Participation and Attendance (20%)
Students are to attend each class having completed the readings or other assignments and be prepared to discuss them. Your grade will be based on your contributions to in-class activities and discussions, how you interact with your peers during class, whether you have brought the readings or required material to class, and arriving on-time. Your participation grade will also include a number of short quizzes that will be administered throughout the semester. These are meant as a check-in to make sure you are engaging with the course’s material, including lectures, readings, and in-class activities. Unless otherwise notified, you will not need to study for these outside of: a) doing the reading, and b) taking notes and paying attention during class. If you happen to be absent during one of these quizzes, the scores from your other quizzes will be weighted more heavily.
Citizenship Portfolio (25%)
One of the major themes of this course is American citizenship and the relationship between the past and the present. As part of this theme, you will be completing a Citizenship Portfolio in which you link some of the big topics in U.S. history to modern-day issues and events related to citizenship today.
- Voting Worksheet (5%) - Due Wednesday, 1/22 by 11:59PM
- Presidential Nomination (10%) - Due Sunday, 2/2 by 11:59PM
- Immigration Detainee Hearing (10%) - Due Tuesday, 3/24 by 11:59PM
Please note that some these assignments cannot be completed at the last minute and are subject to outside schedules that are beyond your own control. They will require you to plan ahead several days or even weeks to figure out when you can complete them. Full description of the assignment.
Mid-Semester Project: Museum of Fine Arts (20%)
Visit the Museum of Fine Arts and explore its Art of the Americas wing, then select one item from their collection of art that you can connect to the core question of this course: “What does it mean to be an American?” You will write an essay analyzing the piece of art within the larger context of American identity and American history. Full description of the assignment.
Due on Wednesday, 2/26 by 11:59PM
Final Project: Course Packet (20%)
Create a course packet of historical sources on a topic of your choice (ex. fashion, impeachment, birth control, U.S. holidays, Chinese-American immigration, etc.). You will gather 8-10 sources about your topic from the 1900s and/or 2000s and write a background essay that links your project to larger themes in U.S. history. Full description of the assignment.
Due on Wednesday, 4/15 by 11:59PM
Final Exam (15%)
Take-home exam consisting of short identifications and essay questions and will be emailed to the class. You may consult your notes from class along with any of the assigned readings themselves, but you are not allowed to consult outside sources such as Wikipedia or talk about the exam with fellow classmates. You are on your honor code. There is no specific time limit for taking the exam, other than completing and submitting it by its due date. The final exam will be emailed to you as a Word document on Thursday, 4/16. Submit the completed document (saved as YourLastName_FinalExam.docx) to this Dropbox folder.
Due Tuesday, 4/21 by 11:59PM