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HIST 2110: Survey of U.S. History

CRN: 15902 Section: 164

Instructor: Dr. Christopher Paolella

Office location: Dunwoody Campus, NE2213

Telephone: (770) 274-5469

E-mail: [email protected]
Alternative Contact:
Ari Lee (HPS Department Administrative Assistant)
[email protected]

Office Hours:
TBA

Class days, time, and location: Online Asynchronous

Course Description and Goals

Welcome to HIST 2110: Survey of U.S. History! This course is an introductory survey of American history,
culture, and civilization, and it will emphasize the long process of diversification in American society and
in American political and economic systems. We will consider the relationship between power and
authority, as well as the differences in lived experience between men and women, between religious
communities, between racial and ethnic communities, and between different socio-economic classes.

This course syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary. Changes in the
syllabus and/or schedule may be made at any time during the term by announcement of the professor.

Your constructive assessment of this course plays an indispensable role in shaping education at Georgia
State. Upon completing the course, please take the time to fill out the online course evaluation.

Perimeter College Core IMPACTS

Core IMPACTS refers to the core curriculum, which provides students with essential knowledge in
foundational academic areas. This course will help master course content, and support students’ broad
academic and career goals.

This course will direct students toward the following Orienting Question:
  How do I prepare for my responsibilities as an engaged citizen?

Completion of this course will enable students to meet the following Learning Outcome:

 Students will demonstrate knowledge of the history of the United States, the history of Georgia,
and the provisions and principles of the United States Constitution and the Constitution of
Georgia.

Course content, activities and exercises in this course will help students develop the following Career-
Ready Competencies:

 Critical Thinking

 Intercultural Competence

 Persuasion

Goals for Student Learning

This course seeks to provide an overview of major issues in United States History. Through lectures,
readings, and writing assignments students will:

1. Survey large-scale and long-term historical developments in United States History.

2. Explore the role that race, racism, white supremacy, and race relations have played in United States
History.

3. Investigate the ways that average people, and their political and social movements, have contributed
to United States History.

4. Examine the ways that racial minorities, women, and working-class people have resisted oppression.

5. Study historical change and how it unfolds over time.

Course Content Learning Outcomes

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

1. Explain the historical forces that link the past to the present.

2. Define the roles that racism and white supremacy have played in American history.

3. Identify both the successes and shortcomings of movements for racial equality in the history of the
United States.

4. Analyze the roles that different events, ideologies, and leaders have played in American history.
5. Evaluate the ways that indigenous people, slaves, workers, minorities, women, and their social and
political movements have shaped history.

Required Texts/Readings
The required textbook for this course is A History of the United States by Perimeter College’s own Senior
Lecturer, John Mack. This is an Open Educational Resource and is available online for free. To access the
textbook, follow this link: https://pressbooks.pub/ahistoryoftheunitedstates/ Students will be
responsible for the assigned chapters and primary sources listed in the Course Schedule at the end of
this syllabus, and for the PowerPoint lectures, which be posted on the iCollege site for this course.

Course Usage of iCollege

Students will find the course syllabus, some course content and material, assignments, and grades on
iCollege. Students are responsible for regularly checking the online course site in iCollege for course
information. Failure to check iCollege or e-mail messages will not be accepted as an excuse for missed
work. Remember that the library houses computers with internet access that is free of charge for all
Perimeter College students, so in the event of connectivity issues, students may still complete chapter
quizzes and submit assignments via the library computer system and network.

For locations and contact information for the Perimeter College and GSU computer labs, visit:
https://technology.gsu.edu/technology-services/it-services/labs-and-classrooms/catlab/
If you have a problem with connectivity, you must email me (via smartphone or other means)
immediately! Repeated connectivity issues will render the completion of this course impossible.

Expected Student Conduct

The university’s Code of Conduct can be found at http://codeofconduct.gsu.edu. Remember that an
opinion is only as good as the facts that back it up. Always reference evidence and examples from the
readings. An opinion not rooted in evidence has no place in our history class. Moreover, personal attacks
of any kind have no place in academia and will not be tolerated in this class.

In class, students are expected to engage with the professor and their fellow students. A successful
learning environment requires personal interaction. Mobile technology such as smartphones, tablets,
and laptops oftentimes distract students and thus inhibit active learning. Therefore, the use of
technology in class is strictly prohibited; please use a pen or pencil and a notebook to take notes. No
smartphones, tablets, laptops or any other devices may be used in class unless permitted by official
university accommodations. Students who use their devices in accordance with their university
accommodations will be expected to place their recording technology in front of them. Repeated (2 or
more) violations of this rule will result in the student being marked absent from class for the purposes
of attendance.
Rules for Emails
All emails should contain an appropriate subject line that begins with the course name and section. This
is important to aid the professor in providing a timely response. Students must always include their full
name, and their email must be sent from their official GSU email address. Students must check their GSU
email account regularly and respond to any inquiries or requests sent by email from the professor in a
timely manner (generally within 24 hours). Please be clear about the purpose of your email: inquiry,
request, appointment, help with work, etc. I aim to respond to student emails within 24 hours, excluding
weekends.

Dropping and Adding

Withdrawal Policy

Students who decide that that they cannot continue in this course must withdraw before the deadline. I
cannot do this for you. Students should access the online registration system, PAWS, and complete the
procedure themselves. Georgia State University/Perimeter College may drop students from classes for
non-payment of fees and non-attendance during the first few weeks of class. Note that non-attendance
does not result in automatic dropping from a course and can cause students to receive a failing grade for
the course and be subject to all fees associated with attending a class. Students should consider financial
and academic consequences of non-attendance, dropping classes, and withdrawals by consulting an
academic advisor, reviewing the College Catalog posted on the GSU web site, and referring to
information concerning the tuition refund schedule found on the Student Financial Services’ section of
the GSU web site at http://paws.gsu.edu.

An Incomplete, or “I” grade, will only be assigned under extraordinary circumstances that occur near the
end of the semester. An Incomplete may be assigned if a student is progressing satisfactorily and, for
valid, well documented, reasons (emergencies such as serious illness requiring hospitalization), cannot
complete the work of a course within the term. Incompletes are reserved for exceptional circumstances
only, and proper documentation must be provided upon request. A student who receives an Incomplete
must complete the work during the following semester, after which time, the I will be replaced with an
A, B, C, D, or F. Failure to make up the work during the following semester will result in you getting a
grade of F in the course. It is the responsibility of students who receive an Incomplete to arrange with
the professor the submission of their remaining work.

Grading Scale
All class assignments will be graded on a ten-point (90-100=A) scale. In grading assignments, I will use
the following general assessment rubric:

Grade Percentage Corresponding Letter Interpretation

Grade
 Less than 60% F fails to meet
requirements of
assignment
60-69% D meets some
requirements of
assignment minimally

70-79% C meets all requirements

of assignment minimally
80-89% B fully meets requirements
of assignment
90-100% A meets all requirements
and shows exceptional
performance on
assignment

All work will be graded on content--both factual and analytical--as well as on organization, grammar,
spelling, diction, and presentation. Although there is no specific penalty for each grammatical error, a
badly written assignment will not receive the same grade as one with similar content but without
technical problems. Use Spellcheck!!!

My goal for turnaround times of graded assignments and exams is one week after the assignment or
exam is due. However, turnaround times may vary slightly depending on the depth and detail of the
assignment. Please note a grade of 100% or A is NOT the default grade on assignments. An exam or
paper receiving LESS than 100%/A does NOT imply that there was something "wrong" with the
assignment. Any grade above a median C (that is, 75%) must be EARNED by showing performance on the
assignment ABOVE the minimum requirements.

Final Grade Breakdown

Final course grades are determined on a range from 0 to 500 possible points. Each category has a
maximum number of points towards the 500-pt. total that a student may earn.

Assessment: 5% (25 pts.)

Discussion Boards: 20% (100 pts.)

Final Examination: 35% (175 pts.)

Module Quizzes: 40% (200 pts.)

Assessment: The Assessment is a special multiple-choice quiz that is designed to assess student
comprehension of core course IMPACTS related to citizenship, which include critical thinking,
persuasion, and intercultural competence. The Assessment will be delivered through iCollege about
halfway through the course. I will give you more information on the Assessment as it approaches. It will
be worth 25 points or 5% of your total grade.

Discussion Boards:

We will be using online discussions to facilitate learning. Most weeks, I will post a prompt for you to
consider. Each discussion will be worth 10 points for a total of 100 points or 20% of your total grade.

Your first response to the weekly prompt will be due by Wednesday of each week, by 11:59pm. Late
submissions will be docked points. Your first response must:

 Contain at least 250 words of your own authorship. Parenthetical citational material is not
included in the minimum word count.

 have at least two direct quotations from the textbook, reader, and/or the lecture slides.
Students will cite the textbook, reader, and/or lectures, and so citations should be in the body of
the text and in the following format: for the textbook and reader (chapter or reader title, page
number of information for citation); for the lecture slides (Week #, Lecture #, “Slide Title,”
Slide # of citation information)

 directly answer the prompt in specific, concrete language.

Your follow-up response will be to another student's response, and it will be due by Friday of each week
by 11:59pm. Late submissions will not be accepted after Friday, 11:59pm. Your follow up response must:

 Contain at least 150 words of your own authorship. Parenthetical citational material is not
included in the minimum word count.

 have at least one direct quotation to the textbook or the lecture slides in the same format as
the first response (listed above)

 contribute to the original post by adding more information or thoughts to consider.

(Do not write something like, "You are absolutely correct, and I agree with everything that you say."
That says absolutely nothing; give additional thoughts to think about. Thoughtful responses that add to
the conversation will get full credit, responses that add nothing to the conversation will not earn many
points.)

Please remember to respond to the post, and do not attack your fellow classmates. Disrespect
towards your fellow classmates will not be tolerated, and it will result in an automatic zero for the
assignment!
Final Examination Format:

I will post an Exam Study Guide in iCollege at least two weeks before the Final Exam. The exam is
cumulative and will test a student’s comprehension of material from both the lectures and the reading
assignments. Students will complete their exams online through iCollege, and they will have the entire
time allotted by the university to complete the exam. The Final Exam will be worth 175 points, or 35% of
your total grade, and will consist of 88 multiple-choice and true/false questions. Things to remember
regarding the final examination:

1. Georgia State University requires that all exams are proctored, and as such, your exam will
require Lockdown Browser. Please ensure that your computer is compatible with Lockdown
Browser requirements.
2. The exam will be taken through iCollege. Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are
not recommended, because iCollege does not work well with mobile operating systems like iOS
or Android. Hard copies of the exam will be available for students who do not have laptops.

Module Quizzes:

At the end of most weekly modules in iCollege, there will be a quiz that is designed to test your
comprehension of the week’s material. The quizzes will cover material from the chapter assignments,
primary source assignments, and lecture material.

Each quiz is worth 20 points towards your final grade, 4% per quiz and 40% in aggregate. Each quiz will
consist of 10 multiple-choice and true/false questions worth 2 points each. Quizzes will be taken online
through iCollege. The testing window for each quiz will open Sunday of that week at midnight and will
close on Saturday of that week at 11:59pm. You will have 20 minutes to complete each quiz. I will drop
the lowest quiz grade.

Make-Up and Extension Policy:

If a student misses an assignment testing window because of a true, well-documented and

unforeseeable emergency, they must contact the professor to request an extension and provide
documentation of the emergency within 24 hours of the missed assignment to arrange a revised due
date. Failure to do so will result in an automatic zero grade on the assignment. At the professor’s
discretion, this 24-hour rule may be waived. There is no “50/pass” or “no-zero” policy in this class.
Missing work will receive a zero.

Academic Integrity
Cheating in any form is against university policy. Cheating includes any attempt to defraud, deceive, or
mislead the instructor in arriving at an honest grade assessment. It may include copying answers from
other students or using unauthorized materials during tests and quizzes. Plagiarism is a form of cheating
that involves presenting someone else’s work as your own and attempting to include other people’s
ideas without proper attribution. It can also take the form of submitting someone else’s work (including
that of generative A.I. tools) as your own.

Plagiarism and other forms of cheating are serious offenses and will be treated as such. Students are
expected to produce their own work, and anything produced for this course is expected to be an original
work produced for this class specifically. Students are expected to cite all necessary materials in the
proper fashion, as explained in assignment instructions. Students may not collaborate with other
students on quizzes, tests, or papers, unless specifically instructed to do so by the professor. Read the
Statement on Plagiarism closely. Be warned: cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of dishonesty will be
prosecuted as harshly as Georgia State University/Perimeter College policies allow. Cheating and
plagiarism will earn you a zero for the assignment and may well result in disciplinary action. See the
following link for additional information on the university’s policy on academic dishonesty:
https://deanofstudents.gsu.edu/files/2019/07/Academic-Honesty-Policy.pdf.

Statement and Policy on Use of AI Tools and Technology:

Generative AI tools, such as (but not limited to) ChatGPT, are designed to assist in creating and analyzing
text, code, video, audio, and other multimedia. Use of these resources in your coursework comes with
benefits and risks. In this course, the rules for AI usage are as follows:

Any unapproved use within the course might be considered a breach of academic honesty. While
exercising responsible and ethical engagement with AI is a skill you may hone over time, your unique
human insights, critical thinking, and creative contributions remain pivotal to your learning experiences
and success.

The use of generative AI tools like ChatGPT is prohibited for any work in this course, including both
graded and ungraded work. Prohibited AI usage includes idea or text generation, writing or revising
your work, development of media assets, or data analysis and presentation. Violation of this policy
will cause you to lose points on assignments. In some cases, a significant breach may cause you to fail
an assignment.

Student Services and Support

Learning and Tutoring Center

If you need help with writing or any other type of academic support, you should visit the Learning and
Tutoring Center (LTC). For More information see: https://success.students.gsu.edu/learning-tutoring-
center/.

Food and Housing Insecurity

Difficulties securing food or housing can affect your performance in class. If you have such challenges
you are urged to contact the Dean of Students for support. You can notify me as well if you are
comfortable in doing so. This may enable us to direct you to resources that we may know about.
The Embark Program provides help for students facing these challenges. Please visit
https://deanofstudents.gsu.edu/student-assistance/embark/ for more information.

Stress

This is a difficult time. College is challenging anyway, and the global pandemic has made everything
more intense and demanding. It is easy to feel completely overwhelmed. Stress can affect your
performance in class and impact your life in many ways. If you are feeling overwhelmed, you may wish
to contact the Counseling and Testing Center at https://counselingcenter.gsu.edu/.

Special Needs

Students who wish to request accommodation for a disability may do so by registering with the Access
and Accommodation Center. Students may only be accommodated upon issuance by the Access and
Accommodation Center of a signed Accommodation Plan and are responsible for providing a copy of
that plan to instructors of all classes in which accommodations are sought. Students with special needs
should then make an appointment with the professor as soon as possible to discuss any necessary
accommodations. Please visit http://disability.gsu.edu/ for more information.

Equal Opportunity

No person shall, on the grounds of race, color, sex, religion, creed, national origin, age, or disability, be
excluded from employment or participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to
discrimination under any program or activity conducted by Perimeter College. We adhere to affirmative
action policies to promote diversity and equal opportunity for all faculty and students.

Title IX

Perimeter College seeks to provide an environment that is free of bias, discrimination, and harassment.
If you have been the victim of sexual harassment/misconduct/assault, we encourage you to report this.
If you report this to a faculty member, he or she must notify one of our college’s Assistant Title IX
Coordinators / Student Deans about the basic facts of the incident (you may choose whether you or
anyone involved is identified by name). Please visit http://codeofconduct.gsu.edu/ for more
information.

Family Education Rights and Privacy Act

In keeping with USG and university policy, this course’s website will make every effort to maintain the
privacy and accuracy of your personal information. Specifically, unless otherwise noted, it will not
actively share personal information gathered from the site with anyone except university employees
whose responsibilities require access to said records. However, some information collected from the site
may be subject to the Georgia Open Records Act. This means that while we do not actively share
information, in some cases we may be compelled by law to release information gathered from the site.
Also, the site will be managed in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA),
which prohibits the release of education records without student permission. For more details on
FERPA, please visit https://registrar.gsu.edu/academic-records/records-management/ferpa/.

HIST 2110 Survey of U.S. History Course Schedule

All assigned readings are from the course’s textbook, A History of the United States. My lectures will
provide additional material, detail, and topics of consideration that the book will not cover; however, I
will not cover in my lectures all the topics that the book covers. Thus, the textbook will provide a broad
survey of many topics, and my lectures will provide greater depth on a few of those topics.

Week 1: The Contact, pre-1492-1650

Topics: Pre-Contact Native America, Relations with Native Peoples, The Columbian Exchange

Textbook Assigned Reading:

 Chapter 1: Chapter 1: The Beginnings: Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans to 1650

Week 2: The Early Colonies, 1500-1750

Topics: Settlement of English Colonies, Colonial Society

Textbook Assigned Reading:

 Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Creating New Social Orders: Colonial Societies, 1500–1750

Week 3: Revolutionary America, 1750-1783

Topics: Seven Years’ War and the American Revolution

Textbook Assigned Reading:

 Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Imperial Reforms, Colonial Protests, and the War that created a Nation,
1750-1783

Week 4: The New Nation, 1783-1820

Topics: The Early Republic, War of 1812

Textbook Assigned Reading:

 Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Creating the Nation, 1783–1820

Week 5: The Growth of the New Nation, 1820-1850

Topics: Age of Jackson, Westward Expansion

Textbook Assigned Reading:

 Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Jacksonian Democracy and Westward Settlement, 1820–1850

Week 6: A House Divided, 1850-1860

Topics: Slavery and the Division of the States, Rise of Lincoln

Textbook Assigned Reading:

 Chapter 6, Chapter 6: Antebellum America: Reform Movements, the Debate over Slavery, and
the Coming of War, 1850-60

Week 7: War and Peace, 1861-1877

Topics: The Civil War and Reconstruction

Textbook Assigned Reading:

 Chapter 7: Chapter 7: The Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Settlement of the West, 1860–1880

Week 8: Victorian America, 1865-1900

Topics: Victorianism, Industrialization, Immigration, Spanish-American War

Textbook Assigned Reading:

 Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Industrialization, the Rise of Big Business, and the American Empire, 1870-
1900

Week 9: The Progressive Era, 1870-1919

Topics: Industrialization and Mass Production, World War I and Its Aftermath

 Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Politics in the Gilded Age: Populists and Progressives, 1870-1919

Week 10: The Roaring 20s and the Great Depression, 1919-1939

Topics: Consumerism, Economic Collapse, The New Deal

Textbook Assigned Reading:

  Chapter 10: Chapter 10: The Jazz Age and the Great Depression: Redefining the Nation, 1919-
1932

Week 11: Spring Break (There are no classes or assignments this week!)

Week 12: Roosevelt, The New Deal, and the Second World War, 1932-1945

Topics: The New Deal, World War II, The Atomic Bomb

Textbook Assigned Reading:

 Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Franklin Roosevelt, the New Deal, and the Second World War, 1932-
1945

Week 13: Conformity and Change, 1945-1968

Topics: The Cold War, Civil Rights Movement, Women’s Rights Movement

Textbook Assigned Reading:

 Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Post-War Prosperity, Cold War Fears, and the Struggle for Equality,
1945-1968

Week 14: The Great Retrenchment, 1968-1992

Topics: Vietnam, Watergate, Reagan Revolution

Textbook Assigned Reading:

 Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Political Storms: Vietnam, Watergate, and the Reagan Revolution, 1968-
1992

Week 15: Our World Today, 1992-Current

Topics: End of the Cold War, The Internet, 9/11 and War on Terror, Obama and Trump

Textbook Assigned Reading:

 Chapter 14: Chapter 14: The US in Modern Times: Culture Wars and the Challenges of the
Twenty-First Century, 1992-2022