Spring 2017
History 1378
Prof. Buzzanco
Office Hours: By Appointment
Required Books
America Since the Civil War package, which includes 3 books:
American Power, American People
Nunn-McGinty Reader Series, As They Said It
Nunn-McGinty Reader Series, American Society Since 1900
You can purchase the card with the codes at the bookstore or at this site,
http://nunnmcginty.com/index.php?prof=buzzanco
Grading:
Your grade in this course will be based on your scores on three exams [which may include essays and IDs], two during the semester, at dates announced in class and on Blackboard ,worth 100 points each, and a final exam, worth 150 points. Practice questions will be given out before the tests and review sessions with TAs will be scheduled.
Makeup Policy–read carefully. We do not want to get flooded with requests for makeups. Do everything in your power to be here on test dates. If you miss an exam due to verifiable emergency conditions, with proper documentation, there will be makeup tests given on a case-by-case basis, at the discretion of the professor/TAs. On the day of your scheduled make-up, you will be required to make up all missing tests. The only excuses for missing that day will also be medical or other emergencies [not travel plans], for which you must provide written documentation. If you miss the makeup test, you will receive zeroes for those tests. Additionally, it is your responsibility to notify your TA that you have missed an exam and to schedule a make-up as soom as possible.
Make sure you attend class regularly and keep up with the assigned readings. If at any time you are unsure of the material we are covering, please ask the T.A. or me.
For information on Incompletes or other UH policies and requirements, consult the UH Student Handbook.
Questioning a grade: If you have questions or other issues with the grade you received on a test, this is the procedure to follow.
First, the TAs will not discuss your tests right after we turn them back to you (other than to correct a math error in the grading). Please look at your exam and wait a day before contacting your TA. Make an appointment with him/her and come to that meeting with specific questions and concerns and be prepared to specifically explain why you deserved a higher grade (do not simply say “I studied and thought I should have done better”). If the TA and you do not reach an agreement, the TA will re-grade the entire test and the score be increased, decreased, or stay the same.
If at that point you still are not satisfied, make an appointment with me and bring your specific concerns and questions and I will go over the exam and, as above, possibly re-grade it and give a new score accordingly. At all times be respectful and courteous toward the TAs , and the same is expected of their interactions with you. At the end of the semester, please do not send me an email asking for your grade to be raised because you need extra points to maintain your GPA or to graduate or for other such reasons. Again, any questioning of your grade must include specific questions or comments regarding the specific questions on the test.
Classroom decorum: Please put away your cell phones and any other devices besides a laptop. Be courteous and quiet.
Topics and Reading Assignments
(American Power, American People is APAP;
As They Said It is ATSI;
American Society Since 1900 is AS 1900)
Week 1
Background: Reconstruction, Capitalism, Labor Wars, Empire
APAP, chapter 1
ATSI, chapter 1
Week 2
Imperialism, Markets, the Great War
APAP, chapter 2
ATSI, chapter 2
AS 1900, chapter 1
Week 3
The Aftermath of War Abroad and at Home
AS 1900, chapter 2
ATSI, chapter 3
Week 4
The 1920s
APAP, chapter 3
Week 5
FDR and the New Deal
APAP, chapter 4
Week 6
The Onset of War
APAP, chapter 5
AS 1900, chapter 3
Week 7
War, the Bomb, and Cold Wr
APAP, chapter 6
AS 1900, chapter 4
Week 8
The War at Home: Domestic Containment (Conformity and Counterculture)
APAP, chapter 7
ATSI, chapter 4
Week 9
Taking the Third World, Origins of Vietnam
ATSI, chapter 5
Vietnam and the Transformation of American Life,
http://vi.uh.edu/pages/buzzmat/vntalpdf/vntalpdf.html,
Week 10
The Modern Civil Rights Era
APAP, chapter 8
ATSI, chapter 7
AS 1900, chapter 5
Week 11
Questioning Authority: The 1960s
ATSI, chapter 6
AS 1900, chapter 6
Week 12
Backlash and the Rise of the Conservatives
APAP, chapter 10
AS 1900, chapter 7
Week 13
Globalization and Militarism from Reagan to Clinton
AS 1900, chapter 8
Week 14
Economic Crash and Background to 9/11
Week 15
Economic Crash and Background to 9/11
APAP, chapter 11
ATSI, chapter 8
AS 1900, chapter 9
Week 15
The U.S., Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Middle East
APAP, Conclusion
Final Exam
