Dr. Paul
Douglas Newman
Autumn 2002 T-R 9:30 & 3:30 Classroom: Biddle 131 Office: Krebs 125, 269-2987, Fax 7255 Home: 535-3176 (not after 9pm, or else!) Office Hours: T & R 11-12, 2-3, & by appt pnewman@pitt.edu www.pitt.edu/~pnewman |
1.One purpose is to make you employable by teaching you how to think, how to reason, and then, training you to communicate your rationalized thought in an intelligent and efficient manner. These skills are Mandatory in today's world of gainful employment. I intend to impart these skills to you by presenting you with massive quantities of historical information, and then challenging you to use the facts--to synthesize them--in forming your own opinion about the themes and events of American history in clear and efficiently written essays. This class will be a seminar for which several reading assignments will constitute the basis for discussion. In these class discussions, you will hone your oral communication skills. Reading and discussion are not options in this class, they are mandatory excercises. If you are unable or unwilling to perform them, I will remind you that the door to the classroom is behind you and that the Registrar's Office is across the quad in Biddle Hall.
2.Most of you are citizens of this republic, the United States of America. As citizens, you are endowed not only with many "fundamental" rights and privileges but also with some heavy-duty responsibility. You are charged with the task of choosing the local, state, and national officials of one of the most (if not the most) powerful country on earth. But the problem is that so very few of you take this responsibility seriously. Eighteen to twenty-five year-olds are the group least likely to even know where the polls are--much less when to vote! This type of apathy is what frightened many of the Founders most. Apathy concerning who governs and the policies implemented by government is the seedbed for tyranny! And those rights and privileges that you so readily identify as fundamental and automatic to your citizenship can and will be quite easily denied and stripped of you. The Founders understood that government is power, and that power corrupts the men who possess it, and that the powerful seek to gain more power by seizing it from the people. In order to combat this inevitable truth, they created a republic (not a democracy) in which the power of the country remained invested in the hands of the people, the electorate, who shared and controlled the power of their government. It will be one purpose of this course to reinfuse you with the actions and intentions of the Founders, their predecessors and their followers, who created and continued the first and arguably the most successful experiment in republican government in the world so that with your generation, the experiment can continue. This is not meant to glorify "the founders," however... keep reading...
3.Another purpose is to expose you to a side of American history that you probably have never experienced, its darker side. The reason for this is plain. The history of human beings--that is the writing of the story of man--has encompassed many themes: progress, expansion, declension, imperialism, etc... but one theme that is inherent within them all, and which--unfortunately--seems to have characterized the entire story of human interaction, is Conflict. The story of Americans' relationships with one another and with other nations is no different.
During the Los Angeles Riots of 1992, Rodney King passionately beseeched his fellow citizens, "Can't we all get along?" The immediate answer was no, as the violence continued for days. But gradually it did stop, and more importantly, the citizens of that community strove to rebuild it, and are now making efforts to heal not only the wounds that the riots caused, but the wounds that caused the riots. Much, much work remains to be done in the area of race relations, poverty, and xenophobia, but people try, and through their effort society usually improves.
And King's question is a poignant one for us--His 610--to apply to the history of the interaction of American human beings with one another, as well as with those of differing races, religions, and ethnicity in the formative years of our nation before and after 1877. Again, you will find this semester that the answer to "Can't we all get along?" has many times been NO, as various racial, ethnic, religious, sexual, socioeconomic, political, and national groups have squared off against one another in hateful, hurtful, and often deadly conflict--as we all saw several years ago in Los Angeles. One reason for these tragedies--the same as Los Angeles--is a lack of understanding, a lack of knowledge, and a lack of empathy (not sympathy, empathy--the capacity for participating in the feelings or ideas of others; sympathy is the actual participation). In short, these tragedies are to a great extent the result of ignorance. Over time, Americans have slowly learned to empathize with one another and with the rest of the world, and in various arenas certain levels of progress have been made, but just as in Los Angeles, much work remains in most of those areas.
By examining the conflicts of our past, and most importantly their participants, hopefully we will all gain a better understanding of the differing peoples we live with in this country and around the world today. By learning the histories of various peoples we can better understand their present situation, and more importantly, the way in which they think, since people view the present in terms of their past. Armed with this type of education, it is my hope, and the hope of the state of Pennsylvania, that we all can learn to be empathetic--to attain at least the capacity to participate in the feelings and ideas of others. Neither I, William Penn, Albert Gallatin, nor Mark Schweiker can or will force you to be sympathetic, but we will provide you with the opportunity to sympathize by preparing you to empathize! If we succeed to the point that everyone in the world is prepared to empathize, the answer to Rodney King's question in the future will probably still be no, but that does not mean that progress cannot be made. Perhaps enough progress can occur so that two hundred years from now, historians can look back to the end of the twentieth century as the beginning of a time when progress replaced conflict as the main theme of American history. Let's hope! But more importantly, let's do something about it!
Required
Books:
The Johnstown Flood,
by David McCullough
A People's History of
the United States, by Howard Zinn
Reading
As mentioned above, there
will be an extremely heavy reading load in this course, and each class
will be a discussion revolving around that reading. Therefore,
you
must read the assignments in order for this class to work. If you
fail to read an assignment there is no reason for you to come to class
that day--you will only be risking humiliation when you are called upon.
Class
Participation
Since this class will
live
or die with your level of participation, I am requiring you to
contribute
to our conversations by according 20% of your grade (100 points) to
participation.
I will make a seating chart and record your relevant contributions to
the
conversation with check marks. At term's end, the highest 10%
will
receive an A, the second 20% will receive a B, the middle 40% a C, the
next 20% a D, and the lowest 10% an F for the participation
grade.
If the class as a whole does well, then the scale will slide from A to
D, or A to C, but that depends on all of you.
Another mode of participation will be through an on-line newsgroup called UPJZinnGroup. This discussion group is supported by Yahoo, and if you cannot reach it through the link, simply go to Yahoo.com, click on Groups, then Schools & Education, then Colleges and Universities, and then search for UPJZinnGroup. When you reach the UPJZinnGroup homepage, click "Join this Group," fill out the info to create a Yahoo account. This way you can access the group via the web. Or, you can simply participate through your own existing non-yahoo email account by sending an email to UPJZinnGroup-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and requesting admission to the group--all posts will then be sent to your e-mail. Then you can begin discussing Zinn, David McCullough, our class, your quizzes and tests, whatever you want so long as it is related to History 0620. I'll read it everyday and post occasionally. It's anonymous, but you can include your first initial and last name at the end of your post if you want me to know who you are. Read the Group Description on the UPJZinnGroup homepage for more details.
Now, I know what you're all thinking: "1. But it's not fair! 2. I'll feel stupid! 3. I don't like to speak in front of people! 4. You're mean old S.O.B.!" Well, in response to those statements, I would say: "1. Life isn't fair, get over it. 2. If you were stupid you would not be in college, and I care about your intellectual development, not your "feelings." 3. You may not like speaking in front of people but honing your oral communication abilities is one of the most important skills that you can take out of college and into the real world. Things that are good for you are not always pleasant. 4. I am a mean old S.O.B., refer back to response number 1."
Quizzes
There will be periodic
unannounced quizzes on your reading material that will account for 20%
of your grade (100 points). The quizzes will be short and
objective
(matching, true-false, multiple-guess, fill-in-the-blank,
pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey,
etc.) and based on the reading assignment for the day. There will
be 13 quizzes administered of which I will drop the lowest three
grades.
Therefore, there will be NO MAKE-UP QUIZZES.
If you are absent and miss a quiz for ANY REASON,
it will be counted as one of your three drops. THERE
WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE.
Examinations
There will be two
examinations:
one mid-term for 100 points and a comprehensive final exam for 200
points.
The exams will be essay in nature. The final exam WILL
BE COMPREHENSIVE. Start freaking
out
now! If you do not like reading, writing, or thinking, please
run,
do not walk to the registrar's office to drop the class!
Grading
This course will operate
on a point system. Every exercise in this course will be worth a
certain
number of points, which will add up to 500 points by the end of the
semester.
Criteria for final
grades:
A =450-500, B =400-449, C =350-399, D =300-349, F =299 and below
Supplemental
Instrouction
There will be a voluntary
group tutoring component to this class called "Supplemental
Instruction."
The supplemental instructor, approved by myself and the Learning
Resources Center, is Drew Funka. Drew is a history major of the
finest
caliber, and he is a veteran of History 620. His group tutoring
sessions
well be held on , from in , and ,
from ,
in . (Days times and places will be listed
soon.) Attending supplemental instruction is purely
voluntary.
You may attend all, some, or none of the sessions at your
leisure.
SI is EXTREMELY helpful to those who participate. Plus, hanging
out with Drew is REALLY cool.
Attendance
There is no attendance
policy for this class. Come, don't come, whatever...you paid for
it, besides, I get paid whether you show up or not.
Make-Up
Exams
I retain the prerogative
to approve or deny applications for taking the exams at any time other
than the appointed hour. Make-Ups
will only be administered to those
students
who inform me of their intention to miss the exam BEFOREHAND.
There will be NO EXCEPTIONS. Failure to
comply
with this rule will result in a grade of zero for the exam. I am
not responsible for attending to your make-up exam. You must make
an appointment with me to perform make-up work.
Incompletes
Only students with severe
cases of hardship will be permitted a grade of "I" or "G" at term's end
with the permission to finish the course work at a later date. I
reserve the right to determine what is a "severe case of hardship."
Cheating
Any
attempt to offer anyone
else's
work as your own will merit
a zero for that assignment, a G grade for the course, and will
automatically
begin the proceedings for an F in the course and for your expulsion
from
this university in accordance with the Academic Integrity Guidelines
found
in your student handbook.
Disabilities
Students with disabilities who may be requesting academic
accommodations for this course should notify the course instructor and
Theresa M. Horner, LRC Disability Services Coordinator, as early as
possible in the term. The Disability Services Coordinator will verify
the disability and determine reasonable accommodations for the course.
To schedule an appointment or to learn more about disability services
at UPJ, please call ext. 7109 or stop by the Learning Resource Center
in 133 Biddle Hall.
Returning
Papers and Grades
According to the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, each student of the age of
majority (18) has the right to absolute privacy concerning their
academic
grades. If that privacy is breeched, the instructor and the
institution
are liable and may be sued by the injured student. Therefore, I
will
only return graded papers to their owners, face to face, and I will
only
discuss scores and grades with students face to face. I will not
discuss scores or grades over the telephone, e-mail, fax, conventional
mail, hologram, or through a spiritual medium. The only totally
secure
method to maintain your right to privacy is to handle all grade
reporting
in person. THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS TO
THIS
RULE.
Finding
Out About Your Final Grade
I will not report your
final exam grade to you until the grades have been turned in and sent
to
you in the mail by the Registrar's Office. DO
NOT PESTER ME with the question, "Do you have our finals graded
yet?"
Professorial
Prerogative
I reserve the right to
make any changes to this
syllabus
that I deem necessary at any
time for any reason of my
choosing.
Failure to comply with any revisions to the syllabus will not be
excusable
due to absence on the day the changes were announced. You are
responsible
for everything that transpires in the classroom every class meeting.
2. Robber Barrons: Zinn, pp. 253-269
4. Johnstown, The Calm Before the Storm: McCullough chapter 1
5. The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, McCullough chapter 2
6. Nature's Fury and Man's Folly: McCullough chapters 3-6
7. No Pen Can Describe: McCullough chapters 7 & 8
8. Justice Denied, Starting Over: McCullough chapter 9
9. The Empire and the People: Zinn, chapter 12
10. The Socialist Challenge: Zinn, chapter 13
11. War is the Health of State: Zinn, chapter 14
12. Self-Help in Hard Times, The Twenties: Zinn, chapter 15, pp. 377-392
13. Self-Help inHard Times, The New Deal: Zinn, chapter 15, pp. 392-406
Mid-Term Examination on October 14
14. A People's War, WWII: Zinn, chapter 16, pp. 407-425
15. A People's War, The Cold War: Zinn, chapter 16, pp. 425-442
16. Or Does it Explode?: Zinn, chapter 17
17. The Impossible Victory: Zinn, chapter 18
18. Surprises: Zinn, chapter 19
19. The Seventies: Under Control?: Zinn, chapter 20
20. Carter-Reagan-Bush: The Bipartisan Consensus: Zinn, chapter 21
21. The Unreported Resistance: Zinn chapter 22
22. The Clinton Presidency: Zinn, chapter 24
23. The 2000 Election and the War
on Terrorism: Zinn, chapter 25
24. The Coming
Revolt of the Guards: Zinn Chapter 23.
Final
Examination: You must take the exam at the appointed hour.
NO
EXCEPTIONS. Don't Ask. This means you. Yes you.
And even you.
9:30
Class: Friday, December 12, 12:30-2:30
3:30
Class: Tuesday, December 9, 3-5