HIST 2200
African American History
3 Credit Hours

Course Information

Course Description:

This is a survey course that introduces the major themes in African-American history from the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) to the present, giving special emphasis to the events, people, and ideas that have made a distinctive contribution. This course is designed to present an overview of African-American history and lay a foundation for the further study of American civilization in history or any related discipline.  Students will be asked to acquire factual information, but the mere memorization of facts is less important than the analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of those historical facts.

Course Objectives:

General education provides critical thinking skills for analysis to continue to seek truths, to discover answers to questions and to solve problems.  Specifically, educated people practice and are literate in the various methods of communication.  They recognize their place in the history, culture and diverse heritages of Tennessee, the United States and the world.  They appreciate the web of commonality of all humans in a multicultural world and are prepared for the responsibilities of engaged citizenship.  They recognize the ethical demands of our common lives.  They demonstrate the skills and knowledge of the social and behavioral sciences to analyze their contemporary world.  They are familiar with the history and aesthetics of the fine arts.  They understand and practice the scientific and mathematical view of the world.  Finally, Tennessee’s general education core provides for its citizens the means to make a better living.  It also, perhaps above all, enables its citizens to make a better life.
General Education Learning Outcomes for American History Survey Courses: The goal of the History requirement for the General Studies Program is to develop in students an understanding of the present that is informed by an awareness of part heritages, including the complex and interdependent relationships between cultures and societies. 

Learning Outcomes

Students will demonstrate the ability to:

1. Analyze historical facts and interpretations.
 Students in this course will read and evaluate primary documents and art from the period. Specifically, DBQs will be utilized to achieve this objective.

2. Analyze and compare political, geographic, economic, social, cultural, religious and intellectual institutions, structures, and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures.
Based on the textbook and document readings, as well as lectures, students will prepare essays demonstrating their own particular interpretation of historical evidence in papers and essays. DBQs and test essays will complete this outcome.

3. Recognize and articulate the diversity of human experience across a range of historical periods and the complexities of a global culture and society.
Students will critically view and analyze primary sources and visual images that will lead to critical essays and papers.

4. Draw on historical perspective to evaluate contemporary problems/issues.
Students will use primary sources as a starting point for the historical antecedents of contemporary problems/issues in class discussions throughout the course.  Weblog questions will specifically deal with this outcome.

5. Analyze the contributions of part cultures/societies to the contemporary world.
Students will participate in class discussions and prepare critical essays and papers throughout the course.  Weblog assignments will complete this outcome.

Specifically, this course will encourage students to think about the following questions:
1) What does freedom mean and how have African-Americans shaped that definition?
2) What responsibility does the government have to its citizens?
3) What does popular culture say about society?  How does it influence opinions and stereotypes?
4) How have de jure and de facto segregation affected the struggle for civil rights?

Prerequisites and Corequisites:

DSPW 0800 (Developmental Writing) and DSPR 0800 (Developmental Reading) or acceptable placement scores are required.  HIST 2020 and English Composition are encouraged.

Course Topics:

Passive & Active: Introduction To African-American History
Up From Slavery, 1500-1863
Reconstruction I: Promise of Freedom
Reconstruction II: Failure of Freedom
Creating Identity, 1877-1915
Rise of Jim Crow, 1877-1915
World War I & the Great Migration, 1915-1920
The Politics of Revitalization, 1920-1929
Black Freedom and the Great Depression, the 1930s
Fighting for Freedom at Home and Abroad, 1940-1954
Constructing Freedom: Civil Rights Advancement, 1954-1965
Massive Resistance: The Southern Response, 1954-1965
The Rise of Black Power, 1965-1975
The Conservative Revolt, 1970s-2000

Specific Course Requirements:
A description of any special course requirements, such as knowledge of specific software, and why it is necessary for successful completion of the course.
Textbooks, Supplementary Materials, Hardware and Software Requirements
Required Textbooks:
Please visit the Virtual Bookstore to obtain textbook information for this course:
http://rodp.bkstr.com
Supplementary Materials:

HIST 220 Home Page                    http://www2.volstate.edu/geades/

Hardware Requirements:
The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. Specific hardware requirements for this course include...
Software Requirements:
The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. Specific hardware requirements for this course include...(A list of software the student is required to purchase or download for the course, Real Player, Media Player, Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Office, etc).
Instructor Information
Please see the separate page inside the course to find instructor contact information as well as a statement of virtual office hours and other communication information.
Assessment and Grading
Testing Procedures:
A statement describing the process students will need to have in place for proctors, online testing, etc.
Grading Procedure:
A detailed statement of how grades are related to or reflective of the expected learning outcomes. A statement of what constitutes high achievement in the course. 
Grading Scale:

The final grade for the class will be created according to the following breakdown:

Tests
Document Based Questions
Oral History Project
Weblog
Quizzes

Total                            

300 points
300 points
200 points
100 points
100 points

1000 points

 

A
B
C
D
F

900-1000 points
800-899 points
700-799 points
600-699 points
BELOW 600 points
Assignments and Participation
Assignments and Projects:
A sequenced list of assignments and projects arranged by course section or module with due dates if applicable.
Class Participation:
A statement that students must participate in all interactive aspects of the course if interaction is part of the course design. For example, students must communicate with other students in the chat room, students are expected to communicate with the instructor as a learning resource, students must check the course bulletin board frequently for announcements, and students must actively participate in threaded discussion events.
Punctuality:
A statement of course milestones to keep the students on track in an asynchronous environment. 
Course Ground Rules
A reiteration and emphasis of certain rules and course expectations.  For example, Participation is required, Expected to communicate with other students in team projects, Learn how to navigate in WebCT, Keep abreast of course announcements , Use the assigned college or university e-mail address as opposed a personal e-mail address, Address technical problems immediately, Observe course netiquette at all times. 
Guidelines for Communications
Email:
  • Always include a subject line.
  • Remember without facial expressions some comments may be taken the wrong way. Be careful in wording your emails. Use of emoticons might be helpful in some cases.
  • Use standard fonts.
  • Do not send large attachments without permission.
  • Special formatting such as centering, audio messages, tables, html, etc. should be avoided unless necessary to complete an assignment or other communication.
  • Respect the privacy of other class members
Discussion Groups:
  • Review the discussion threads thoroughly before entering the discussion. Be a lurker then a discussant.
  • Try to maintain threads by using the "Reply" button rather starting a new topic.
  • Do not make insulting or inflammatory statements to other members of the discussion group. Be respectful of other’s ideas.
  • Be patient and read the comments of other group members thoroughly before entering your remarks.
  • Be cooperative with group leaders in completing assigned tasks.
  • Be positive and constructive in group discussions.
  • Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner.
Chat:
  • Introduce yourself to the other learners in the chat session.
  • Be polite. Choose your words carefully. Do not use derogatory statements.
  • Be concise in responding to others in the chat session.
  • Be prepared to open the chat session at the scheduled time.
  • Be constructive in your comments and suggestion
Web Resources:

Library

The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in the Regents Degree Program. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading must be included in all courses. 

Students With Disabilities

Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with their home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor.

Syllabus Changes

The instructor reserves the left to make changes as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course bulletin board.

Technical Support

Telephone Support:
If you are having problems logging into your course,
timing out of your course, using your course web site tools, or other technical problems, please contact the AskRODP Help Desk by calling

1-866-550-7637 (toll free)

or go to the AskRODP website at:

http://askrodp.custhelp.com