AJ0309 Modern American History

Faculty of Education
Autumn 2019
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Michael George, M.A. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph.D.
Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Contact Person: Jana Popelková
Supplier department: Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Timetable of Seminar Groups
AJ0309/01: Thu 8:00–9:50 učebna 58, M. George
Prerequisites
none
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
there are 23 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
Main objectives can be summarized as follows:
1. To demonstrate to students that history is an ongoing process with links across all disciplines and ages, and not "isolated, irrelevant and dead"
2. To focus students learning on critical thinking, giving them a variety of points of view on historical issues.
3. To encourage students to question stereotypes and accepted opinion.
4. To help students identify with actors in the past and therefore personalize history and relate it to their own culture and everyday experiences. At the end of the course students should be able to analyze modern American political and social behavior, evaluating and explaining events according to past examples.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction: Background, Outline and Course Requirements
  • 2. The Foundations of Modern America 1: The Death of Slavery and the Birth of Jim Crow
  • 3. The Foundations of Modern America 2: Industrialism, Immigration and Imperialism
  • 4. Henry Ford, the "Roaring 20's and the American Dream
  • 5. The Great Depression, the Great Change
  • 6. WWII and the Cold War
  • 7. Vietnam and the War at Home
  • 8. The Fight for Civil Rights
  • 9. Civil Rights Expanded - People of Color, Women and Multiculturalism
  • 10. 21st Century America: Post "9/11"
  • 11. Student Research Reports 1
  • 12. Student Research Reports 2
Literature
    required literature
  • GORN, Elliot. Constructing the American Past. Harper-Collins, 1995. 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
    recommended literature
  • Race and Membership in American History: Eugenics Movement. Massachusetts: Facing History and Ourselves Foundation, Inc., 2002. ISBN 0-9615841-9-K
  • MARCUS, Robert and David BRUNER. America Firsthand. St. Martin's Press, 1989. info
Teaching methods
This class meets in "round table" seminar discussions weekly, where we look in depth one particular issue of modern America and ask "why?". These are classic, interactive seminars - in which each student comes to the class having read the assigned texts and shares his/her opinions on the subject. Careful reading is especially important because each set of seminar readings usually represents differing points of view on the subject of the day. In these seminars there are no correct or incorrect answers, the aim is to "think out loud", offering your thoughts to your colleagues in the circle. If everyone does this, the seminar provides insight into the question - but because we are talking about real life history, there is never any ultimate answer.
Assessment methods
1. ATTENDENCE - no more than 2 absences.
2. PREPARATION - read (i.e. print and note) ALL texts and come to each seminar prepared to analyze them.
3. VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION - free offering of ideas in conversation at EACH seminar meeting.
4. RESEARCH PROJECT - Select any topic (dealing with modern America) that interests you, research it from sources in the collection in my office, the library, the Internet, or other sources at your disposal, and become the “expert” on that subject within the class. That means that we will turn to you for additional information whenever the discussion touches your chosen subject. The point is for every one in the class to benefit from each student's research. In addition, there will be time set aside for short (15 minute) presentations.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018, autumn 2020, Autumn 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2019, recent)
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