The United States: A General Survey Since 1860

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

The Civics & Community SLOs

• Critically analyze claims, arguments, artifacts or information.
• Construct coherent, evidence-based arguments.
• Evaluate key concepts, principles, arguments, and contexts in founding documents of the American republic, including the United States Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and a representative selection of the Federalist Papers; and,
• Evaluate key milestones in progress and challenges in the effort to form a more perfect Union, including the arguments and contexts surrounding the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Letter from Birmingham Jail, as well as other texts that reflect the breadth of American experiences.

SLOs specific to the professor’s version

• Demonstrate orally and in writing comprehension of major characters, events, decisions, ideas, and social trends in the U.S., in a way that rises above recitation of facts and dates to the level of interpretation.
• Discuss and debate conflicting positions taken by those who lived history and by historians who write about these actors. Contextualize these competing claims in relation to the tangled threads of cause and effect, duration and change, agency and structures.
• Write short essay quizzes and papers that compare, contrast and explain the points of view and actions of historical actors in terms of their contexts of opportunity and constraint.
• In an individualized course portfolio, revise and refine your own analyses and conclusions along one axis of interpretation covering the sweep of American history over more than a century.

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
Oral Participation	10%
Formative Assessment I. Preparation Quizzes	15%
Formative Assessment II. Discussion Posts, Group “Report-Outs”	30%
Formative Assessment III. Short Writings Before and In-Class	15%
4-5 Page formal paper on Martin Luther King Jr. in Context	10%
Final Exam	20%

Grading Scale:

Grading Scale

Percentage	Letter Grade
93.3-100	A
90-93.3	A-
86.7-88.9	B+
83.3-86.7	B
80-83.3	B-
76.7-79.9	C+
73.3-76.6	C
70-73.3	C-
67.7-69.9	D+
63.3-66.6	D
60-63.3	D-
59.9 or Below	F

Attendance/Participation:

We expect you to attend every class and be on time: you will need to sit with your team. The TA will quietly take roll in Canvas and not count anyone after they finish. (A sign up sheet may also be circulated).

We have 28 class meetings. More than 4 absences (for any reason) and your final grade drops 1 point for every day missed. Any alterations to this policy will follow a conference with the professor after submission of documentation of illness, family emergencies, or other disruption to your semester. We do not need details, as you are entitled to privacy.

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

There is no textbook for this course. Required readings will be delivered via Canvas in the PDF format or in class as paper handouts. By week Four, hard copy paper versions of the rest of the course readings will be available for optional purchase through the Barnes & Noble campus bookstore (if you opted into First Day Complete) or a more affordable off-campus copy shop. Students will be encouraged but not required to purchase these paper copies.