The United States Since 1776 (HIST*2300)

Code and section: HIST*2300*01

Term: Fall 2023

Details

Method of Delivery: 

Hybrid (requiring both in person and virtual and/or independent learning)

Course Synopsis:  

From the instructor:  This semester, HIST 2300 is designed as a hybrid ‘unsurvey’-survey course. We will examine in depth a number of case studies drawn from different, crucial periods in US history that, taken together, give students a broad understanding of US history. You will engage with a variety of primary and secondary sources for each case study. Among other things, in the course you will learn how to collect evidence, vet and critique sources, and marshal specific historical examples toward an argument about the past.

The schedule of in-person and virtual/online instruction will be made available on students’ first day of course availability on Courselink. As much as possible, this course is designed as a universally-accessible course. As such, it contains no timed evaluations or in-person examinations.

From the course calendar:  This course provides a survey of United States history from the Revolutionary period to the present. Course lectures, readings and assignments ask students to interrogate broadly the social, cultural, economic and political changes and continuities in America, as well as the nation's emergence as a superpower.

Methods of Evaluation and Weights:

Class participation (in person & virtual): 20%
Short Thematic Essay: 20% 
Primary Source Essay: 25%
Final Examination (take-home): 35% 

Texts and/or Resources Required:

Note: Students may acquire these required books in various ways, including the University of Guelph Bookstore and Co-op Bookstore, as inexpensive Kindle books to read on a laptop, through online booksellers, etc. They will also be put on reserve in the UofG Library when possible.

• David Silkenat, Scars on the Land: An Environmental History of Slavery in the American South (Oxford University Press, 2022). ISBN: 9780197564226 (also available as eBook at UoG Library)
• Susan Nance, Ranching and the American West: A History in Documents (Broadview Press, 2022). ISBN: 9781554814817
• Miné Okuba, Citizen 13360 (University of Washington Press, 2014). ISBN: 978-0295993546

Remaining course readings, video, and other required resources will be available on the HIST*2300 Courselink site

*Please note: This is a preliminary web course description only. The department reserves the right to change without notice any information in this description. The final, binding course outline will be distributed in the first class of the semester.