GEORGIA HIGHLANDS COLLEGE
History 2112-80314 – American History II
College by DVD – Fall 2006
Course Description: A survey of U.S. history from the post-Civil War period to the present, this course stresses developments from Reconstruction forward. It satisfies the state legislative requirements in United States & Georgia history. Prerequities: Satisfactory placement scores/READ 0099 & ENGL 0099.
Instructor: Dr. William Mugleston Phone: 678: 872-8092
Office: Cartersville 320A E-Mail: wmuglest@highlands.edu
Mandatory Orientation (you MUST attend):
Cartersville: Wednesday Aug 23, 5:00 pm, Room 322
Required Books:
James L. Roark et al., The American Promise: A History of the United States, Vol. II—From 1865, 3rd edition, 2005
Kenneth G. Alfers, Telecourse Guide for Transforming America: U.S. History Since 1877, 2006
Examinations: There are three exams in the course:
Exam 1: Lessons 1-7
Exam 2: Lessons 8-16
Exam 3: Lessons 17-26
(These are the lessons [chapters] in the Telecourse Guide)
Each exam is worth 100 points. Each exam is 35 multiple-choice questions and two essays. Plan on at least 90 minutes to take each one.
Grading Scale: Your final grade will be determined by adding the three numerical scores from your exams (plus extra-credit points, if you have them) and applying the total to this scale:
300-270 A 269-240 B 239-210 C 209-180 D Below 180 F
Important Dates this Semester:
Sept 2–4 – LABOR DAY HOLIDAY; CAMPUSES CLOSED
Tuesday Sept 19 – Exam 1, 4:30 pm, Room 239, Cartersville
Wednesday Oct 11 – Midterm; Last Day to Withdraw with a “W”
Wednesday Oct 25 – Exam 2, 4:30 pm, Rm. 239, Cartersville
Nov 23-26 – THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY; CAMPUSES
CLOSED
Wednesday Dec 6 – Exam 3, 4:30 pm, Room 239, Cartersville
IMPORTANT NOTE: When you appear to take an exam, YOU WILL NEED TO BRING A PICTURE ID, SUCH AS A DRIVER’S LICENSE.
IMPORTANT: Be sure to return your DVDs to the GHC Library at the end of the semester or you will be billed for them! ($185.00)
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Students will demonstrate an awareness of global and multi-
cultural issues as they have affected individuals and social
structures in the past and are likely to affect them in the
future.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of diversity among
cultures as revealed in history, customs, language, or litera-
ture.
Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze and
synthesize historical data in relation to both its time period
and ours.
Students will be able to express knowledge of historical
data through verbal & written means.
Students will be able to analyze both quantitative and
qualitative course source material.
Students will be able to apply historical concepts to
modern situations in the search for cause & effect patterns.
Extra Credit: For a maximum of 15 points extra, you may do one of the "Enrichment Ideas" in the Telecourse Guide. Each chapter has several of them. IDENTIFY THE CHAPTER, PAGE AND ITEM YOU ARE DOING. Turn it in with your final exam or (preferably) earlier. You may also send it to me electronically as an e-mail message or as a Word attachment. These extra-credit points are added to your point total. Thus you have nothing to lose and EVERYTHING TO GAIN by doing this extra-credit assignment!
VERY IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that this is an independent study course--you are working on your own without the requirement of being in class at a particular time. This can be either good or bad--it's up to you. Successful students in courses like this are highly motivated, self-disciplined persons who can work on their own without any prodding from an instructor. If you tend to procrastinate in your studying, you should drop the course right away! Falling behind in a course such as this is fatal!
Do not be misled because this is a distance learning course--it is a regular college course that requires as much or more time and work as an in-class course.
Having said all this, I hope you enjoy the course and learn some of your nation’s history! It’s a good course. Keep in touch with me on how it goes.
DISABILITY STATEMENT: Any student who feels they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should make an appointment with the College Access Center (706: 802-5003) to coordinate reasonable accommodations. You are also welcome to contact me privately to discuss your specific needs.
STUDENT CONDUCT & ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: Georgia Highlands College policies on these issues are in the College’s “Student Rights & Responsibilities” document. This can be accessed at the following
URL:
http://www.highlands.edu/academics/academicaffairs/academicintegritypolicy.htm
This message applies only to students receiving financial aid: Federal regulations state that if a student did not attend classes and received failing grades, then the grades were not earned and financial aid needs to be reduced accordingly. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT ANY STUDENT RECEIVING A 0.00 GPA WILL BE REQUIRED TO PROVE THAT THE 0.00 GPA WAS EARNED BY ATTENDING CLASSES OR COMPLETING REQUIREMENTS FOR EACH CLASS. Students who have earned at least one passing grade for the semester will not be affected by this regulation. If a student has properly withdrawn from all classes, the student’s financial aid should be adjusted from the time they signed the withdrawal form.
GUIDE TO THE THREE EXAMS: Each exam consists of 35 multiple-choice questions (1.4 pts each) and two essays (25 pts each). You will have five essay choices; write on two. The topical areas of the essay choices for each exam are:
EXAM 1
Late 19th century industrialization
The African-American experience up to 1900
The Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor
The Populist (People’s) Party
Late 19th century imperialism
EXAM 2
The Progressive movement on the local, state, and national levels
Events leading to American involvement in World War I
The Great Crash and the Great Depression
The New Deal; President Roosevelt
American mobilization for World War II—its effect on society and the economy
EXAM 3
The Civil Rights Movement and Johnson’s Great Society program
The Vietnam War
The Watergate scandal
Conservatism in the 1970s and 1980s
American foreign policy in the 1990s
“The saving grace, the special reward of the study of history is that you survey a variety of object-lessons…from which you may choose for yourself and your country what to imitate and what to avoid.”
---Livy (59 BC—17 AD), Roman historian