This course is designed as an introduction to modern U.S. 
history. Obviously, we can't cover everything that happened in 
the United States from the end of the Civil War to the present 
in this class. That would be impossible. Instead, this class will
highlight important themes, vital issues, and bitter conflicts
from the troubled days of Reconstruction to the bright neon 
lights of contemporary Las Vegas. The emphasis in the class will 
be on history from the "bottom up." We will focus on the daily
struggles of ordinary people rather than on the lives and 
thoughts of politicians and other public figures.  

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.

This is a sample topical outline.

Week One: Introduction 

Week Two: Been in the Storm So Long: The Experiences of the Freed
People, 1860-1877; 'Nothing But Freedom': The Reconstruction
Balance Sheet, 1866-1877; Age of Capital, 1877-1914 

Week Three: Age of Imperialism, 1880-1920; "How the Other Half
Lives": Immigration, Industrialization, and Urbanization, 1880-
1920  

Week Four: How the West was Lost 

Week Five: The Search for Order at Home; World War I: The Search
for Order Abroad 

Week Six: Henry Ford and the Second Industrial Revolution; The
Tensions of Modernity 

Week Seven: Down and Out in the Great Depression; A New Deal for
America, 1932-1941 

Week Eight: The "Good War" Abroad; The "Good" War at Home, 1941-
1945 

Week Nine: The Origins of the Cold War, 1945-1950; Red Scares and
the Closing of the American Mind 

Week Ten: The GI Bill and the Making of the Great American Middle
Class; Going to Disneyland, 1955;The Politics of Consensus,
1948-1960 

Week Eleven: "Woke Up this Morning With Freedom on My Mind," The
Second Reconstruction, 1945-1964; "Say it Loud: I'm Black and I'm
Proud," 1965-1970  

Week Twelve: "America’s Longest War": The U.S. in Vietnam,
1945-1970; "We are Outlaws in the Eyes of America": The Politics
of Style and Culture in the 1960s 

Week Thirteen: "Sisterhood is Powerful": The Rebirth of Feminism
in America; The End of Prosperity, 1973-1975 

Week Fourteen: Archie Bunker's America and the Politics of
Backlash, 1972-1980; "It's Morning In America"; Ronald Reagan's
America, 1980-1988 

Week Fifteen: "Journey to Nowhere": The Harshness of Reaganism,
1980-1992 

Week Sixteen: CNN of the Streets Reporting: Rap and the LA Riot,
1992; Asphalt Nation: America's Crippling Dependence on Cars, 
1990s

All students must adhere to the university honor code and
academic honesty policy.