NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE
COURSE SYLLABUS
“History is not the exact recitation of truth, it is a story shaped and sculpted by those in control.” Ted Koppel
“History isn't really about the past - settling old scores. It's about defining the present and who we are.” Ken Burn
“We can be almost certain of being wrong about the future, if we are wrong about the past.” C. K. Chesterton
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Course Title:
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United States History II
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Course Prefix & Number:
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HIST1302
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Section Number:
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0600
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Semester/Year:
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Spr 20
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Semester Credit Hours:
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3
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Lecture Hours:
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3
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Lab Hours:
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0
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Course Description (NCTC Catalog):
A survey of the social, political, economic, cultural, and intellectual history of the United States from the Civil War/Reconstruction era to the present. United States History II examines industrialization, immigration, world wars, the Great Depression, Cold War and post-Cold War eras. Themes that may be addressed in United States History II include: American culture, religion, civil and human rights, technological change, economic change, immigration and migration, urbanization and suburbanization, the expansion of the federal government, and the study of U.S. foreign Policy.
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Course Prerequisite(s): None
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Required Course Materials:
Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People. 9th edition.
McGraw-Hill. 2019 ISBN 978-1264031924
The Web-based material is unique to NCTC. You must purchase it from the NCTC bookstore or directly through Canvas, to the McGraw-Hill publishing Connect website.
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INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
Name of Instructor:
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Kevin Pyle
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Campus/Office Location:
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FSB 214
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Telephone Number:
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940 668-3350
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E-mail Address:
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All correspondences through Canvas
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OFFICE HOURS
Monday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Thursday
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Friday
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10:50 – 12:00
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10:50 – 11:45
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6:00 – 6:50
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6:00 – 7:00 V
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STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (From Academic Course Guide Manual/Workforce Education Course Manual/NCTC Catalog)
At the successful completion of this course the student will be able to:
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Create an argument through the use of historical evidence.
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Analyze and interpret primary and secondary sources.
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Analyze the effects of historical, social, political, economic, cultural, and global forces on this period of the United States History.
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GRADING CRITERIA
# of Graded Course Elements
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Graded Course Elements
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Percentage or Point Values
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7
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Primary Sources/Maps
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100 x 7 = 700
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3
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Quizzes
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100 x 3 = 300
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1
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Research Paper
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100
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1
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Final
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100
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GRADE BREAKDOWN: We will be using points!
A = 1200 – 1080 B = 1079 – 959 C = 958 – 838
D = 837 – 717 F = 716 – 0
Stylesheet for Papers
Introduction
Paper writing has its own conventions. Learning good writing habits is essential to success in college and in your profession. The style recommended is MLA. You can find a MLA guide on the NCTC Library (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.) page.
Papers must be typed, double-spaces, using Microsoft Word. Use one inch margins all round. Use Times New Roman and 12 point font for this paper. Do not use right-hand justification as it leads to oddly spaced words. There is a Paper Dropbox where you will upload your papers. The due date is November 17th and the Dropbox is open from October 18th till that date. Long quotations of more than four lines should be single-spaced and indented five spaces, but do not use more than one such quote. The paper should be written in paragraph form. The first line of each paragraph should be indented five spaces. There is no gap between paragraphs. Do not use sub-headings (as used in this handout). It is considered poor style. Keep a copy other than the one you submit. Keep the length of the paper no more or less than EXACTLY 1000 words
The following information should be included on the title (front) page of all papers, centered top-bottom/right-left (in the center!):
Your name
The course name and number
The due date of the paper
The title of the paper
Nothing else!
III. The Text
Good grammar usage is expected of all students. Those new to writing papers should pay special attention to the following.
1) Spelling-Spelling should follow the generally accepted conventions. If you do not have one, buy a good dictionary. Also, use spell-check on your computer.
2) Correct use of tenses-In general you should refer to actions people did in the past
in the past tense (Thucydides wrote The Peloponnesian War.). Refer to quotations from authors in the present tense, even if the author is a historical person (Thucydides believes the Peloponnesian War was more important and interesting than any war that had gone before it.)
3) Uses of apostrophes-Apostrophes are not used in the plurals of words (telephones
not telephone’s). Apostrophes are used to indicate possession of one thing by another thing (the man’s hat). If the word that possesses is plural, the apostrophe goes after the “s” (the Students’ Association).
4) Its and It’s-Its indicates possession, like his or her (the book’s cover=its cover).
It’s is a contraction of the words it and is.
5) Capitalization-Capitalize the first word in a sentence, proper nouns, words like
King (only when referring to a particular person, not the office in general), and words in titles (except conjunctions, propositions, or articles).
6) Use of first person pronouns-When writing formal papers do not use the words
“I” or “me”. A term paper is not meant to sound like a letter to a friend.
7) Words to avoid-Try to avoid words like incredible, unbelievable, always, never,
people, and they.
8) Passive construction-It is bad style to use passive construction. Instead of “The King was lynched” one should write, “The Parisian mob lynched the King.” Instead of “The White House had been burned down” one should write, “The British burned down the White House.”
9) Contractions- Do not use contractions in formal papers. Always spell out the words.
You must indicate from where you are taking any quotations used in your paper, not just when you quote directly, but also when you get ideas or arguments from a source. It is better to cite too much than not enough. The way to cite material is in parenthetical notes.
Avoid over use of quotations. Quotations should only be used when an author makes a particularly unique discovery or uses an unusual turn of phrase. It is YOUR words and thoughts that are required and on which you will be graded.
Single author- (last name page number)
Two authors- (last name of both authors page number)
Two sources by same author or with same last name-(last name abbreviation of title
page number)
No author-(short title page number)
Examples:
(Cobban 17)
(Harrison, Sullivan, and Sherman 257)
(Limb “Alliance” 23)
(“Roman Military” 7)
For a college paper your bibliography should list all the books, articles, and websites you have consulted in writing your paper. In a bibliography, books and articles are listed alphabetically in order of the author’s last name. Books without authors and websites are listed alphabetically by the title of the book or the name of the site, excluding the articles (like “the” or “an”).
Example:
Cobban, Alfred. A History of Modern France, Volume 1: 1715-1799. 3rd ed. Baltimore:
Pelican, 1963.
Harrison, John B., Richard E. Sullivan, and Dennis Sherman. A Short History of Western
Civilization, Volume II since 1600. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990.
Limb, Peter. "Alliance Strengthened or Diminished?: Relationships between Labour &
African Nationalist/Liberation Movements in Southern Africa,” May 2007
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Monter, William. “The Historiography of European Witchcraft.” Journal of
Interdisciplinary History 9 (1978): 435-51.
The following advice appeared in the school newspaper at Fordham University in the fall of 1988. Needless to say it is meant to be humorous, but it makes some good points.
HOW TO WRITE GOOD PAPERS
- Avoid alliteration. Always.
- Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
- Avoid clichés like the plague. They’re old hat.
- Employ the vernacular.
- Avoid ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
- Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
- It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
- Don’t use contractions.
- Foreign words or phrases are not apropos.
- One should never generalize.
- Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”
- Do not be redundant; in other words, do not use more words than are necessary, it’s highly unnecessary.
- Profanity sucks.
- Be more or less specific.
- Understatement is always best. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
Make-up Policy
The Course Calendar gives you a comprehensive look at your assignment dates, so be sure to turn in your work in on time.
Since there is ample time allotted for the completion of all your assignments and exams, there will be no makeups on Reading Discussions, Exams, Research Essay, or Primary Source Activities.
Regular and punctual attendance is expected of all students in all classes for which they have registered. All absences are considered to be unauthorized unless the student is absent due to illness or emergencies as determined by the instructor. It is the student responsibility to provide documentation as to the emergency for approval and judgement by the faculty member. Approved college sponsored activities are the only absences for which a student should not be held liable and only when provided by a college official ahead of the absence. Valid reasons for absence, however, do not relieve the student of the responsibility for making up required work. Students will not be allowed to make up an examination missed due to absence unless they have reasons acceptable to the instructor. A student who is compelled to be absent when a test is given should petition the instructor, in advance if possible, for permission to postpone the exam. Student will be dropped from a class by the Registrar upon recommendation of the instructor who feels the student has been justifiably absent or tardy a sufficient number of times to preclude meeting the course’s objectives. Persistent, unjustified absences from classes or laboratories will be considered sufficient cause for College officials to drop a student from the rolls of the College. From Board Policy FC (LOCAL)
Additional Instructor-specific Absence Policy:
Last day to withdraw from a course with a “W” is ____February 21st______.
DISABILITY SERVICES (Office for Students with Disabilities)
The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) provides support services for students with disabilities, students enrolled in technical areas of study, and students who are classified as special populations (i.e. single parents).
Support services for students with disabilities might include appropriate and reasonable accommodations, or they may be in the form of personal counseling, academic counseling, career counseling, etc. Furthermore, OSD Counselors work with students to encourage self-advocacy and promote empowerment. The Counselors also provides resource information, disability-related information, and adaptive technology for students who qualify.
For support, please contact the counselors at (940) 498-6207 or (940) 668-4321. Alternatively, students may stop by Room 170 in Corinth or Room 110 in Gainesville.
CORE CURRICULUM FOUNDATIONAL COMPONENT AREA (For classes in the Core)_______