History 3760 Extended Syllabus United States, 1900-1945 American Popular Culture UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Dr. Robert J. Mueller Summer Semester 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION A: General Course Information 1. Required Reading . 3 2. Course Content & Outcomes . 3-4 3. Course Organization . 4 4. Discussion Grade . 4-5 5. Quizzes . 5 6. Writing Assignments. 5-6 7. Grade Breakdown . 7 8. Office Hours . 7 9. Academic Dishonesty. 7 10. Sexual Harassment . 7-8 11. Students with Disabilities . 8 12. Lectures & Reading Assignments. 8-9 SECTION B: Advice for Writing 1. Advice for Writing Good Essays. 11-15 2. Mueller’s Pet Peeves . 16 3. Proper Footnoting . 17-18 4. Plagiarism . 19 SECTION C: Lecture Outlines and Word Lists . 21-34 SECTION D: Helpful Information 1. How to Read or Watch a Document and Use It Effectively . 36 2. Pop Culture Sources . 37 1 History 3760 Extended Syllabus Section A General Course Information 2 UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY History 3760 -- United States, 1900-1945 (American Popular Culture) Summer Semester 2016 Wednesdays 5:15-7:45PM (IVC) INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Bob Mueller OFFICE: USU Tooele Regional Campus, Office #180 OFFICE PHONE & VOICE MAIL: (435) 797 9909 OFFICE FAX #: (435) 882-7916 OFFICE HOURS: Wednesdays, 3:00-5:00PM & by appt. E-MAIL: [email protected] WRITING TEACHING ASSISTANT: Maren Petersen E-MAIL: maren.petersen#usu.edu CELL PHONE: (435) 1. REQUIRED READING: George Moss, The Rise of Modern America (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1995) [ISBN 0-13-181587-3] Frank King, Walt and Skeezix: Book One (Drawn & Quarterly, 2005) [ISBN 1896597645] Robert J. Mueller, ed., Weekly Readings on Canvas (under “Course Materials”) Robert J. Mueller, History 3760 Extended Syllabus 2. COURSE CONTENT & OUTCOMES: History 3760 is an upper division course which surveys the social and cultural history of America from the Progressive Era at the turn of the twentieth century to the end of World War II. It covers the period when America had to deal with a whole host of new problems: the dark side of industrialization, urbanization and unregulated big business; the increase in lawlessness which came with Prohibition; the horrors of the Great Depression; and the dangerous threats of the World Wars. But ironically this period also coincided with the first time when American workers had significant amounts of leisure time. Much of the course will be spent looking at how Americans filled this leisure time. Rather than focusing on such subjects as politics, government, wars and foreign policy, we will instead look at how the lives of average Americans (the so-called “common people”) changed during this period. To this end we will be examining a much greater variety of primary sources than one usually does in a traditional history course. By this I mean we will concentrate on studying the popular culture of the masses. Our reading will include the melodramatic dime novels and pulps, the incendiary writings of the muckrakers, the humor and adventure of the newspaper comic strips and the larger than life heroes of the comic book. We’ll also see how technology changed the American way of life by looking at the ramifications of new kinds of manufacturing methods, printing presses, motion picture cameras and projectors, radio, and the automobile. Finally we will rely on the visual arts to show us the changes of the period, by examining early motion pictures, documentaries, animated cartoons and even wartime propaganda films. For all of this innovative use of sources, we will still be trying to do the same thing with them that one does in a traditional history course -- understand the past. History 3760 emphasizes the examination of primary sources (visual as well as written) as a method of developing the important skill of analysis. There will be five main outcomes by the time you finish this course: 3 1) You will become a stronger writer. I do not use midterms and finals to test how well you understand the lectures, films, cartoons, videos and readings. Instead I ask you to write a series of three term papers and take short quizzes. In Section B of this syllabus there is a detailed discussion about writing strong papers. This semester we are also providing a writing teaching assistant, Maren Petersen, who can help you with the three papers you will be writing. 2) You will become a more critical thinker. The papers and terminology quizzes require you to use and develop the skill of analysis. Analysis is the ability to reach into a mass of material and pull out only what is relevant for a certain project or assignment. You will learn to have informed opinions backed up by evidence. 3) You will become a better communicator. I will expect you to take an active part in our weekly discussions – and that means talking in class. Public speaking may be hard for some of you, but it is a necessary and important skill for functioning in our society today. Employers want people who know how to communicate with others. So, we will talk about what we read and watch every week. I’ll ask for your opinion on things and expect you to be able to support your views with evidence. 4) You will understand important facts about American society. By studying the artifacts of popular culture, you will see how the lives of average Americans were transformed between 1900 and 1945 by various new technologies and advances, such as the rotary steam press, electricity, the automobile, radio, and the availability of easy credit. 5) You will become more knowledgeable about how Americans have been manipulated by media, either through advertising or propaganda. 3. COURSE ORGANIZATION: This course is a mixture of lecture and discussion. It is vitally important that you complete the weekly reading assignments before our class meetings. Please come to class prepared. Always bring the weekly readings which I post on Canvas, because I will often lead a discussion of these sources during the class period. These discussions are important for your understanding of the class and its outcomes. Please bring questions to class. I want to hear your opinion on the topics we discuss. These discussions help us get into the minds of working class Americans. Remember that this is a distance education course. We handle discussion a bit differently in such a class. I will ask questions of different sites during the lecture. Yes, this means I will occasionally ask you to talk, but I’m such a fun (and humble) guy that this should always be a distinct pleasure. If you are not at the site that is being questioned, please hold off answering unless I throw open the question to the whole class. Don’t worry, I’ll give all sites the chance to participate. Likewise, if you have a question during the lecture, I want you to ask it. But please wait for a pause in my lecture (I stop a lot to sip my coffee) and then ask away. Always remember to announce the following things when you address me or the class: 1) Your name, and 2) Your site. This way I can keep track of who is talking and it gives our video technology time to turn on and focus on you. Yes, a camera will be on you when you speak in class. In this way I can see who is talking. This is also a writing-intensive class; you will have to demonstrate the analytical skills you practice in the discussions on your writing assignments. 4. DISCUSSION GRADE: Fifteen percent (15%) of your grade (150 points) will be based on your participation in the discussions in this class. This does not mean simply asking a question or two. I expect you to answer questions which I ask and make substantive comments in our weekly discussions, most of which will be based on the weekly Canvas readings. I keep track of all the substantive comments you make on a control sheet, so make sure you clearly state 4 your name and site before you make your comment. That will give me time to find your name and mark it. If you contribute regularly, you will earn a good discussion grade. If you do not contribute, you could lower your overall grade by as much as an entire grade level and a half (meaning that a B+ grade on the rest of the course assignments could become a C). The take-away message here is to take part in the discussions during class time. To be able to do this effectively you need to keep up on the readings. 5. QUIZZES: There are five (5) terminology quizzes worth a total of 250 points (or 25% of your total grade). You will take a terminology quiz once every three weeks. The terms are taken from the weekly lecture outlines/word lists found in Section C of this syllabus. Each term quiz has the same format. There will be five terms given, one or two from each of the previous three lecture outlines/word lists. A good answer has two parts: 1) Identification. Identify the term in a sentence or two. Answer the questions who?, what? where? and when? as relates to the term. The more specific details you can give, the more points you will score. This part of the answer tests your memorization skills. 2) Historical significance. Tell me why the term is important for this course in a single sentence or two at most. Sometimes there is an obvious reason why a person, place, or concept is significant. Or sometimes you can tie the term to a larger theme or set of ideas in the class.