Schedule

Note: given the financial insecurity of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have tried to keep your costs for course materials to a minimum. Most of the assigned articles, videos, podcasts, etc. are available for free online and there are no required books or textbooks to purchase.

Setting the Scene

M., 8/17: Introductions to Each Other and HIST 1362

W., 8/19: Stories, Memory, and the Civil War

  • Watch Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “The Danger of a Single Story” TED Talk (2009).
  • Join the Slack workspace for this course using the emailed link, download the Slack app to either your computer or mobile device, set up your profile, and post one message to the #introductions channel

Remaking the Nation

M., 8/24: Reconstruction I

W., 8/26: Reconstruction II

  • Watch first 32:10 minutes of: Part 1, Hour 2 of the PBS documentary, Reconstruction: America After the Civil War, (2019). Please note: there are some graphic images and descriptions of violence and sexual assault from 19:00-24:00 if you need to skip this section of the episode.
    • Take notes on the episode using this worksheet and make sure you have these notes with you for class.

M., 8/31: Reconstructing the West

W., 9/2: Capital & Labor

Reform Movements

Voting Worksheet due Sunday, 9/6 at 11:59PM

M., 9/7: No Class, Official Holiday

W., 9/9: The Progressive Era Class moved to Monday, 9/14

  • Class is postponed today. Professor Blevins is participating in the Scholar Strike for Racial Justice, a mass action of higher education professionals protesting racist policing, state violence against communities of color, mass incarceration and other manifestations of racism. Instead of class, I will be holding an open forum for students to discuss these issues on our regular Zoom call. Please see this video and my class-wide email for more information.

M., 9/14: Environmentalism The Progressive Era

  • Read your primary source packet in preparation for a mock Congressional hearing on proposal to dam Hetch Hetchy Valley
  • American Yawp, Chapter 20: The Progressive Era (Part I, II)
  • Each group is assigned a reform movement and a corresponding packet of primary sources (see email/Canvas announcement). Read the sources and take notes on: What problem are they trying to solve? Who are their reforms aimed at helping? What are their proposed solutions? Whose voices seem left out of this movement? Link to full packet - note that you only take notes on your group.

W., 9/16: Suffrage

Colonialism and Empire

M., 9/21: Colonialism

  • Prepare for a mock debate between CU Denver students in the year 1900 on the Philippine-American War. You will be assigned one side of that debate at the start of class. In order to prepare, complete the following readings:
  • Background reading on the war (choose one):
  • Read the four documents in this source packet and take notes on arguments that were being made for and against the Philippine-American War.

W., 9/23: World War I

  • Read the full newspaper issue for your Weekend Briefing and make clippings of two items you might include in the assignment

Weekend Briefing Due Sunday, 9/27 by 11:59PM

The Melting Pot

M., 9/28: Immigration

W., 9/30: Jim Crow

The American Century

M., 10/5: The New Deal

  • John Biewen and Chenjerai Kumanyika, “A New Deal”, Scene on Radio, Season 54, Episode 6 (March 17, 2020).

W., 10/7: World War II

M., 10/12: The Cold War

Politics and Protest: The 1960s

W., 10/14: The Civil Rights Era I

  • Watch first 34:30 (segments 1-16) of Sandra Dickson and Churchill Roberts, Negroes with Guns, available using your CU Denver log-in credentials.
  • Read pp. 2-15 of the Gamebook for Reacting to the Past: Chicago, 1968. See Canvas Announcement on 10/12 and Slack channel #chicago-1968 for a link to the Gamebook.

M., 10/19: Set Up Session: / The Civil Rights Era II

  • Read pp. 15-41 of the Gamebook for Reacting to the Past: Chicago, 1968
  • Read your Role Sheet carefully - look in particular at your victory conditions and the texts you need to read
  • Delegates and protestors: make sure you know the topic of your speech and what session you will be giving it. Note: if you are giving a speech on Session 1 (W., 10/21), begin preparing over the weekend.
  • Journalists: make sure you know the topic of your stories and note that most of them are due the day before a main session. Plan ahead, especially if you have a story due on Tues., 10/20.

W., 10/21: Chicago, 1968 Session 1: Domestic Policy

  • Read the selected Core Texts indicated in your Role Sheet under “Relationships…To the Texts”

M., 10/26: Chicago, 1968 Session 2: Vietnam Policy

W., 10/28: Chicago, 1968 Session 3: Presidential Nomination

M., 11/2: Debrief Session | The Civil Rights Era III

  • Optional for extra credit: Watch min. 20:44-54:00 of Episode 4: Fighting for Political Power from documentary Chicano! The History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement and post a one-paragraph answer to the following question on the #general channel on Slack: Do you think it is more effective to try and change political systems by working INSIDE of them or OUTSIDE of them? You must include specific examples from the documentary to support your answer.

Backlash

W., 11/4: The 1970s | 2020 Election Debrief

M., 11/9: The Triumph of the Right

  • Watch Season 1, Episode 1 of TV series Mrs. America (2020). Available on Hulu, Google Play, Amazon.

W., 11/11: The 1990s

The 21st Century

M., 11/16: The 2000s

W., 11/18: Election Presentations

  • Prepare a lightning-round style (three minutes or less) presentation on your assigned election that you will be examining for your unessay, with the aim of convincing the rest of your class that this is the most important election in American history since 1876 (whether you believe this to be true or not). The goal of this presentation is to research the basics and context of the election to help you narrow in on your specific unessay topic.

M., 11/23: Thanksgiving Break

W., 11/25: Thanksgiving Break

Election Unessay due Sunday 11/29 by 11:59PM

M., 11/30: True Crime and US History

  • Open topic selected by students (no reading)

W., 12/2: Semester Review

  • Come to class with your notes from the semester in preparation for a review session for the final exam.

Final Exam due Wednesday, 12/9 by 11:59PM