AJ2BP_SDUS United States History Seminar

Faculty of Education
Autumn 2008
Extent and Intensity
0/1/0. 1 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Michael George, M.A. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Zdeněk Janík, M.A., Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Zdeněk Janík, M.A., Ph.D.
Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Contact Person: Jana Popelková
Timetable of Seminar Groups
AJ2BP_SDUS/01: Tue 12:30–13:15 učebna 59, Z. Janík
AJ2BP_SDUS/02: Tue 13:25–14:10 učebna 12, Z. Janík
AJ2BP_SDUS/03: Mon 12:30–13:15 učebna 41, Z. Janík
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ2BP_SZKO Qualifying Exam || AJ2BP_SOZK Qualifying Exam
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The main topic of the course is Race and Membership in American History - membership not only as a sense of belonging to a group, but also as freedom and right to belong and to participate so as to live a full and decent life. In our course we are going to see how millions of Americans were fighting for this dream.
Main objectives can be summarized as follows:
1. To support students in a process of personalizing history and relating it to their own cultures and everyday experiences.
2. To focus students learning on a variety of perspectives on historical issues and to critically explore differing points of view on these issues.
3. To provoke students into questioning stereotypes and challenging racist attitudes.
4. To support students in their development of affirmative understanding of ethnic and cultural groups.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction: Historical Perception starts nowadays
  • 2. American History Learning: Race and Democracy
  • 3. Slavery and the South and North of the United States
  • 4. The Period of Reconstruction: Segregation
  • 5. Scientific Justification of Racism
  • 6. Nation of Immigrants
  • 7. Scientific Justification: From Darwin to Eugenics
  • 8. Scientific Justification: Eugenics and the Power of Testing
  • 9. Science and the State Policy: "Eugenics Laws"
  • 10.American 'Imperialism': The "White Man's Burden"
  • 11. American Fight for Freedom and Civil Rights
  • 12. Case studies solving: "Becoming American"- the experience of Chinese Americans
Literature
  • Race and Membership in American History: Eugenics Movement. Massachusetts: Facing History and Ourselves Foundation, Inc., 2002. ISBN 0-9615841-9-K
  • GORN, Elliot. Constructing the American Past. Harper-Collins, 1995. info
  • MARCUS, Robert and David BRUNER. America Firsthand. St. Martin's Press, 1989. info
  • MCADAM, Doug. Freedom summer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988, x, 333. ISBN 0195064720. info
  • DAVIS, Allen and Harold WOODMAN. Conflict and Consensus. D.C. Heath, 1980. info
Assessment methods
seminar. class attendance and participation, on-line tasks. a case study from American History.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2003, Autumn 2004, Autumn 2005, Autumn 2006, Autumn 2007, Autumn 2009, Autumn 2010.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2008, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/autumn2008/AJ2BP_SDUS