H111:

U.S. Survey through the Civil War

James Henretta & David Brody,  America: A Concise History
        Vol. I, Fourth Edition (2010).

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H120: We begin in the Colonial era, and end in the 1980s. The goals for this course are fourfold:

1) to gain an understanding of women's past experience, particularly in the areas of family, work, and public life;

2) to understand how women's experiences in family, work, and public life have changed over time;

3) to understand the relationship between individual and group experiences, and how ethnicity, race, and class--as well as gender, have shaped women's past experiences;

4) and to understand how women have exerted power in their own lives and in society as a whole.

Power--individual, group, and institutional--is a key theme in understanding women's past (and present) lives. To what extent have women exercised individual choices in matters of family, work, or public interest? To what extent are women's opportunities narrowed, broadened, or not affected by gender? What do the lives of the women you read about tell us about individuals and the cultural views regarding women? To what extent do women have autonomy over their lives, and how do their choices change over time?

H111: A survey of U.S. History from the Colonial Era through the Civil War. This class emphasizes a basic knowledge of U.S. History, along with critical thinking skills, analyzing change/ continuity in these critical years of colonial development, nation building, and regional divisions ending in the Civil War.

We will address basic social, economic, and political aspects of United States’ history, from the Colonial Era up through the Civil War.  The goals for this class are:
1-knowledge of the significant events, people, and trends;
2-an understanding of major interpretations and different perspectives;
3-the development of your own opinions, and an awareness of the way in which you yourself interpret history. Do you find the economy to be the most defining of changes and continuities in the American past, or politics? On the other hand, is the American past best characterized by social changes from the bottom up, or from the top down? I urge you to consider your own approach to the past, to be aware of your own interpretation, and to think about why you think some events, people, institutions, or movements are more important than others.
The best way to accomplish these goals is to spend thoughtful time with reading, then to ask your own questions of the material. Thinking about the historical themes and questions found in every chapter, and outlining answers, should lead you to your own questions and ideas. I suggest you read over each chapter a couple times, then outline the most significant aspects of life in these years.

H112: A survey of U.S. History from Reconstruction to the Present. This class emphasizes a basic knowledge of U.S. History, along with critical thinking skills, analyzing change/ continuity in these critical years of reconstruction, economic growth, world war, and contemporary global perspectives.

We will address basic social, economic, and political aspects of United States’ history, from the Colonial Era up through the Civil War.  The goals for this class are:
1-knowledge of the significant events, people, and trends;
2-an understanding of major interpretations and different perspectives;
3-the development of your own opinions, and an awareness of the way in which you yourself interpret history. Do you find the economy to be the most defining of changes and continuities in the American past, or politics? On the other hand, is the American past best characterized by social changes from the bottom up, or from the top down? I urge you to consider your own approach to the past, to be aware of your own interpretation, and to think about why you think some events, people, institutions, or movements are more important than others.
The best way to accomplish these goals is to spend thoughtful time with reading, then to ask your own questions of the material. Thinking about the historical themes and questions found in every chapter, and outlining answers, should lead you to your own questions and ideas. I suggest you read over each chapter a couple times, then outline the most significant aspects of life in these years.