Course Description
The history of the state, with an emphasis on its racial, ethnic, religious, gender, and regional diversity, to be examined through historical documents, novels, short stories, folklore, memoirs, music, and film.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Additional research and/or writing projects are normally required for graduate students.
Athena Title
MULTICULT GEORGIA
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
To introduce students to the variety of cultures -- racial, ethnic, regional, gender -- that have shaped Georgia and the South, and to expose students to a variety of perspectives and sources -- novels, short stories, memoirs, drama, film, music, folklore -- as well as more traditional historical source materials, through which we can come to understand our multi-cultural past. The principal objective of the course is to teach students to think critically for themselves about the relationships between the past and the present, to learn to ask questions of the past that enable them to understand the present and mold the future, and to become attuned to both the limitations and possibilities of change. The course seeks to acquaint students with the ways in which past societies and peoples have defined the relationships between community and individual needs and goals, and between ethical norms and decision-making. In general students will be expected to: 1. read a wide range of primary and secondary sources critically. 2. polish skills in critical thinking, including the ability to recognize the difference between opinion and evidence, and the ability to evaluate--and support or refute--arguments effectively. 3. write stylistically appropriate and mature papers and essays using processes that include discovering ideas and evidence, organizing that material, and revising, editing, and polishing the finished papers.
Topical Outline
Course begins with Spanish contacts with Native Americans, then moves through topics such as James Oglethorpe and the multi-ethnic make-up of colonial Georgia, antebellum slavery, Cherokee and Creek removal, emancipation and Reconstruction, Jim Crow, Jewish presence and tensions (Leo Frank, the Temple bombing, etc.), gender issues, Appalachian culture, civil rights, Hispanic immigration, etc. Course requirements will include two to three short papers analyzing and comparing assigned readings, and one more extensive research paper on a topic of the student's choice. There will be two exams, a midterm and a final, made up of essay questions and identifications.