Spring 2019 Course Syllabi

1 Dakota College Course Syllabus Course Title: HIST 104 - U.S. History Since 1877 Instructor: Aimee Williamson Email: aimee.duchsherer@dakotacollege.edu Please use Course Messages as your primary means of contacting me. Credits: 3 Course Description: This course offers students an introduction to the History of the United States from post-Civil War Reconstruction through the 1990s. This course will follow major social movements such as Prohibition, Women's Suffrage, Civil Rights, and the organization of labor and agriculture. The semester will follow the continuing development of America as a nation, advances in technology, the varied means by which Americans met social and economic challenges, and the responses Americans had to their changing role in the world. Students will be introduced to key events, people, and trends fundamental to any course in American History. Within and beyond these key events, this course allows students significant freedom to explore those areas of American History of greatest interest to them. Course Objectives: This course has three objectives. First, students will be able to identify key historical events and people and the forces surrounding them. In other words, students will have a grasp of the basic elements of early American History. Second, students will take from this course the many skills that the study of History provides. Students will learn how to evaluate sources and how to cite them. Students will learn how to craft a thesis and support it. Third, students will take from this course the unique preparation a digital course offers for a digital age. More and more work is done online, and this requires a new kind of professionalism. The ability to assert one's position in a credible and collegial manner is crucial to communication through electronic media. Proper grammar is of the utmost importance in establishing one's credibility in a world where the written word is the primary means of communication as is the case in digital communication. Particularly in the online world, the written word represents people. This course is designed to prepare students for working in a digital community. Texts:  Ayers, Gould, Oshinsky, Soderlund, American Passages: A History of the United States, Vol. 2: Since 1865, 4th Edition, Wadsworth Publishing, 2009. ISBN-13: 978-0-547-16635-3.  Free supplemental and primary source materials via the course site. Course Requirements and Grading: Testing:  4 quizzes (non-cumulative), 50 points each = 200 points  1 final exam (cumulative) = 100 points  Total: 300 Points Quizzes are non-cumulative and multiple choice. The final exam is cumulative and multiple choice.