This course studies recent United States history; that is, events and trends which happened during the lifetimes of people who are now living. We will study the period since 1945, when the United States came to be
a world power and, arguably, the single most powerful government in the world. We will also examine continuity and change in American domestic politics and society. Topics covered include the Cold War; domestic anti-Communism; the Vietnam War and its repercussions; movements for civil rights and social justice; the ascendance of conservative political power; and the US since the end of the Cold War.

Much of the material in this course necessarily involves political and social issues which continue to shape current American life. In this course, we practice stepping outside our own personal biases, which is an essential skill for living in a pluralistic world and for participating in United States and global civic life.

Because fall 2012 is the first online-only offering of this course, this syllabus is subject to change during the semester.

By the completion of this course, successful students will be able to:

• Identify and practice appropriate strategies for success in an online-only course
• Describe major trends in United States culture, politics, and society since 1945
• Identify in detail and explain the significance of particular events, individuals, and organizations during this time period
• Given a historical primary source, describe the historically-specific context in which it was created,
• and/or make educated guesses based on internal evidence
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• Given a historical primary source, interpret its contents with reference to the historical context in which it was created
• Assess the reliability and biases of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources of historical information
• Describe competing interpretations of events and assess the validity of these interpretations by using specific evidence and well-considered judgment

At this time, the professor has not requested the insertion of any information into this section. Please contact the professor directly if you have any questions.

To achieve the subject-matter learning objectives for this class, we’ll read and pay careful attention to textual, audio, and moving-image sources. Students will take quizzes to assess your understanding and attention to the content of the readings. You will also participate in discussion forums to practice explaining your interpretations and assessments of historical events and documents. A cumulative open-book, open-note final exam will assess the skills you've learned over the entire semester.

To help you take this online-only course successfully, we’ll also have regular discussion forums about the strategies that work for courses without traditional classroom interaction. You will also write journal entries to help you evaluate what practical strategies help you get the most out of an online-only course.

Hurricane and Tropical Storm Disruptions: If the University’s operations are disrupted due to a Hurricane or Tropical Storm, I will revise the syllabus accordingly. When on-campus classes resume, please log into Blackboard as soon as you are able.

One of the greatest barriers to taking an online course is a lack of basic computer literacy. By computer literacy we mean being able to manage and organize computer files efficiently, and learning to use your computer's operating system and software quickly and easily. Keep in mind that this is not a computer literacy course; but students enrolled in online courses are expected to have moderate proficiency using a computer. Please go to the "What's Required" page to find out more information on this subject.

This course utilizes the following tools:

1. Blackboard Discussion Boards
2. Blackboard Tests (Quizzes)
3. Turnitin.com
4. Twitter.com

For detailed information about the technical requirements, please click here.

For detailed information about the specific limitations with the technologies used in this course, please click here.

For more information about Blackboard's Accessibility Commitment, click here.

In order to receive formal academic accommodations, students with disabilities must register with the  Disability Resource Center, 305-348-3532, GC 190. If you have a documented disability on file with the University, you are expected to contact me as soon as possible so that I can give you proper accommodations.

This course has no formal prerequisites. However, students are expected to have working knowledge of US history since the Civil War, such as having taken a survey-level course in US history since 1865 or the AP US History course.

This course has a cumulative, open-book, open-note final exam. You will be required to submit it through Turnitin.com. Further details will be given later in the semester.

This is an online course, meaning that most of the course work will be conducted online. Expectations for performance in an online course are the same as for a traditional course; in fact, online courses require a degree of self-motivation, self-discipline, and technology skills that can make them more demanding for some students.

Students will be required to keep up with readings and assignments on a weekly basis. You should expect to spend between 10 and 15 hours per week doing the reading and online assignments for this course.

In addition to reading the assigned texts, each week’s discussion assignments will include links to short web- based readings, images, or films. Students will be expected to read/view these and write about them as a required part of the discussions. More details will be given in each week’s discussion assignment.

Online courses are not independent study courses. You will be expected to interact online with the instructor and peers and keep up with all assignments.

During the first week of the course, you will be strongly encouraged to meet your classmates and form study groups of your own. These can meet via Skype, via text chat (such as Google Chat), or even in person, but I expect that you will find ways to stay in touch with one another and encourage one another to keep up with your work.

Students are expected to:

• Review the how to get started information located in the course content
• Introduce yourself to the class during the first week by posting a self-introduction in the appropriate discussion forum
• Take the practice quiz to ensure that your computer is compatible with Blackboard
• Have an account on Twitter and follow the hashtag #AMH3270. (You may use an existing Twitter account or create a separate one for use in this class.) Further details will be given early in the semester.
• Keep up with readings and assignments on a weekly basis
• Interact online with instructor/s and peers
• Review and follow the course calendar
• Log in to the course at least 4 times per week
• Respond to discussion boards promptly, within 36 hours
• Respond to messages within 3 days
• Submit assignments by the corresponding deadline

The instructor will:

• Log in to the course at least once every 48 hours
• Respond to discussion boards, blogs and journal postings within 72 hours
• Respond to messages within 2 days, not counting Sundays
• Grade assignments within 7 days of the assignment deadline

Communication in this course will take place via Messages.

Messages are a private and secure text-based communication that occurs within a Course and among Course members. Users must log on to Blackboard to send/receive/read messages. The Messages tool is located on the left side Course Menu (Blackboard user interface). It is recommended that students check their messages routinely to ensure up-to-date communication.

You are expected to be civil and professional in all communication with the instructor and your peers.

Keep in mind that forum discussions are public to all participants in the course, and care should be taken when determining what to post.

You will not be evaluated solely on the basis of any political opinions you may express. However, I expect that all discussions will be conducted in an atmosphere of mutual respect for one another.

Each week’s discussion forum will begin with a series of questions posted on Monday morning.

• Most weeks, you will be expected to write about 250 words as an initial response.
• You will also be expected to respond to other students’ forum posts according to a specific structure. Additional on-topic conversation in forums will be evaluated positively.
• Discussion forum participation is required and forms a significant portion of your final grade.

I will communicate further details about how discussion forum participation will be evaluated in an Announcement during the first week of class.

In order to mitigate any issues with your computer and online assessments, it is very important that you take the "Practice Quiz" from each computer you will be using to take your graded quizzes and exams. It is your responsibility to make sure your computer meets the minimum hardware requirements.

• There will be a 30-minute quiz every week. To allow flexibility in your schedule, it will become available on Saturday morning and must be completed by Tuesday at 11:55pm. However, you are strongly encouraged to complete it early, since completing it will prepare you for the week’s discussion.
• The structure of the quizzes will vary. Results for some week’s quizzes will be available immediately after taking them. Other weeks, quizzes will contain short-answer questions which require me to grade them individually; in such cases, results will be available within 72 hours after you take the quiz.
• Each quiz will assess how well you’ve achieved one or more of the course’s learning objectives. To help you understand which skills to practice, the specific learning objectives will be highlighted on the quiz itself.
• You will be able to review the questions and results of all quizzes throughout the semester.

I expect that you will complete all assignments in this course. Failure to turn in any assignment will result in your receiving a 0 (not an F=60, a zero) on that assignment.

Journals
Each week, you will be required to write at least one journal entry of 250-500 words. (This is a minimum requirement; journals may be longer or more frequent if you wish.) Journal entries will only be visible to you and to the instructor.

More specific instructions will be given later in the semester. Journal entries will not be graded, but you are required to do them.

Open-book, open-note final exam
The final exam will be a combination of short-answer and essay questions. Further details will be distributed in an Announcement later in the semester.

Grading in this course will be by points earned, starting from zero. There are a total of 500 points available in the semester. You will earn points for each assignment you do.

At my discretion, there may be opportunities for earning additional points. Any additional point opportunities will be made available to everyone equally; you will be notified of them using the Blackboard Announcements section.