Syllabus 404 Fall 2006

							                                             HISTORY 404.02
                                         THE SIXTIES IN AMERICA

                                         University of Idaho
                                              Fall 2006
                            Tuesdays and Thursdays @ 12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
                                          Administration 336

Dr. Adam M. Sowards
Office: Administration 315
Phone: 885-7704
E-Mail: asowards@uidaho.edu
Web: http://www.class.uidaho.edu/asowards/
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:45 – 2:30 p.m., and by appointment
        Note to Students: It is my pleasure to do what I can to help you meet your goals in this class. If you find
        yourself having trouble, please send me e-mail, use my office hours, or set up an appointment to see me.

                                     COURSE DESCRIPTION
        This course surveys the tumultuous decade of the 1960s, focusing on the experience within
the United States. Since arguably no single decade has done so much to shape the modern U.S.
experience, it is important to consider the decade carefully. But because it is such a prominent time in
our national psyche, the decade has been difficult to examine in a critical way. This course will
examine the 1960s as a historical phenomenon and attempt to evaluate the changes the nation
experienced.

                                       COURSE OBJECTIVES
          At the conclusion of History 404, students should be able to:
               identify and explain the major developments of the 1960s.
               recognize the diversity of experiences in the 1960s.
               communicate in written and oral form their ideas about the 1960s.
               examine critically primary and secondary sources and derive your own
                  interpretations and conclusions about them.

                                                REQUIRED BOOKS
          The following list constitutes the required books for this course. They are available for purchase at the
University of Idaho Bookstore. It is possible, even likely, that you could find some of the books cheaper through online
booksellers.
     Mark Hamilton Lytle, America’s Uncivil Wars: The Sixties Era from Elvis to the Fall of Richard
          Nixon
     Alexander Bloom and Wini Breines, eds., “Takin’ it to the streets”: A Sixties Reader, second
          edition
     Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi
     James Carroll, An American Requiem: God, My Father, and the War that Came between Us

         David Farber and Beth Bailey, The Columbia Guide to America in the 1960s is also available as a
recommended text. It is a wide-ranging reference that may be useful to students who seek broader
information or simply another perspective on the material we will encounter in other readings and
research.
         Finally, I asked the UI Bookstore to stock Joseph M. Williams, Style: The Basics of Clarity and
Grace, second edition It is a short, inexpensive and excellent primer on writing. Many of my
comments on your writing will be based on this book. It is highly recommended.
                                        ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING
            Dr. Sowards’ Philosophy (concise edition): Just as you don’t learn how to play the guitar by just
listening to your favorite band, you don’t learn history just by reading and listening to established historians. You must
engage the material and practice. Consequently, I try to design assignments that mimic the type of thinking and
activities real historians actually conduct (although I certainly do not expect you to have the proficiency of prize-winning
historians . . . yet).

Preparedness: Participation, Quizzes, and Notes (30%) Just as you don’t get paid for your job just by
showing up, you don’t get credit by just being in the classroom. I expect you to come to class ready
to work. That means you will have read the assignment carefully and critically and will be prepared to
offer your thoughts, ideas, and questions about the reading. Because my experience has taught me
that many students will not do that without inducement, part of your grade will be determined by
your preparedness. This will be judged in several ways:
        Participation will be evaluated by contributions to discussions, attendance, in-class
        assignments, and general observations by professor, teaching assistant, and peers. We have
        all been in classes where someone speaks almost constantly, seemingly just to hear her or his
        own voice. Talking a lot is not necessarily a surefire way to get high grades here. Good
        participation requires thoughtful listening, intelligent questioning, and careful responses.

          Quizzes may or may not be used to test student comprehension of reading material or
          lectures. They are likely to be unannounced. If you miss a quiz, you will not have the
          opportunity to make it up unless you made prior arrangements with me. If we have at least
          five quizzes, I will drop the lowest one; if we have at least eight, I will drop the lowest two.

          Notes and Questions on “Takin’ it to the streets” will be required. Four times when a
          reading assignment comes from “Takin’ it to the streets’ (except for the introduction) students
          should be prepared to turn in reading notes. These notes should include both summary and
          reflection. That is, you should note the main arguments and information the authors
          presented and your thoughts about what the reading meant, how it connected to other
          readings and themes, or whether you found the argument important / interesting /
          misguided / etc. Ideally, the reflection will constitute about half the notes. Less than a
          quarter of the notes being reflection will be considered insufficient and will earn poor marks.
          You may turn in the notes in a variety of forms, including an outline, essay form, a sheet of
          paper where the left side is summary and the right side reflection, or some other method that
          works for you. Since each chapter of “Takin’ it to the streets” contains many different
          documents and authors, a detailed summary and reflection of each document will be
          unwieldy. You will need to select representative examples that demonstrate that you read the
          assignment carefully and understood the main themes and diversity of perspectives.
                    Requiring you to prepare notes for nearly half of Takin’ it to the streets” should
          improve your comprehension of the material and our classroom discussion noticeably.
          Moreover, getting into a good habit of note-taking will vastly improve your study skills in all
          classes.
                    In addition, on days when you elect to turn in notes, you are also required to turn in
          a set of four to six questions designed to stimulate discussion about the day’s reading. These
          questions should not be factual; instead, they ought to be open-ended, interpretive questions
          intended to force us to think carefully and critically about the documents and how they
          connect to other readings and course themes. I also expect you to have some answers to the
          questions you pose. I will ask some of these questions (as well as some of my own) to
          generate discussion that will lead to deeper understanding of the 1960s.




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Group Presentation on UI in the 1960s (10%) In an effort to make what we are learning more
immediate, students will survey one year of the University of Idaho’s Argonaut (and the yearbook,
Gem of the Mountains, if desired) and report back to class on what preoccupied UI students during the
1960s. Presentations will only last between 20 and 30 minutes. The research and presentation will be
conducted by groups. Using Powerpoint or some other presentation method will allow you to
include the wonderful (and often entertaining) photographs available.
         Since we all have worked in groups where one or two people did either all or none of the
work, I will require groups to document each individual’s contribution to the presentations, and the
group will sign that document showing their agreement. Because this is not a speech class, I will not
be grading these presentations on their delivery but on their effectiveness in presenting the
information and generating discussion and understanding of the day’s major themes.

Autobiographies Paper (25%) You will write a paper (six-eight pages) that examines the experiences
of Anne Moody and James Carroll. Your paper will explore the personal/individual tensions and
experiences each author faced as they connected to broader social movements. More details will be
forthcoming.

Research Project (35%) One of the most valuable things advanced undergraduates can do in a history
class is an independent research project. It allows students to practice being historians and gives you
a chance to study, in-depth, a topic of your own choosing. For this assignment, students will conduct
a research project in the 1960s based chiefly in primary sources (i.e., those documents produced at
the time and by participants or observers). Topics must be approved by me. Your final paper will be
approximately ten pages and consult at least five primary sources and three scholarly sources. Your
main interpretations must be drawn from the primary sources. You may count up to two primary
sources from our required reading; the rest must be outside sources.

                                                      POLICIES
Late Work Policy: Your grade drops one full grade for each day your work is late. Furthermore, you
must be in class the day it is due to turn in work. If you do not come to class, your work will be counted as
one day late unless you have made prior arrangements. With legitimate, documented excuses or for
absences arranged ahead of time, exceptions can be made.

Grade Challenges: I am willing to entertain grade challenges provided they are submitted in writing
and that you wait 48 hours after the assignment is returned before you hand in your objection. You
will then need to set up an appointment with me to discuss the assignment and grade. Also, you must
initiate this process within one week of the time the assignment was returned to the class. After re-
evaluating a grade and meeting with you to discuss the assignment and evaluation, I may change it.

Plagiarism: To plagiarize is to present someone else’s work as your own. To present someone else’s
work as your own means to use someone else’s information, ideas or writing without explicitly
acknowledging with quotation marks and/or citations that the ideas and/or writing are not your own.
You may be plagiarizing even if you are not directly quoting. Plagiarism is a serious offense and I will
give a 0 to the first assignment in which a student plagiarizes. If a student plagiarizes again, I will fail
that student in the course. If you have ANY questions or confusions about plagiarism, please let me
know before you turn in your work. It is essential to be using others’ ideas and information; however,
you just must provide credit where credit is due. You may find additional information about
Academic Honesty (and dishonesty) as part of the Student Code of Conduct:
(http://www.students.uidaho.edu/default.aspx?pid=56182).

Accommodations: Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have a documented
disability. Please notify me during the first week of class of an accommodation(s) needed for the
course. Late notification may mean that requested accommodations might not be available. All


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accommodations must be approved through Disability Support Services located in the Idaho
Commons Building, Rm. 333, 885-7200, or dss@uidaho.edu.

                                         EXPECTATIONS
Students will:
     attend all classes.
     finish assigned readings and work on time and be prepared to answer questions and discuss
        reading content.
     spend time contemplating the basic issues discussed in class and in the reading.
     treat peers and professor with respect.
     engage in appropriate academic classroom behavior (e.g., arrive on time prepared to take
        notes, do not engage in social conversations or other disruptive acts, keep wireless phones
        off and out of sight, do not navigate the Internet or read/write e-mail during class on their
        notebook computers).
     do not engage in “social loafing” during group assignments.
     take independent steps to solve any confusion due to missed class (or other reasons) by
        using appropriate methods.
     devote ample time to the course content despite work, social and other class obligations.
     do not cheat or be prepared to accept the consequences which will result in 0 points for the
        assignment. (Further discipline may be appropriate.)

The instructor will:
    arrive in class on time and be prepared to make effective use of the students’ time.
    treat students and their opinions with respect.
    be available to students during office hours and at other times arranged by mutual
        agreement.
    make every reasonable effort to assist students in attaining their academic goals.
    assess student performance in as objective and accurate manner as is possible and as quickly
        as possible.
    challenge students to learn as much as possible.

                                           SCHEDULE
          Please note that this is an approximation of what we will be doing and changes may be
    necessary. If so, they will be announced to the class. Also, the reading assignments are to be
                   complete before you come to class on the day they are assigned.

WEEK ONE: Introductions; What Came Before
     Tuesday, August 22
           Read: Syllabus

        Thursday, August 24
              Read: Lytle, Preface, Introduction, and Ch. 1; Bloom and Breines, “Past as
              Prologue”

WEEK TWO: Breaking the 1950s Down
     Tuesday, August 29
           Read: Lytle, Ch. 2-3

        Thursday, August 31
              Read: Moody, Part 1


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WEEK THREE: Early Civil Rights
     Tuesday, September 5
           Read: Moody, Part 2

       Thursday, September 7
             Read: Bloom and Breines, Ch. 1

WEEK FOUR: Getting into the “Sixties”
     Tuesday, September 12
           Read: Lytle, Ch. 4-6

       Thursday, September 14
             Read: Bloom and Breines, Ch. 2

WEEK FIVE: Heating Up
     Tuesday, September 19
           Read: Moody, Part 3; Bloom and Breines, Ch. 3 (to p.135)

       Thursday, September 21
             Read: Lytle, Ch. 7-8

WEEK SIX: Protests
     Tuesday, September 26
            Read: Moody, Part 4

       Thursday, September 28
             Read: Bloom and Breines, Ch. 4

WEEK SEVEN: Counterculture
     Tuesday, October 3
           Read: Lytle, Ch. 9

       Thursday, October 5
             Read: Bloom and Breines, Ch. 5

WEEK EIGHT: Reactions in Conservative America
     Tuesday, October 10
           Read: Bloom and Breines, Ch. 6

       Thursday, October 12
             Read: Carroll, Frontispiece, Ch. 1-5

WEEK NINE: 1968
     Tuesday, October 17
           Read: Lytle, Ch. 10-11

       Thursday, October 19
             Read: Bloom and Breines, Ch. 7

WEEK TEN: Struggling with War and Conscience
     Tuesday, October 24


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              Read: Carroll, Ch. 6-8

       Thursday, October 26
             Read: Carroll, Ch. 9-11

WEEK ELEVEN: Gender and Racial Movements and Identities
     Tuesday, October 31
           Read: Lytle, Ch. 12-13
           Due: Autobiographies Paper

       Thursday, November 2
             Read: Bloom and Breines, Ch. 3 (from p. 135) and Ch. 8

WEEK TWELVE: Ratcheting Up and Winding Down
     Tuesday, November 7
           Read: Lytle, Ch. 14-15

       Thursday, November 9
             Read: Bloom and Breines, Ch. 9

WEEK THIRTEEN: Legacies
     Tuesday, November 14
           Read: Lytle, Ch. 16 and Epilogue

       Thursday, November 16
             Read: NA

                           FALL RECESS: NOVEMBER 20-24

WEEK FOURTEEN: Research and Individual Meetings; No Class Meetings
     Tuesday, November 28
           Read: NA

       Thursday, November 30
             Read: NA

WEEK FIFTEEN: Conclusions
     Tuesday, December 5
           Read: NA

       Thursday, December 7
             Read: NA

               Final Paper Due during the Final Exam Period in my office:
                         Tuesday, December 12, 12:30-2:30 p.m.




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