Day by Day
Monday,
August 30
Housekeeping & Introductions
Wednesday,
September 1
Reading: Syllabus & Website
Discussion: “Typepad Orientation”
Friday,
September 3
Lecture: “Evidence: Text”
Monday,
September 6
NO CLASS–LABOR DAY
Wednesday,
September 8
Discussion: “Native American Creation Stories”
Reading: Out of Many, Chaps. 1–3
Reader, “Leonard Crow Dog, Remaking the World…”;
Reader, “Origins of Ottawa Society”
Reader, “The Indians of New Netherlands”
Friday,
September 10
INDIVIDUAL TYPEPAD POST #1: “Creation Stories”
(due Monday, 9/13)
How did Native American creation stories change between 1650 and 1910 and how would you account for those changes? Historians are interested in the presence or absence of change over time—how things change or remain the same between one point in time and another point in time or during a period of time. The key is the variable for historians is time. With this definition of history in mind, read the three creation stories and in a three paragraphs discuss how the three stories change over time and what would account for the changes in the indigenous people’s versions of creation.
Monday,
September 13
Lecture: “Evidence: Images”
Reading: Out of Many, Chaps. 4–6
Tuesday,
September 14
LAST DAY TO ADD CLASSES
Wednesday,
September 15
Discussion: “Visual Evidence”
Reading: Scholars in Action: Cartoons
Reader, “Society of Patiotic Ladies”
Reader, “The Boston Massacre”
Friday,
September 17
(due Monday, 9/20)
GROUP TYPEPAD POST #2: “Patriotic Ladies of Edenton”
How did the British view the Patriots’s activism in the period leading up to the Revolutionary War? Carefully examine the cartoon, “Society of Patriotic Women, Edenton, North Carolina.” Use the questions accompanying the online materials as well as your notes from the lecture to help develop your thesis and organize your evidence
Monday,
September 20
Lecture: “What Happened to Paul Revere ”
Reading: Out of Many, Chaps. 7–9
Wednesday,
September 22
Lecture: “The Election of 1800”
Friday,
September 24
COMMENT TYPEPAD POST #3
(due Monday, 9/27)
Select three entries from three different class participants in your assigned response group and comment on their entries. The comments should be about a paragraph in length and may address any aspect of the post, but you should offer at least one positive remark and at least three suggestions for improvement. Once you’ve made your comments, write a line or two in your own post with links to your comments. The links should appear in the following form: Mary Smith, Individual Post #1; Group #1, Group Post #2; John Jones, Individual Post #2.
Monday,
September 27
Lecture: “Jacksonian America”
Reading: Out of Many, Chaps. 10–12
Reader, “George Catlin’s Indians”
Wednesday,
September 29
Lecture: “A Nation with a Short History”
Friday,
October 1
Last Day to Drop Classes
INDIVIDUAL TYPEPAD POST #4: “George Catlin's Indians”
(due Monday, 10/4)
Using Pigeon’s Egg Head as an example, what is Catlin’s view of Native Americans and their culture? Historians are interested in the “historical context,” the time, events, culture, society in which events took place or in which people lived and how the historical context may have (or not) influences historical events and actors. Catlin painted his works between in the decades between 1830 and 1850, a time of transformation for the nation’s indigenous people. What was the historical context for Catlin’s paintings
Monday,
October 4
Lecture: “Evidence: Maps”
Reading: Out of Many, Chaps. 13
Wednesday,
October 6
Discussion: “Hygeia”
Reading: Making Sense of Maps
Friday,
October 8
GROUP TYPEPAD POST #5: “SimUtopia”
(due Tuesday, 10/12)
How do the spatial arrangements of your Utopia reflect the ideologies of the early nineteenth century? 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 purely a 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 of the 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 or danger of democratic politics. To design your own utopian community, go online to SimUtopia. Drag the icons at the top of the next page into the “map” space. When you are finished, take a screenshot of your image and include it in a photo album in your blog. On a Wintel machine, press the PRINT SCREEN or PRNT SCN key. On a Macintosh, press COMMAND + SHIFT + 3. You may have to reduce the size and dimensions of your image with an image editing program.
Monday,
October 11
NO CLASS-COLUMBUS DAY
Tuesday,
October 12
Lecture: “Ho! For California”
Reading: Out of Many, Chaps. 14–15
Wednesday,
October 13
Discussion: “TypePad Photo Albums”
Friday,
October 15
COMMENT TYPEPAD POST #6
(due Monday, 10/18)
Select three entries from three different class participants in your assigned response group and comment on their entries. The comments should be about a paragraph in length and may address any aspect of the post, but you should offer at least one positive remark and at least three suggestions for improvement. Once you’ve made your comments, write a line or two in your own post with links to your comments. The links should appear in the following form: Mary Smith, Individual Post #1; Group #1, Group Post #2; John Jones, Individual Post #2.
Monday,
October 18
Lecture: “Up at the Big House, Down in the Quarters”
Reading: Out of Many, Chaps. 16–17
Wednesday,
October 20
Lecture: “Civil War”
Reader, Wounded Escaping…
Reader, Sharpshooter’s Last Sleep
Reader, Home of the Rebel Sharpshooter
Friday,
October 22
INDIVIDUAL TYPEPAD POST #7: “Civil War Photo Essay”
(due Monday, 10/25)
How do the images reflect a particular Civil War theme? Select 6–8 images around a particular theme from American Memory at the Library of Congress and download them. Once you have your images in hand, create a photo album and arrange the images to illustrate your theme. Choose a design that includes an introduction and a cover picture. Write an introduction for your album and captions for your images. The captions, although they can be short, should indicate how the image illustrates your theme and call attention to pertinent details.
Monday,
October 25
Lecture: “The Intimate Life ”
Reading: Out of Many, Chaps. 18–20
Reader, “State v. Rehberg”
Wednesday,
October 27
Discussion: “State v. Rehberg”
Friday,
October 29
GROUP TYPEPAD POST #8: “We, the Jury”
(due Monday, 11/1)
Was Edward Rehberg guilty of murder? Based on the evidence available in State v. Rehberg, imagine that you are a jury member in the twentieth century listening to the evidence. In your groups (you actually constitue a petite jury), decide on your verdict. What is the evidence for your decision? What verdict do you believe the nineteenth-century jury reached? What is the evidence for your decision
Monday,
November 1
Lecture: “Populism”
Reading: Out of Many, Chaps. 21–23
Wednesday,
November 3
Lecture: “Progressivism”
Friday,
November 5
COMMENT TYPEPAD POST #9
(due Monday, 11/8)
Select three entries from three different class participants in your assigned response group and comment on their entries. The comments should be about a paragraph in length and may address any aspect of the post, but you should offer at least one positive remark and at least three suggestions for improvement. Once you’ve made your comments, write a line or two in your own post with links to your comments. The links should appear in the following form: Mary Smith, Individual Post #1; Group #1, Group Post #2; John Jones, Individual Post #2.
Monday,
November 8
Lecture: “Happy Days Are Here Again”
Reading: Out of Many, Chaps. 24–26
Reader, “Father Knows Best”
Wednesday,
November 10
Lecture: “Cold War Nation”
Friday,
November 12
INDIVIDUAL TYPEPAD POST #10: “1950s Photo Essay”
(due Monday, 11/15)
How do the images reflect a particular theme or trope in the 1950s? Select 6–8 images around a particular theme from American Memory at the Library of Congress or any other public domain collection and download them. Once you have your images in hand, create a TypePad photo album and arrange the images to illustrate your theme. Choose a design that includes an introduction and a cover picture. Write an introduction that includes a thesis for your album and captions for your images that illustrate that thesis. The captions, although they can be short, should indicate how the image illustrates your theme and call attention to pertinent details.
Monday,
November 15
Lecture: “Evidence: Sound”
Reading: Out of Many, Chaps. 27–29
Wednesday,
November 17
Lecture: “Mini-Research Project”
Friday,
November 19
GROUP TYPEPAD POST #11: “Top Ten in the 1970s”
(due Monday, 11/22)
Compare the top ten movies in 1970 with the “Top Ten Songs” from 1970? How would you categorize them by genre or type? Are there any differences between the themes evident in the songs and themes in films from 1970? How would you account for those differences? You will need to use search engines on the Internet or the library to develop your list of top ten movies that were the most popular by some measure—box office receipts, highest gross, and so forth. Beware of using someone’s personal list. Lists will vary, so you should provide the source for your list and rationale for your choice.
Monday,
November 22
Lecture: “Evidence: Moving Images”
Reading: Making Sense of Films
Wednesday,
November 24
NO CLASS–THANKSGIVING
Friday,
November 26
NO CLASS–THANKSGIVING
Monday,
November 29
Lecture: “Greed is Good: The 1980s”
Reading: Out of Many, Chap. 30
Wednesday,
December 1
Discussion: “How to Read a Movie”
Friday,
December 3
GROUP TYPEPAD POST #12: “Wall Street”
(due Monday, 12/6)
To what extent did the movie Wall Street reflect the economic culture of the 1980s? Select a scene from the movie that you think either reflects or not the economic culture of the 1980s, describe the scene, and evaluate the scene's historicity. Gather your group together and select a time to view Wall Street. It’s important that you watch and discuss the film together. To that end, you can reserve a media viewing room in the Johnson Center. The 1st floor group viewing room (134A) will accommodate 5-25 people and the 2nd floor group viewing room (227EB) will accommodate 5-10 people. Inquire at the Media/Reserves desk (1st floor) to access these rooms. You may also reserve a Group Viewing Room in advance by e-mailing Rachel Kirkland or by calling her at 993-9052. Or, you can rent the DVD and gather together for your own viewing on or off campus.
Monday,
December 6
Lecture: “Getting to 9/11”
Reading: Out of Many, Chaps. 31
September 11 Digital Archive: Don Mercy
Wednesday,
December 10
Discussion: “Memory as History ”
CLASS EVALUATION
Friday,
December 10
SELF-EVALATION DUE
INDIVIDUAL TYPEPAD POST #13: “Telling Your Story”
(due Monday, 12/13)
Where were you when the planes hit the Twin Towers? What did you do? What did you think both before and after. Each generation has its historical moments, a time when we have a clear picture of the events. For one generation, it is the answer to the question: “Where were you when Kennedy was shot?” For another, it is: “Where were you when Challenger blew up?” For still another generation, it is 9/11. For this assignment, go to the September 11 Digital Archive and write your story. Once you’ve added your story to the archive, make a copy for your TypePad post. You might want to read a few of the entries to get a sense of how people remember the events and their reactions. One of most interesting is Don Mercy’s, a former GMU student and Fedex driver.