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The requirements for the course are as follows: (1) 3 essay examination (100 pts. Each=300 pts.); (2) four essay projects (50 pts. each=200 pts.); (3) a self-evaluation (1 page, typed, single-spaced) assessing your performance in the course (not graded but required.).
There will be three exams consisting of identifications (30 pts.), a short essay (30 pts.), and a longer interpretive essay (40 pts.). You will choose 6 identifications from a list of 9; you will also select 1 short essay from 2 possibilities for the short essay and 1 of 2 possibilities for the longer interpretive essay. Each of the identifications will be worth 5 points. You will receive a list of between 40 and 50 identification items for study before the exam. Similarly, you will receive a list of the exact 3 questions that I will chose from for the short answer essay question and a roster of the exact 3 questions that I will pick from for the longer, interpretive essay. We will “study” for the exam during class, so you will get a solid idea of how the identifications and essays will be marked.
It should be clear that putting together a study group will enhance your prospects of doing well on the exams. Members of the group can divide the identifications among the participants, write their allotment, meet to go over them for the purposes of improving them, revise them and, finally, distribute photocopies. The collaborative approach can be used with respect to the essay questions. Group members can divide the questions and draft possible responses.
There will be no make-up exams except for documented and bona fide cases in accordance with the regulations of the university and in cases of officially scheduled university activities. In other words, come with a note from the health center or a physician in cases of illness or a note from a priest, minister, or pastor in the case of a family death. If you believe that there are other health or family-related reasons that would warrant a make-up exam, discuss them first with me or with your TA early in the course. Absences based on account of officially scheduled university activities require a note from the Dean’s Office of your college. The make-up exams will be given on a date after the regular exam; do not request to take them before the scheduled date.
There are four projects required for the course. They are due in class on the date stated on the syllabus schedule. (Do not email your essay to me.) Points will be deducted for the following missteps:
1. lateness (5 pts for every day beyond the due date)
2. grammar (10 pts for the first 10 errors)
3. failure to state a competent thesis (5 pts)
4. lack of transitional sentences (5 pts)
5. lack of a competent introductory paragraph
Although the projects result in rather short papers, a good deal of thinking and drafting are necessary to prepare a good project.
 
How did the British and the Patriots view each other’s activities in the period leading up to the Revolutionary War? Paul Revere’s broadside depicting the Boston Massacre and a British cartoon depicting American revolutionary efforts present two views of the patriot activism before the Revolutionary War: one from the American perspective and one from the British viewpoint. Carefully examine the Society of Patriotic Women Edenton, North Carolina, and Paul Revere’s Boston Massacre and use the questions accompanying the online materials to help develop your thesis and organize your evidence. (2-3 pages)
This two-part project explores the relationship between maps, city planning, and politics. The Jacksonian period (1828-1850) was an era of intense experiment and reform. Americans modified their laws, their institutions, and their morals according to new theories of social organization. The era saw the first appearance of a women’s rights movement, the growth of abolitionism as a political force, and movements to restrict drinking and sexual behavior. As society was rapidly transformed by industry, Americans grew fascinated with the idea of planned communities—utopian societies which would ideally solve the major human problems of theof day.
Part 1. Explore a Utopia
How do the spatial arrangements in Hygeia demonstrate Jacksonian influences? Begin by exploring the map of Hygeia. Make sure you answer the questions posed in the Hygeia exercise to aid you with your analysis. (2-3 pages)
Part 2. Build A Utopia
Generally speaking, how is your Utopia organized? What were your reasons for arranging your community as you did? Before you begin, make sure you have considered the following possibilities. Will your utopia be: A religious community, where all share the same beliefs? What will those beliefs be? A socialist community, with all property owned in common and all work shared equally? A combination of both? Will it be purelya commercial enterprise, designed to make money? Or a non profit experiment? Or an experiment in radical equality? Your community must be able to support itself—will it be agricultural, industrial, or a mix of both?Will it be closed to the rest ofthe world or open? Will it be rural in character, or urban? Will there be slavery? Remember, your community must address the concerns of the day—about the excesses of industrialization, about immorality in commercial life, about the changing relations of men and women, about the potential danger of democratic politics. To design your own utopian community, go to SimUtopia. Drag the icons at the top of the page into the “map” space. When you are finished, take a screenshot of your image. On a Wintel machine, press the PRINT SCREEN or PRNT SCN key. On a Macintosh, press COMMAND + SHIFT + 3. (1page) |
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This three-part project looks a material culture as a way of understanding history. Americans are fascinated by the past. Thousands of museums, both great and small, populate the American landscape, and each year school classes across the land plan trips to Washington, D.C. to visit the great repositories of our history. What all these visitors are doing is looking at things. But what can things tell us about history? Do cases of old “stuff” add anything to the historical record? How can visitors discriminate between a good exhibit and a not-so-good exhibit? Although the project is divided into three parts for the purposes of organization, the resulting essay should be a coherent discussion. The challenge will be to discover relationships between the three parts and build transitions accordingly.
Part 1. Evaluating a Museum Exhibit
What are your criteria for an effective history museum exhibit? Begin this exercise by using the electronic databases available through the GMU University Libraries Databases.Click H and then History Cooperative. If you are accessing the library databases from off-campus, be sure to click the “Click for EZ off-campus access.” You may also need to click on both the “Important Announcement” and “Test JAH” to gain access to the database. Go the Journal of American History by clicking List of Available Journal Issues and then June 2002 (Vol. 89, No. 1). Once inside the journal, scroll down to “Exhibition Reviews” and read the review of “1699: When Virginia Was the Wild West!” and “Within These Walls.” These will furnish you with examples of exhibition reviews. How do the reviewers judge an exhibit? What are their criteria? Develop your own criteria based on those of the reviewers. (1 page)
Part 2. Visiting a Museum Exhibit
How well does the exhibit that you chose meet the criteria that you developed? Time to get on the Metro. Go the National Museum of American History and, armed with your exhibition criteria, visit one of the following exhibits: “The Information Age,” “Field to Factory,” “From Parlor to Politics,” After the Revolution,” or “G.I.: World War II.” (You may also elect to visit an exhibit not on the list with the instructor’s permission.) Even if you have already visited these exhibits, go again because you will see the exhibit from a new perspective. Once you have gone through the exhibit and taken notes, complete two tasks: complete the online survey and write a review of the exhibit that answers the question posed at the beginning of this paragraph. Do not use secondary sources, especially Internet or web resources to answer the question. I want you to grapple with the question on your own. If you would like to see how others responded the survey, the results are available here. (1-2 pages)
Part 3. Examining an Object
Does a close examination or interaction with an object contribute to our understanding of history? If so, what are its contributions? Go to the “Checkered Game of Life” and play the game. Use the questions to assist you in analyzing the object and your reactions to “playing” with it. (1 page)
This is a two-part project that looks at music and other forms of popular culture as historical evidence. The United States is awash in popular culture. What we listen to on the radio, what we watch on TV, which movies we see, and the books we read (other than required reading for courses) are all part of the popular culture that surrounds us. But does popular culture tell us anything about history—about the events, peoples, or attitudes of the past? If so, what does popular culture offer the would-be historian? Are there recurrent themes that dominate popular culture, or do the themes vary from historical period to historical period? Does popular culture reflect societal concerns or ignore them? Be forewarned that it is absolutely necessary for you to attend the lecture on November 19th to get the material for part of this assignment.
Part 1. Woodstock Nation
Using the “Top 10” lists from 1970 (music, movies, and books), was the nation’s popular culture particularly concerned about the Vietnam War or other social issues? Using these lists as an index to national attitudes, what were the nation interests in 1970? Begin this exercise by attending the lecture on November 19th and working through the questions associated with Woodstock Nation. Continue on by finding the top ten movies and top ten bestselling books for 1970 on the Internet or from library sources. (1-1/2 pages) Do not include the lists in the body of your paper; use an appendix instead to show that you have compiled your “top ten” inventories.
Part 2. “This is Now”
How does contemporary popular culture evinced in music, books, and movies compare with that some thirty years ago? Assess the degree to which the popular concerns reflected the events in each period. The central problem is establishing criteria for your “top ten” lists. How will you decide? Once you have laid down the ground rules for making your choices, your next task is finding the information. Then, it’s on to the comparison and the evaluation. |
