COURSE GUIDE
History 2341
Depression
(Section 41435)
Fall, 2006
Instructor: L. Patrick Hughes
Office: NRG 2138A
Office Hours: MW
7am-Noon; TTh
Telephone: 223-4796 No Answer? Leave Message on Voice Mail
E-mail: lpatrick@austincc.edu
Web Site: http://www2.austincc.edu/lpatrick
Text: The Great Depression: America, 1929-1941, McElvaine.
All other course materials (Course Guide, Syllabus, Unit Study Guides, Lectures, etc.) are available at the instructor’s web site – http://www2.austincc.edu/lpatrick
This course surveys the political, economic, social, and cultural aspects the era of the Great Depression (1929-1941) in the United States with emphasis on the state of Texas.
HIST 2341 STUDIES IN U.S. HISTORY (3-3-0). A treatment of selected topics in the history of the United States. May be repeated when topics vary. Counts toward U.S. History requirement or as an elective. Skills: E (HIS 2613) Students taking History 2341 can expect to improve their reading and writing competencies, critical thinking skills, research skills, etc.
Please consult http://www.austincc.edu/history . For specific objectives for this section, consult Unit Study Guides.
Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or psychological disabilities. Students with disabilities must request reasonable accommodations through the Office for Students with Disabilities on the campus where they expect to take the majority of their classes. Students are encouraged to do this three weeks before the start of the semester.
The federal government requires that student privacy be preserved. Thus the posting of grades, even by the last four digits of the social security number, is forbidden. All communication will remain between the instructor and the student, and the instructor will not be able to share details of the student’s performance with parent, spouses, etc.
Regular punctual attendance is a course requirement. It is also a component of the grading system for this course. Unexcused absences result in point reductions in your grade. If you must miss a class for a truly legitimate reason, contact the instructor immediately by voice mail or e-mail.
If you choose for whatever reason to quit attending this course, the responsibility for submitting a withdrawal form to the Admissions & Records Office (and thus protecting your academic record) is yours. I will withdraw a student only by request. The withdrawal deadline is Monday, November 27th.
Grades of “Incomplete” (I) are for emergency situations only, i.e. where hospitalization or a family emergency at the end of a semester prevents completion of course requirements. I rarely submit a grade of Incomplete. The decision is solely at the discretion of the instructor.
Class time throughout the semester will be spent in several different ways. Some classes will be for the discussion of lecture material from which you should derive the answers called for in the LECTURE OBJECTIVES printed in each unit study guide. The lecture material can be accessed in several different ways. You can download the lectures from my web site at http://www2.austincc.edu/lpatrick using your personal computer or those available for student use in the ACC library system. Should you prefer, you can also check out a reserved copy of each lecture at the circulation desk of all ACC libraries. Other classes will deal with the review and discussion of textbook material. The information you should derive from the textbook is listed in the READING OBJECTIVES printed in each unit study guide. You are responsible for the development of all assigned materials before the appropriate class session. This is critical to your success in the course as a portion of your grade will depend upon your active discussion of course material in each class. Several classes may feature video presentations while others are designated as exam days. The Course Syllabus available on the instructor’s web site details what will happen each class session. Be prepared for each class!
Your grade in this course will be determined by three components: your performance on the four unit exams, your punctual attendance, and your informed participation in the discussion of both lecture and textbook material throughout the semester. Additionally, if you so desire, you may submit a critical book analysis described elsewhere in this document for a maximum of ten additional points on your final course average.
1. Unit Exams:
This course is divided into four units of instruction. At the end of each unit, you will be called upon to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the material in that unit through an exam consisting of forty objective multiple-choice questions based directly on the reading and lecture objectives printed in each unit study guide.
If you miss an exam and fail to make immediate arrangements with the instructor for a make up, you will be assigned a grade of zero for that exam.
You will need to purchase a packet of scantron sheets from the Bookstore and bring them to class for the exams. You cannot take the exam without a scantron sheet. These packets should be purchased at the beginning of the semester with your textbook.
Alternative essay exams are available. If you prefer an essay exam, please speak with the instructor immediately.
THERE WILL BE NO RETESTING OF UNIT EXAMS.
Collectively, the unit exams will constitute eighty (80) percent of your final grade.
2. Attendance:
Punctual attendance is a course requirement. Attendance will be monitored daily. This component will constitute ten (10) percent of your final grade. Each unexcused absence will result in a five point reduction in this component.
3. Class Participation:
This course is structured around a lively, informed discussion of learning objectives by ALL students. This includes both lecture and textbook materials. The Course Syllabus specifies what material will be discussed and covered in each class meeting. You need to prepare this material beforehand, be able to answer correctly the relevant lecture and/or reading objectives from the study guide, and contribute to the discussion/review of said materials.
This component constitute ten (10) percent of your final grade. Based upon your participation throughout the semester and the quality of that contribution, the instructor will be on the basis of consistent observation assign a grade for this component at the end of the course.
At the conclusion of the semester, final averages will be determined using the following formula: Unit Exams – 80%, Attendance – 10%, Participation – 10%.
Final grades will then be assigned on the basis of the following scale:
90 – 100: A
80 – 89: B
70 – 79: C
60 – 69: D
Below 60: F
Students have the option of committing to and submitting a critical book analysis of one of the books listed below. The assignment is a major undertaking and carries a corresponding grade value, up to a maximum of ten (10) points added to your final course average.
Students should not undertake this assignment lightly. For students with numerous commitments and already crowded schedules, time spent on the project might be more wisely and profitably spent on the preparation of course materials for mandatory class discussion and examinations. Additionally, work committed to but not submitted will result in a five (5) point reduction in a student’s final grade.
Students must commit to this optional assignment by Friday, September 8th. Work undertaken after that day will not be accepted. Notification to instructor should be in writing or email being sure to identify the work you have chosen.
Book analyses are due by Friday, November 3rd. Work submitted after this date will be accepted for no more than a maximum of five (5) points.
The works from which you may choose are:
John Q. Barrett (ed.), Robert Houghwout Jackson, That Man: An Insider’s Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Oxford University Press, 2003, ISBN: 0195168267
Alan Brinkley, Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin & the Great Depression, 1983 Vintage Books, 1983, ISBN: 0-394-71628-0
Kenneth S. Davis, FDR: The New Deal Years, 1933-1937, Random House, 1979, ISBN: 0-679-76124-1
Kenneth S. Davis, FDR: Into the Storm, 1937-1940, Random House Trade Paperbacks, 1995, ISBN: -812992059
Paul Dickson and Thomas B. Allen, The Bonus Army: An American Epic, Walker and Co. Publishers, 2004, ISBN: 0802714404.
Maury Klein, Rainbow’s End: The Crash of 1929, Oxford University Press, 2001, ISBN: 0-19-513516-4
Marian C. McKenna, Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Constitutional War: The Court-Packing Crisis of 1937, Fordham University Press, 2002, ISBN: 0-8232-2154-7
Steve Neal, Happy Days Are Here Again: The 1932 Democratic Convention, The Emergence of FDR - And How America Was Changed Forever, William Morrow Publishers, 2004, ISBN: 078627080.
Keith J. Volanto, Texas, Cotton, and the New Deal, Texas A & M University Press, 2005, ISBN: 1585444022.
Donald Warren, Radio Priest: Charles Coughlin, the Father of Hate Radio, The Free Press, 1996, ISBN: 0-684-82403-5
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
WARNING ABOUT ACADEMIC DISHONESTY!
Academic dishonesty (cheating) will simply not be tolerated. Roving eyeballs will be stomped on during exams. Exams are to be taken without notes, books, etc. Optional writing assignments are to be the product of the student’s own research and writing. Plagiarism is academic dishonesty. Under college regulations, a student found guilty of academic dishonesty may be withdrawn from the course, assigned a failing grade, and/or expelled from the college. BE FOREWARNED, I ABHOR ACADEMIC DISHONESTY AND DEAL WITH IT ACCORDINGLY!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *