From: IN%"H-SHGAPE@h-net.msu.edu" "H-Net Gilded Age and Progressive Era List" 9-FEB-1998 23:20:28.05
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Subj: H-SHGAPE Digest - 8 Feb 1998 to 9 Feb 1998
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 11:37:14 -0400 From: Michael Pierce <pierce.11@osu.edu> Subject: GAPE syllabus
Ed. note: From time to time H-SHGAPE posts Gilded Age/Progressive Era course syllabus. This one comes to us from Penn State. -- MP
THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN AMERICA, 1877-1919
History 445 Prof. Daniel Letwin Spring 1998 Off: 409 Weaver MWF 11:15-12:05 OH: M 3-5 132 E E East and by appt. Ph: 863-0417 E-mail: "dll8@psu.edu"
*Required Texts*
Nell Irvin Painter, Standing at Armageddon: The United States, 1877-1919
Leon Fink, ed., Major Problems in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era:
Documents and Essays
Thomas Bell, Out of This Furnace: A Novel of Immigrant Labor in America
Kate Chopin, The Awakening
E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime
William L. Riordon, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall
*Course Format and Requirement*
The format for this course involves a mix of lecture, visual presentation, and discussion. Assignments take several forms: first, a series of multiple-choice quizzes; second, two papers; and third, two library research exercises (to be explained in class). In addition to these assignments, participation will play a significant role in the student's overall performance. Analysis of key themes in the readings will be central to all aspects of work for the course.
*Grading Breakdown*
Quizzes (cumulative) 20% 2 library exercises (cumulative) 15% Participation 15% 6-8 page paper 20% 10-12 page paper 30%
SCHEDULE
Week 1
Jan. 12: Introduction
Jan. 14: The 1876 Centenary
Reading:
Nell Irvin Painter, Standing at Armageddon: The United States,
1877-1919, xvii-xliv.
Jan. 16: The Nation Reconstructed
Reading:
Painter, Standing at Armageddon, 1-8
Week 2
Jan. 19: The Making of a New West
Reading:
Painter, Standing at Armageddon, 8-35
Leon Fink, ed., Major Problems in the Gilded Age and Progressive
Era, 70-83
Jan. 21: Industrializing America
Jan. 23: Quiz #1 and Discussion
Week 3
Jan. 26: The Gospel of Wealth and Its Critics
Reading:
Fink, ed., Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 1-29
Jan. 28: The Labor Question
Reading:
Painter, Standing at Armageddon, 36-71
Fink, ed., Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 30-59
Jan. 30: Quiz #2 and Discussion
Week 4
Feb. 2: The New Immigrant, The New City
Reading:
Thomas Bell, Out of This Furnace: A Novel of Immigrant Labor in
America, 3-117
Fink, ed., Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 137-47, 261-73
Feb. 4: The Great Upheaval
Feb. 6: Quiz #3 and Film
Week 5
Feb. 9: Gilded Age Politics
Reading:
Painter, Standing at Armageddon, 72-109
Fink, ed., Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 177-78 (cartoons),
189-97
Feb. 11: Middle-Class Life
Feb. 13: Quiz #4 and Discussion
***First Library Exercise Due (in class)***
Week 6
Feb. 16: The 1890s Depression
Reading:
Painter, Standing at Armageddon, 110-40
Fink, ed., Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 175-85, 197-207
Feb. 18: The Populist Moment
Feb. 20: Quiz #5 and Discussion
Week 7
Feb. 23: The Worlds of American Women
Reading:
Kate Chopin, The Awakening
Fink, ed., Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 376-89
Feb. 25: Discuss The Awakening
Feb. 27: Film
Week 8
Mar. 2: From Republic to Empire
Reading:
Fink, ed., Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 487-97, 217-48
Painter, Standing at Armageddon, 141-69, 216-30
Mar. 4: Jim Crow and African-American Response
Mar. 6: Film
***First Paper Due (in class)***
Week 9
Mar. 16: Conceptions of Race
Mar. 18: Discuss Ragtime
Reading:
E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime
Mar. 20: Quiz #6 and Discussion
Week 10
Mar. 23: The Progressive Ethos
Reading:
Fink, ed., Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 300-29, 341-52
Painter, Standing at Armageddon, 170-215, 253-82
Mar. 25: Progressivism and National Politics
Mar. 27: Quiz #7 and Discussion
Week 11
Mar. 30: Progressivism and the Cities
Reading:
William L. Riordon, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall
Apr. 1: Discuss Plunkitt of Tammany Hall
Apr. 3: Film
Week 12
Apr. 6: Progressivism and Social Reform
Reading:
Fink, ed., Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 185-89, 207-15, 363-75
Painter, Standing at Armageddon, 231-52
Apr. 8: The Labor Question Revisited
Apr. 10: Quiz #8 and Discussion
***Second Library Exercise Due (in class)***
Week 13
Apr. 13: Environment and Society
Reading:
Fink, ed., Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 407-47
Apr. 15: New Ways of Leisure
Reading:
Fink, ed., Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 448-86
Apr. 17: Quiz #9 and Discussion
Week 14
Apr. 20: World War, Over There, Over Here
Reading:
Painter, Standing at Armageddon, 283-343
Fink, ed., Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 526-42
Apr. 22: Peace Abroad, War at Home
Reading:
Painter, Standing at Armageddon, 344-90
Film:
The Killing Floor (evening showings on 4/22 & 4/23, 7:30-9:30,
132 E E East)
Apr. 24: Quiz #10; Discussion of Bell and The Killing Floor
Reading:
Bell, Out of This Furnace, 119-258
Week 15
Apr. 27: Normalcy
Apr. 29: The Gilded Age and Progressive Era in Retrospect
May 1: Wrap-Up
***Second Paper Due (in class)***