Course Description
Explores changes in American culture, society, and legal customs through the study of specific trials throughout American history, from the colonial period through the twentieth century.
Syllabus
Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:
Students successfully completing this course will be able to:
- Trace the evolution of major legal issues throughout American history, and interpret their diverse historical significance
- Summarize and present key points of prosecution and defense arguments
- Construct logical and persuasive arguments
- Develop a proposal and an annotated bibliography for an independent research project focused on a significant trial not covered in our coursework.
Course Grading Information:
| Activity/Performance Measure | Percentage/Points |
|---|---|
| Decision Mazes | 15% |
| Discussion | 30% |
| Quizzes | 15% |
| Midterm paper | 15% |
| Final annotated bibliography & paper proposal | 25% |
| TOTAL | 100% |
Students will earn points throughout the semester. At the end of the course, total points earned will be divided by the total points possible to determine final course percentage. Final letter grades will be assigned according to the grading scale below.
Grading Scale
| Percentage | Letter Grade |
|---|---|
| 100-94 | A |
| 93.9-90 | A- |
| 89.9-87 | B+ |
| 86.9-84 | B |
| 83.9-80 | B- |
| 79.9-77 | C+ |
| 76.9-74 | C |
| 73.9-70 | C- |
| 69.9-67 | D+ |
| 66.6-64 | D |
| 63.9-60 | D- |
| 59.9-0 | F |
Attendance/Participation:
The University defines class attendance to be your responsibility as a student. Evidence of attendance in an asynchronous, online course can be demonstrated by correct application of assigned learning content (textbook, videos, other assigned readings, etc.) to the coursework, your timely submission of assignments, and your contribution in discussion forums and group work.
Students must participate substantially in all online Discussions.
Course Materials Purchased by the Students:
- Martin, Waldo E., Jr., ed. Brown v. Board of Education: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1998.
- Moran, Jeffrey P., ed. The Scopes Trial: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002.
- Perdue, Theda and Michael D. Green, eds. The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents, 3d. ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2016.
- You will need to gain access to the movie Amistad for the fourth unit. I rented it from Amazon Prime for 2.99 USD (SD). You could also check with your local library.
Scholarly Perspectives
This course engages diverse scholarly perspectives to develop critical thinking, analysis, and debate and inclusion of a reading does not imply endorsement.