Course Detail

HST 131 US History since 1877

HST 131 IS Sec 4, University of Mississippi
[See UM Catalog for Description]

3 credit hours

Instructor Information:

Instructor name:
Wendy Smith, PhD.

wdsmith@olemiss.edu

Dr. Smith received her PhD in 2012 and specializes in 20th century US history.  She teaches a variety of courses including: both US history survey courses, Women's history, US history from 1877 to 1917, US history from 1914 to 1945, Mississippi history, the South in the 20th century and the history of Southern Women. Because of her background in Classical Studies, she also teaches HST 120, the History of Europe to 1648.

Contact Information:

If you have questions concerning the content of the course, you may contact the instructor directly using the Email Your Instructor link in the Lessons or Content page. NOTE: Whenever sending email, please be sure to indicate your course title and number in the subject line. You can expect a response within 72 hours, although it may be longer on weekends. Many instructors reply within 24 hours.

For lesson or test administration issues, please contact the iStudy department:

Course Description

This 14-lesson independent study course is a chronological and thematic survey of the history of the United States since 1877. Students will be introduced to the important political, cultural, and social developments of the nation. Topics will include the Gilded Age of America, the Populist and Progressive movements, World War I, the 1920s, the Great Depression, the New Deal, World War II, the Cold War, the consensus of the 1950s, the reaction of the 1960s, the economic struggles of the 1970s, the Korean and Veitnam wars, the rise of conservatism, domestic terrorism, the war in Afghanistan and the current divisions within the nation. Each lesson includes a reading assignment, two Inquizitive assignments, a primary source exercise, a review quiz, and a discussion board post.

Textbook Information:

Textbook information will be provided upon enrollment in your iStudy course.

Course Objectives:

Objectives include (but are not limited to):

• To gain a command of important specific phenomena – names, dates, people, and events – in American history.
• To develop an awareness of the broader trends, themes, and patterns in which those phenomena occurred.
• To build an appreciation of inter-relationship of social, political, economic, and cultural phenomena.
• To understand why specific phenomena and broader patterns matter, both historically and in our daily lives.
• To cultivate the ability to put oneself and society in a broader historical, social, and cultural perspective.
• To improve the capacity for precise and articulate communication.

Course Outline:

This course consists of 14 instructional modules (or lessons). Please note that the suggested Pacing Guide to complete the course in a traditional semester is written for Fall and Spring. Full summer students need to make adjustments due to the significantly shorter time period involved.

You MUST complete the syllabus quiz as soon as you have access to your Blackboard course. This is mandatory to verify your attendance. *  NOTE: you must pass the Syllabus and Orientation Quiz for the course materials to appear on the Lessons page.

Grading:

GRADING SCALE:
94-100 A
90-93 A-
87-89 B+
84-86 B
80-83 B-
77-79 C+
74-76 C
70-73 C-
60-69 D
59 & below F

GRADING INFORMATION:
The grading format is as follows:

FAILURE TO TAKE THE FINAL EXAM WILL RESULT IN FAILURE OF THE COURSE.

You must submit the lessons required to take the course exam(s). Lessons required but not submitted will receive a grade of zero. For the final exam, all coursework must be submitted and graded.