

G. Symcox & B. Sullivan, Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the IndiesN. Cunningham, Jefferson v. HamiltonT. Gilfoyle, The Urban Underworld in Late Nineteenth-Century New York

Publisher’s instructions for accessing the digital text and the primary documents related to it:

1. Go to http://www.macmillanhighered.com/launchpad/henretta8e/3774891

2. Bookmark the page to make it easy to return to.3. Enroll in our course using one of the following options:a. If you have an access code, select “I have a student access code,”

enter the code exactly as it appears on the card, and click Submit.b. If you don’t have an access code, either purchase a text package that

includes one OR click “I want to purchase access” and follow the instructions.

c. If you need to start working but can’t purchase right away, select “I want temporary access” and follow the instructions.

Class Outline:8/22 – Introduction8/24-9/2 – The Columbian Encounter

Read: America’s History, pt. 1 intro, ch. 1-29/7 – Read and discuss: Symcox & Sulllivan, Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies

9/9-16 – British North AmericaRead: America’s History, pt. 2 intro., ch. 3-4, pt. 2 docs

9/12 – Assessing Columbus posting due

9/19-21 – Great Awakening and EnlightenmentRead and discuss: The Declaration of Independence. Versions available online at: www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/decindep.htm www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html

9/21 – Test study session, 4 p.m., place TBA9/23 – In-class test

9/26-30 – Revolutionary culture, Hamilton and JeffersonRead: America’s History, ch. 6-7

10/3 – Read and discuss: Cunningham, Jefferson vs. Hamilton

10/5-12 – A society in motionRead: America’s History, ch. 8-9, Debating Indian Removal documents

10/14-19 – A culture in transformationRead: America’s History, ch. 11, w/ documents

10/21 – Work on papers, no regular class10/24 – Historical Hamilton paper due

10/24-28 – The Plantation South, slave cultureRead: America’s History, ch. 12 w/documents

10/31-11/4 – The Great WestRead: America’s History, ch. 16 w/documents, Sand Creek documents

11/7-11 – Age of the cityRead: America’s History, ch. 17-19

11/14-16 – Film: Men at Lunch11/18 – Read and discuss: Gilfoyle, Urban Underworld

11/28-12/2 – Mass and consumer society after World War IRead: America’s History, ch. 22 w/documents

11/30 – Urban Underworld project due

12/5-9 – The suburban nationRead: America’s History, ch. 26, Juvenile delinquency/comic book

documents

12/9 - Final study session, 4 p.m., place TBAFinal Exam – TIME & DATE, TBA

“Quit your job” Courtesy Atlantic magazine, www.theatlantic.com