AJPV_MAH Modern American History

Faculty of Education
Spring 2012
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Michael George, M.A. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
PhDr. Irena Přibylová, 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
AJPV_MAH/01: Tue 11:35–13:15 učebna 58, M. George
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/25, only registered: 0/25
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
Teaching methods
class discussion, group presentations, on-line quizzes
Assessment methods
on-line written assignments,case studies from American History
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
General note: historický seminář.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2011, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2015, Autumn 2016.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2012, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/spring2012/AJPV_MAH