HIST C 132: History of the United States from 1877 to Present

Introduction

Welcome! This page is our liquid syllabus. Think of this as a digital welcome mat for our class that is a quick and mobile friendly guide designed to help you get a feel for the course and provide everything you need to get started. I'm Kevin King, and I'll be your online instructor for History of the United States from 1877 to Present.I'm an adjunct professor here at Cerro Coso, and I also teach in the Rising Scholars program. My academic background is in History and Political Science, and I've previously worked in the intelligence industry. This blend of experiences allows me to bring a unique perspective to our study of American history, connecting past events to contemporary political dynamics and global affairs.
To learn more about this course, continue to scroll down

This historical black-and-white image captures the celebratory moment of the Golden Spike ceremony, marking the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad, with two men shaking hands in the center surrounded by a large crowd and two locomotives.

About the Course

This course is a comprehensive, three-unit examination of the social, political, economic, and cultural history of the United States from Reconstruction to the present. We'll pay special attention to key topics like American institutions, ideologies, and Constitutional development.This class is UC and CSU transferable, meaning the units and credit you earn can be applied toward your bachelor's degree at a University of California or California State University campus.Throughout this course, you will learn to:

Explain major ideas and events in the periods in American History.
Analyze the forces that shaped modern American political, social, and economic institutions.
Identify and compare the experiences of different social groups—including ethnic, gender, religious, and socioeconomic—from Reconstruction to today.
Describe how and why the United States became a superpower and explain the connection between foreign policy and domestic affairs.
Assess the impact of regional characteristics on the development of the U.S.
Interpret primary and secondary sources to build and support a historical argument.

Major Units

In brief, here are the major units of the class:

The Rise of Modern America

This unit explores the dramatic transformation of the United States from an industrializing nation to a global power. We'll examine how technological change and massive social movements reshaped American life, politics, and culture at the turn of the 20th century.

The Age of Crisis and the Cold War

This section covers a period of immense challenge and change for the nation, from economic collapse and world war to the beginning of the long struggle against communism. We will study how Americans navigated these global conflicts and the profound social shifts they created.

The Pursuit of a New Identity

Our final unit focuses on the modern era, from the social upheaval of the 1960s to the dawn of the new millennium. We will analyze the major movements, political shifts, and technological changes that have shaped the United States into the diverse and complex nation it is today.

Course materials

Klosterman, C. (2022). The Nineties: A book. Penguin Press. (Available @ Cerro Coso Library) OER Recourse Text: Locke, J., & Wright, B. (Eds.). (2019). The American Yawp: A mass open online U.S. history textbook (2nd ed.). Stanford University Press.

How this Course Works:

Snapshot of a Week

A black-and-white, historical scene shows a group of World War I soldiers in Brodie helmets resting in a muddy trench, some sitting down against the wall and others standing.

Class Discussion Post and Lecture (Due Wednesday)

This will kick of the week. A discussion topic will be posted, related to the unit of the week. Students are asked to share an original response to the prompt and then respond to 2 other students original posts.

Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin sitting together in the foreground, surrounded by several military officers and aides standing behind them.

Reading Assignment (Due Friday)

The reading assignment will mainly come for the Open Source text The American Yawp Volume II, along with an additional reading that supports or challenges the previous reading.

A powerful explosion of fire and dark smoke erupts from the side of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, with debris falling beneath it, while the North Tower stands intact beside it against a clear blue sky.

Lecture/Reading Response post (Due Sunday)

The writing response consists of a consist of an essay question that will draw upon the Your task will be to respond with a mini-essay, comprising 200-400 words. Your essay should include an original thesis statement, supported by a citation from the assigned reading source. Additionally, you are required to comment on one of your classmates' submissions in 100 words. This engagement fosters critical thinking and collaborative learning, enriching our understanding of the course material.

Additional Course Requirements

A grid-style collage displays the book covers for several famous works of literature, including Brave New World, Lolita, The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, The Sound and the Fury, Catch-22, and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Term Paper

Historiography - looking at the themes and impact of classic literature of he chosen age.

The cover of Chuck Klosterman's book The Nineties features a clear, translucent landline telephone handset with colorful internal components and a coiled cord against a plain white background.

Final

The last section of the course will center on the reading of the book, The Nineties, by Chuck Klosterman and content will be the basis of the final exam.

Participation and Attendance Policies

Regular, active participation is expected of all students enrolled in the college. A student shall be dropped by the instructor for lack of active participation prior to the census (20%) date and any time up to the 60% date when the student is not actively participating.

Academic Honesty

According to the Cero Coso Student Conduct Policy:

Plagiarism is defined as the act of using the ideas or work of another source as if it is one's own, without giving credit to the source. This includes Artificial Intelligence (AI)--for example, content generated by ChatGPT or other AI generation tool. As with any other claiming of authorship of content generated from another source, like copying content from another source, paying for a paper to be written, using Course HERO or any other similar source, etc., using AI-generated content as if it is your original work is plagiarism and as such a student conduct violation.

Acknowledgement of an original author or source must be made through appropriate reference, i.e., quotation marks, footnotes, or commentary. Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to, the following: the submission of a work, whether in part or in whole, completed by another; failure to give credit for ideas, statements, facts or conclusions which rightfully belong to another; in written work, failure to use quotation marks when quoting directly from another, whether it be a paragraph, a sentence, or even a part thereof; close and lengthy paraphrasing of another’s writing or programming. A student who is in doubt about the extent of acceptable paraphrasing should consult the instructor.

Students are cautioned that, in conducting their research, they should prepare their notes by (a) either quoting material exactly (using quotation marks) at the time they take notes from a source; or (b) departing completely from the language used in the source, putting the material into their own words. In this way, when the material is used in the paper or project, the student can avoid plagiarism resulting from verbatim use of notes. Both quoted and paraphrased materials must be given proper citations.

As allowed by District Policy 4F8G, “Every instructor has the responsibility and authority for dealing with such instances of cheating and plagiarism as may occur in class. An instructor who determines that a student has cheated or plagiarized has a range of options, which may be as severe as giving a failing grade for the course. Furthermore, the student may face other penalties as stated in the college’s Student Conduct Policy. Finally, it must be understood that “a student who knowingly aids in another student’s cheating, e.g., permitting the other student to copy a paper or examination question, is as guilty as the other of the offense.” Penalties for plagiarism will include failure on the particular assignment and may include a failing grade in the course, an official report of academic dishonesty, suspension, or expulsion.

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