US History II

Reminder, if you’re reading this on Friday – you have until just before midnight tonight to take the last online quiz (on Ch 31). Go to Blackboard under “Quizzes.”

Our last exam will cover both Units 5 and 6 (Vietnam and 9/11). It will be Wednesday, May 9th at 8:30 am in our regular classroom. Study EH Ch 30 and 32. To the exam, you may bring one single 8.5×11″ sheet of paper with anything you desire on it (front and back).

Here is a study guide for the exam (download as PDF). And here’s the map we looked at in Friday’s class –

Here’s an overview of this last unit, “History Now,” focusing on what it means to “think historically” and why that is an important skill in our complex world.

Mon 4/23 – What happens between the American pullout of Vietnam in 1975 and the terrorist attack on 9/11? Reading: CH p. 887-893 and 907-909. The last ONLINE QUIZ opens this morning and will remain open until Friday night, 4/27 – it covers Chapter 31. Please make sure you take the quiz. It is found on the course Blackboard under “Quizzes.” If you have technical problems let me know right away. As before, you have up to 3 tries.

Wed 4/25 – Workshop Day, “History Now.” It is VERY IMPORTANT that everyone be in class that day. You will receive a packet of sources and the instructions for your last project and will begin to work on the project in class.

Fri 4/27 – 9/11 and the War on Terror. Reading: EH Ch 32, pp. 917-927. How does your textbook portray these events? What’s explained well, and what is fuzzy or confusing to you?

Mon 4/30 – your History Now Projects are due in class; there is no electronic submission. We will be talking about historically significant events and trends in our current moment, and how Americans record and tell the stories of our own time. How will historians of the future study 2012?

The last exam will be Wed 5/9 at 8:30 am in L-168. It is not designed to be a 3-hour exam; it will be comparable to the other exams we have taken. If you are thrilled with your grade on all previous exams, you do not have to take the last one, since your lowest exam is dropped. But for most of you, taking the last exam is a VERY GOOD IDEA. You’ll receive your History Now project evaluations back when you submit your exam.

For our unit on the 1960s, we’re focusing on the Vietnam War and the political and cultural divisions it provoked in the US and around the world.

Here are the readings for Wed 4/11 and Fri 4/13. All of the supplemental readings for this unit come from William H. Chafe, et al., A History Of Our Time: Readings on Postwar America, 8th edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012).

Fri 4/13 – Hawks and Soldiers (PDF) – bring this reading to class, either printed or on your laptop

Mon 4/16 – no class, Patriot’s Day

Wed 4/18 – Workshop Day. There is reading in preparation for class: EH Ch 29, 828-829 and Ch 30, 846-848 and 857 AND Doves (PDF) – bring this reading to class, either printed or on your laptop

Fri 4/20 – Legacies and Memories. Two readings: EH Ch 30, 868-871 and McNamara, “In Retrospect” (PDF) – bring this reading to class, either printed or on your laptop. Your Skill Builder #5 is due in class.

Remember that the online quiz for this unit has been cancelled; everyone will receive the full 20 points for it.

Hello all – I’m very sorry, but I have to miss class tomorrow morning, Wed 4/4, so class that day is cancelled. We will still have our exam on Friday 4/6 and it will be OPEN BOOK on Chapter 28, “The Suburban Era.” The review questions (in yellow) throughout the chapter, as well as the chart on p. 805 will help you as you prepare. You should also be able to write about a TV clip of your choice from the Workshop day – all the links to those are up on the course website still (see below).

See you Friday!

Prof. Hangen