Course Syllabus

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AMH 4231Syllabus

Contact Information

Instructor

Dr. Benjamin Wise

Phone Number

(352) 273-3363

Email

Use the Canvas Inbox (icon located in the blue Canvas menu). Expect a response within 24 hours.

Office Hours

Mondays 4-5PM on Zoom (online through Zoom Conferences).  Also, happily by appointment.

Credit Hours

3

For questions about course content, your grade, or other personal issues, use the Canvas mail tool. Expect a response within 24 hours.

Course Information

In this course, we will study the era of World War I to World War II in American history, roughly 1910 to 1950. The object of studying history is to learn about the past, but also to develop skills in analysis, critical thinking, interpretation of evidence, and expository writing.  These skills are not merely useful for the historian but for all who are engaged in trying to understand the world and their place in it.  Thus, in this course, students will be expected to learn significant information about history, but will also be asked to read critically, discuss thoughtfully, and write persuasively.

Course Description

This is a general education course for the humanities. Humanities courses provide instruction in the history, key themes, principles, terminology, and theory or methodologies used within a humanities discipline or the humanities in general. Students will learn to identify and analyze the key elements, biases, and influences that shape thought. This course emphasizes clear and effective analysis and will approach historical problems from multiple perspectives.

Course Objectives

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

  1. Describe the social, political, and economic climate within the United States in the decade before WWI. (Module 1)
  2. Explain how America emerged as a world power at the beginning of the twentieth century. (Modules 1-2)
  3. Identify and define key events, policies, and figures related to World War I. (Module 2)
  4. Describe the characteristics of the Black Freedom Struggle in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. (Module 3)
  5. Identify key figures, events, and policies in the rise and fall of prohibition. (Module 4)
  6. Perform historical research in primary sources, and use those sources to construct analytical arguments.. (Modules 5 and 10)
  7. Explain the rise of the consumer revolution and its effects on American culture. (Module 6)
  8. Describe efforts by Americans to create peace and order in international affairs between WWI and WWII. (Module 7)
  9. Use primary and secondary sources to analyze the conflict between science and religion in early 20th century America. (Module 8)
  10. Identify and define key events, policies, and figures related to the Great Depression. (Module 9)
  11. Describe the key elements of US foreign policy during the 1930s. (Module 11)
  12. Identify and explain key events, policies, and figures related to America's role in WWII. (Module 12)
  13. Analyze the changes on the American home front wrought by World War II. (Module 13)
  14. Identify and describe the origins of the Cold War. (Module 14)

Course Requirements

Required Textbook

All reading material for this course is free and can be accessed through Canvas.

Prerequisites

Students must have completed 3 credits of history before taking this course.

Minimum Technology Requirements

The University of Florida expects students entering an online program to acquire computer hardware and software appropriate to his or her degree program. Most computers are capable of meeting the following general requirements. A student’s computer configuration should include:

  • Webcam
  • Microphone
  • Broadband connection to the Internet and related equipment (Cable/DSL modem)
  • Microsoft Office Suite installed (provided by the university)

Individual colleges may have additional requirements or recommendations, which students should review before the start of their program.

Minimum Technical Skills

To complete your tasks in this course, you will need a basic understanding of operating a computer and using word processing software.

Materials/Supply Fees

There is no supply fee for this course.

Honorlock

Honorlock is an online proctoring service that allows students to take exams on-demand 24/7. There are no scheduling requirements or fees.

You will need a laptop or desktop computer with a webcam, a microphone, and a photo ID. The webcam and microphone can be either integrated or external USB devices.

Honorlock requires that you use the Google Chrome browser, and the Honorlock extension must be added to Chrome.

For further information, FAQs, and technical support, please visit the Honorlock website.

Zoom

Zoom is an easy-to-use video conferencing service available to all UF students, faculty, and staff that allows for meetings of up to 100 participants.

You can find resources and help using Zoom at the UFIT Zoom website.

Humanities general education requirement

Humanities courses provide instruction in the history, key themes, principles, terminology, and theory or methodologies used within a humanities discipline or the humanities in general. Students will learn to identify and to analyze the key elements, biases and influences that shape thought. These courses emphasize clear and effective analysis and approach issues and problems from multiple perspectives.

Category

Definition

Course SLO

Content

Content is knowledge of the terminology, concepts, methodologies, and theories used within the historical discipline.

Students demonstrate competence in the terminology, concepts, methodologies, and theories used within the historical discipline. Students will be assessed via: Weekly Interactive Readings, Perusall Discussions, Exams, and two Written Essays.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is characterized by the comprehensive analysis of issues, ideas, and evidence before accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion.

Students carefully and logically analyze information from multiple perspectives and develop reasoned solutions to problems within the historical discipline. Students will be assessed via: Weekly Interactive Readings, Perusall Discussions, Exams, and two Written Essays.

Communication

Communication is the development and expression of ideas in written and oral forms.

Students clearly and effectively communicate knowledge, ideas, and reasoning in written or oral forms appropriate to the historical discipline. Students will be assessed via: Weekly Interactive Readings, Perusall Discussions, Exams, and two Written Essays.

Writing Requirement

This course fulfills 6,000 words of the University Writing Requirement.

The writing course grade assigned by the instructor has two components: the writing component and a course grade.  Therefore, to receive writing credit a student must satisfactorily complete the writing component and receive a minimum grade of C (2.0) for the course. It is possible to not meet the writing requirement and still earn a minimum grade of C in a class, so students should review their degree audit after receiving their grade to verify receipt of credit for the writing component.

Courses intended to satisfy the writing requirement may not be taken S-U.

Writing will be evaluated on the content, organization, and coherence, effectiveness, style, grammar, and punctuation. Assignments will be returned to students with a grade and comments that address the students’ writing skills. Consequently, feedback on all assignments will be provided by the end of finals.

Course Policies

Requirements for make-up exams, assignments, and other work in this course are consistent with university policies that can be found on the UF Attendance Policies website.

As this is an online class, you are responsible for observing all posted due dates and are encouraged to be self-directed and take responsibility for your learning.

While all Perusall assignments (Readings and interactive video lectures) are designed to be collaborative in nature, all work submitted must be your own, written in your own words. All exams and projects are to be completed independently and must be your own original work. 

Grading Policy

Assignments will be graded and feedback given within 7 days after the due date.

Assignment Groups Weight

Assignment Percentage of Grade
Primary Source Documents (Perusal) 15%
Interactive Lectures (Perusal) 5%
Interactive Textbook Readings (Perusal) 5%
Essay #1 15%
Midterm Exam 15%
Essay #2 25%
Final Exam 20%

Grading Scale

Grades will be assigned based on the following:

Grade Percentage
A 100%-94%
A- 93%-90%
B+ 89%-87%
B 86%-83%
B- 82%-80%
C+ 79%-75%
C 74%-70%
C- 69%-67%
D+ 66%-63%
D 63%-60%
D- 59%-55%
F 54%-0%

See the current UF Grading Policies for more information.

Interactive Reading and Lectures

Interactive Readings and Lectures make use of the collaborative annotation tool, Perusall.

Perusall helps you master readings faster, understand the material better, and get more out of your classes. To achieve this goal, you will be collaboratively annotating the textbook with others in your class. The help you’ll get and provide your classmates (even if you don’t know anyone personally) will get you past confusion quickly and will make the process more fun. While you read, you’ll receive rapid answers to your questions, help others resolve their questions (which also helps you learn).

You can start a new annotation thread in Perusall by highlighting text, asking a question, or posting a comment; you can also add a reply or comment to an existing thread. Each thread is like a chat with one or more members of your class, and it happens in real-time. Your goals in annotating each reading assignment are to stimulate discussion by posting good questions or comments and to help others by answering their questions.

Research shows that by annotating thoughtfully, you’ll learn more and get better grades, so here’s what “annotating thoughtfully” means: Effective annotations deeply engage points in the readings, stimulate discussion, offer informative questions or comments, and help others by addressing their questions or confusions. To help you connect with classmates, you can “mention” a classmate in a comment or question to have them notified by email (they’ll also see a notification immediately if online), and you’ll also be notified when your classmates respond to your questions.

For each assignment, we will evaluate the annotations you submit on time (see below). Based on the overall body of your annotations, you will receive a score for each assignment as follows

  • 5-4 (Meets Expectations) = This student has not only done the reading or viewed the lecture, but has actively engaged with its main themes, completed the annotations and responded to classmates annotations thoughtfully, and participated in the discussion in such a way that demonstrates a command of the material.
  • 3-2 (Improvement Needed) = This student has completed the readings or lecture material and the annotations and responded to classmates' annotations, but may have done so cursorily; participates in discussions in a way that demonstrates satisfactory but not excellent engagement with the material.
  • 1 (Deficient) = This student may or may not have completed the reading or lecture material, and the annotations and responses to classmates annotations do not reflect active engagement with the themes of the text/video; the student does not participate in the discussion, or minimally participates but does not demonstrate engagement with the material.
  • 0 (Deficient)= This student did not turn in an assignment, or the assignment demonstrated only superficial and incomplete annotations.

For further details about how Perusall annotations will be scored, review the help guide: How is annotation quality defined in Perusall?

UF Policies

University Policy on Accommodating Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities requesting accommodations should first register with the Disability Resource Center (352-392-8565) by providing appropriate documentation. Once registered, students will receive an accommodation letter that must be presented to the instructor when requesting accommodation. Students with disabilities should follow this procedure as early as possible in the semester.

University Policy on Academic Conduct

UF students are bound by The Honor Pledge which states, "We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honesty and integrity by abiding by the Honor Code. On all work submitted for credit by students at the University of Florida, the following pledge is either required or implied: 'On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment.'"

The Student Honor Code and Student Conduct Code specifies a number of behaviors that are in violation of this code and the possible sanctions. Furthermore, you are obligated to report any condition that facilitates academic misconduct to appropriate personnel. If you have any questions or concerns, please consult with the instructor or TAs in this class.

Netiquette and Communication Courtesy

All class members are expected to follow rules of common courtesy in all email messages, threaded discussions, and chats.

Getting Help

Technical Difficulties

For issues with technical difficulties for Canvas, please contact the UF Help Desk at:

Any requests for make-ups due to technical issues should be accompanied by the ticket number received from the Help Desk when the problem was reported to them. The ticket number will document the time and date of the problem. You should e-mail your instructor within 24 hours of the technical difficulty if you wish to request a make-up.

Health and Wellness

Academic and Student Support

Course Evaluations

Students are expected to provide professional and respectful feedback on the quality of instruction in this course by completing course evaluations online via GatorEvals. Guidance on how to give feedback in a professional and respectful manner is available at the Providing Constructive Feedback website. Students will be notified when the evaluation period opens and can complete evaluations through the email they receive from GatorEvals, in their Canvas course menu under GatorEvals, or via the GatorEvals website. Summaries of course evaluation results are available to students at the GatorEvals Public Results website. More information about UF's course evaluation system can be found at the GatorEvals - Faculty Evaluations website.

Tips for Success

Taking a course online can be a lot of fun! Here are some tips that will help you get the most of this course while taking full advantage of the online format:

  • Schedule "class times" for yourself. It is important to do the coursework on time each week. You will receive a reduction in points for work that is turned in late!
  • Read ALL of the material contained on this site. There is a lot of helpful information that can save you time and help you meet the objectives of the course.
  • Print out the Course Schedule located in the Course Syllabus and check things off as you go.
  • Take full advantage of the online discussion boards. Ask for help or clarification of the material if you need it.
  • Do not wait to ask questions! Waiting to ask a question might cause you to miss a due date.
  • Do your work well before the due dates. Sometimes things happen. If your computer goes down when you are trying to submit an assignment, you'll need time to troubleshoot the problem.
  • To be extra safe, back up your work to an external hard drive, thumb drive, or through a cloud service.

Privacy and Accessibility Policies

For information about the privacy policies of the tools used in this course, see the links below:

COVID-19 Recorded Course Statement

Our class sessions may be audio-visually recorded for students in the class to refer back and for enrolled students who are unable to attend live. Students who participate with their camera engaged or utilize a profile image are agreeing to have their video or image recorded. If you are unwilling to consent to have your profile or video image recorded, be sure to keep your camera off and do not use a profile image. Likewise, students who un-mute during class and participate orally are agreeing to have their voices recorded. If you are not willing to consent to have your voice recorded during class, you will need to keep your mute button activated and communicate exclusively using the "chat" feature, which allows students to type questions and comments live. The chat will not be recorded or shared. As in all courses, unauthorized recording and unauthorized sharing of recorded materials are prohibited.

Course Summary:

Date Details Due