History of the Great Plains, University of Iowa, Spring 2009This course's objective is to comparatively examine the different human communities and societies of the Great Plains, the largest biome in North America, which extends from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in southern Canada southward to northern Mexico from eastern Chihuahua to Tamaulipas. This course will think critically about the history of the region by studying secondary sources, historical novels and film. Topics include: the migrations and meeting of all Plains peoples; the changing eco-systems of the Plains; settlement patterns; the history of the fur trade; transportation; ranching and farming; ethnicity and race; political reform; the impact of the World Wars and the Depression; and modern Plains life. The instructor is Dennis Kuhnel.
Required Books:
Binnema, Theodore.
Common and Contested Ground: A Human and Environmental History of the Northwestern Plains.
Frazier, Ian.
The Great Plains.
Hamailenen, Pekka.
The Comanche Empire.
Manning, Richard.
Grassland: The History, Biology, Politics and Promise of the American Prairie.
Sandoz, Mari.
Old Jules.
Worster, Donald.
The Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s.
COURSE REQUIREMENTSAttendance: You are expected to attend every meeting of this class. More than three unexcused absences will detrimentally affect your overall grade for this course. For each unexcused absence past three, I will lower your overall final grade half a letter. For example, if you earn a B in the course, but have five unexcused absences, your final grade will be a C+. Excused absences will not figure into these equations.
Reading: Readings will be assigned regularly from required texts and other sources in class and by email. I reserve the right to give unannounced quizzes in class that test you over the reading.
Participation: Many of the intended educational benefits of this class are contingent upon the participation of everyone. I expect you to be an active, contributing member in class discussions, exercises and projects. At the end of the semester I will give each student a “participation” grade based upon my assessment of that student’s overall performance and contribution to our class. Attendance alone will not earn you participation marks, even if you come to every class. Positive participation involves being prepared for class, asking and answering questions, sharing relevant ideas and opinions, staying on track in small group activities, and making a genuine effort to support your classmates. Another way to contribute to our class discussion will be for you to post comments or questions about the assigned reading to our class blog:
http://greatplainshistory.blogspot.com/. We will discuss this more in class. At the end of the semester, you will complete a self-assessment of your participation performance throughout the semester. I will take into consideration your self-assessment when I evaluate your performance.
Written Assignments
In addition to expanding your factual knowledge, this course will develop your critical thinking and persuasive writing skills. You will be assessing historians’ interpretations of trends, events, and ideas, as well as presenting your own, for which analytical reading and writing skills are essential. To this end, you will write two essays (5 pages each). These will be graded generatively, as it will be expected that you improve in writing style, content and professionalism from essay to essay. When you hand in your second paper near the end of the semester, you will hand in your first graded paper as well so I can better assess your progress.
ExamsThere will be one mid-term exam in this course; there will also be a comprehensive final exam.
GRADING BREAKDOWNFeel free to approach me after class or set up an appointment with me if you ever have any questions or concerns about the grade you have received.
Participation (20%) Your participation will be assessed throughout the semester.
Paper No. 1 (20%) February 26, 2009
Midterm (20%) March 12, 2009
Paper No. 2 (20%) April 23, 2009
Final (20%) May 7, 2009
EXTRA CREDITYou have the opportunity to earn up to 5 percent of your final total grade with extra credit work. So, if your final course grade is 87 and you completed all possible extra credit assignments, I will raise it to 92. Throughout the semester I will mention movies, books and places with Great Plains related themes or histories. For movies and books, if you read/watch one and write a 2-3 page historical response about it, I will give you one extra credit point if I assess that your response is satisfactory. If I mention a place or museum, like Effigy Mounds or Homestead National Monuments, and you visit it and write a 2-3 page historical response I will award you 1-2 points based upon my assessment. Feel free to approach me with extra credit topic ideas as the semester progresses. If you plan to take a ‘field trip’ please pre-approve it with me to make sure I will award points for it. We will talk about all of this more in-depth in class. If you hope to gain all 5 possible extra credit points, you must complete at least 2 points of your extra credit assignments by the date of the midterm. In other words, you cannot wait until the last week of classes and hand-in 5 historical responses to movies. You must finish, at least, two of these assignments in the first half of the semester. This extra credit option is completely voluntary. I will not penalize or think less of anyone who does not complete any extra credit assignments.
WORK SUBMISSION FORMATAll work you turn in to me (unless completed in class) must be titled, typed and double-spaced in 12 point Times New Roman font with one inch margins all around. No space eating headers or designs. Multiple page documents must be stapled with numbered pages. In the top left corner, include your name, course number and section, an assignment description, and the date. For example:
Nash de Ville
EN 150 Sec. 023
Paper No. 1
23 September 2004
Essays should follow MLA, Chicago, or APA style. Student work that does not meet any of these format requirements will be refused or docked a full letter grade at my discretion.
LATE WORKLate submission of writing assignments will suffer the penalty of a 1/3 grade deduction for each day the assignment is late; for example, an A paper will decline to an A minus if received a day late (weekends count for two days). You are entitled to question the grades you receive on essays and exams--but wait 24 hours after receiving back graded work and then make an appointment to discuss the graded essay or exam with the instructor during his office hours.
ACADEMIC RESPONSIBILITY
You are expected to read, and be responsible for, university policies about students' rights and responsibilities, especially those about plagiarism and other kinds of academic misconduct. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has detailed statements about inappropriate student behavior (including sleeping in class, talking on cell-phones during class, or being disrespectful to others) and academic misconduct. Learn the definitions of cheating and plagiarism on the CLAS website at http://www.clas.uiowa.edu/students/academic_handbook/index.shtml. All cases of suspected cheating or plagiarism will be pursued and, if verified, penalized and reported to the Associate Dean for Academic Programs.
CONTACT INFORMATION
The ideal way to approach me with questions and/or concerns is in person. My office hours are listed above. Please let me know in advance if you are planning a visit. If my office hours do not work for you, you are welcome to make an appointment. I make an effort to check my e-mail at least once a day and am happy to hear from you, but have found in the past that e-mail can be ineffective for dealing with sensitive or complicated matters, or anything that requires an immediate response. I will not accept assignments via e-mail.
RESOURCESBelow are links to some university resources available to students. I especially recommend that you utilize the History Department’s Writing Center when you prepare your essay assignments.
History Writing Center 303 SH 335-2584
http://www.uiowa.edu/~histwrit/UI Writing Center 110 EPB 335-0188
http://www.uiowa.edu/%7Ewritingc/
Student Disability Services 3101 Burge Hall 335-1462 http://www.uiowa.edu/%7Esds/students.html
University Counseling 3223 Westlawn 335-7294 http://www.uiowa.edu/%7Eucs/
Other University Resources for Students
http://www.uiowa.edu/homepage/students/resources.html
For next Tuesday please read to page 260, and for Thursday read to page 320 in The Comanche Empire. We will save the Conclusion and the chapter entitled "Collapse" for the next week, which will be our last with the book.
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