Here’s an overview of this last unit, “History Now,” focusing on what it means to “think historically” and why that is an important skill in our complex world.

Mon 4/23 – What happens between the American pullout of Vietnam in 1975 and the terrorist attack on 9/11? Reading: CH p. 887-893 and 907-909. The last ONLINE QUIZ opens this morning and will remain open until Friday night, 4/27 – it covers Chapter 31. Please make sure you take the quiz. It is found on the course Blackboard under “Quizzes.” If you have technical problems let me know right away. As before, you have up to 3 tries.

Wed 4/25 – Workshop Day, “History Now.” It is VERY IMPORTANT that everyone be in class that day. You will receive a packet of sources and the instructions for your last project and will begin to work on the project in class.

Fri 4/27 – 9/11 and the War on Terror. Reading: EH Ch 32, pp. 917-927. How does your textbook portray these events? What’s explained well, and what is fuzzy or confusing to you?

Mon 4/30 – your History Now Projects are due in class; there is no electronic submission. We will be talking about historically significant events and trends in our current moment, and how Americans record and tell the stories of our own time. How will historians of the future study 2012?

The last exam will be Wed 5/9 at 8:30 am in L-168. It is not designed to be a 3-hour exam; it will be comparable to the other exams we have taken. If you are thrilled with your grade on all previous exams, you do not have to take the last one, since your lowest exam is dropped. But for most of you, taking the last exam is a VERY GOOD IDEA. You’ll receive your History Now project evaluations back when you submit your exam.

For our unit on the 1960s, we’re focusing on the Vietnam War and the political and cultural divisions it provoked in the US and around the world.

Here are the readings for Wed 4/11 and Fri 4/13. All of the supplemental readings for this unit come from William H. Chafe, et al., A History Of Our Time: Readings on Postwar America, 8th edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012).

Fri 4/13 – Hawks and Soldiers (PDF) – bring this reading to class, either printed or on your laptop

Mon 4/16 – no class, Patriot’s Day

Wed 4/18 – Workshop Day. There is reading in preparation for class: EH Ch 29, 828-829 and Ch 30, 846-848 and 857 AND Doves (PDF) – bring this reading to class, either printed or on your laptop

Fri 4/20 – Legacies and Memories. Two readings: EH Ch 30, 868-871 and McNamara, “In Retrospect” (PDF) – bring this reading to class, either printed or on your laptop. Your Skill Builder #5 is due in class.

Remember that the online quiz for this unit has been cancelled; everyone will receive the full 20 points for it.

Lots of clips for today!

First, some pictures
A kid and his TV https://secure.flickr.com/photos/gbaku/2513320483/
Vintage TV sets on exhibit at San Francisco Airport http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/sfo_museum/exhibitions/terminal3_exhibitions/north_connect/tv/12.html

Commercials
Two Ford Freedom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gkxC5rnbi8
See the USA with Dinah Shore https://www.myspace.com/video/cybotron/dinah-shore-quot-see-the-usa-in-your-chevrolet-quot/5888049
Brylcreem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6F4GtyRfto
Lucky Strike https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUYsAgcPtqU
Twinkies on Howdy Doody https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyfCxrKW3XY
Spic & Span https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrOeRAPJazY

Programs
Lone Ranger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5xpQ84B30Q
Queen for a Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggV8Uwhnmq8
Bishop Sheen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVBXzf4eUJg
Elvis on Milton Berle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x0uKy5GfMw
I Led Three Lives https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTaPCSG1-_I
Donna Reed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-uh3XbUMfY
Abbot and Costello do “Who’s on First” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nti08LWtxJI
CBS “See It Now” (this one from 23 Dec 1951) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8rSxsDwjoQ

Unit 3 will be all about the Depression and the New Deal – EH Chapter 25.

There will be an online quiz open from Monday, 2/27 to Friday 3/2 on Chapter 26. Don’t forget to take it! I had a couple of people who’ve let these slip a little. Please make sure to take the quiz online in Blackboard.

Mon 2/27 our class will combine the culture and economics of the Depression. Reading is EH Ch 25, pp. 687-697. The syllabus had “reading TBA” for Wednesday but we’ll drop that reading because…

There will be no class on Wednesday, Feb 29th. I am taking another class to visit a US Citizenship Naturalization ceremony in Worcester and we have to leave early to get there, so I won’t be in class.

Friday, March 2 will also be a special day: instead of our usual class, we will attend a lecture by a guest professor of Political Science, Alexandra Filindra, at 10:30 am in the Student Center Blue Lounge. She will be speaking about the eugenics movement, a timely topic since we just finished the unit on that. Attendance will be taken, same as if it were a regular class day, and I will collect the SkillBuilder #3 papers due that day at the event.

Because of the lecture, we will push our “Primary Source Workshop” day to Monday the 5th; we’ll meet in our classroom as usual. If you want to get started on that paper before the workshop day, please do so; the guidelines are posted under the “PS Paper” tab above, and the books are all on 2-hour course reserve at the circulation desk in the library.

During today’s class, you’ll rotate through four stations to explore aspects of 1920s culture and the economy.

Station 1: Jazz Music of the 1920s
Listen to as many as you can and talk about what you’re hearing with the rest of your group
Link: redhotjazz.com (requires RealPlayer)
Handout: A VERY Short History of Jazz

Station 2: The Sentencing Statements of Sacco and Vanzetti
Read and discuss what Sacco and Vanzetti said as they were sentenced to death in 1927, and talk about Edna Saint Vincent Millay’s “Justice Denied in Massachusetts”
Link: overview of the case, if you need a refresher
Handout: S&V’s statements, “Justice Denied” poem

Station 3: Investigate the 1920s Economy
From the list of links below, explore why the economy was both booming AND weak in the 1920s. The first one contains further links to newspaper and magazine articles of the time.
Link List:
Boom and Bust in the World Economies (Source: 1920-30.com)
Blog of 1920s articles/ search by category or keyword (Source: 1920-30.com)
“The US Economy in the 1920s” (Source: EconomicHistory.net)
“Slouching Toward Utopia?” Bradford DeLong, UC Berkeley 1997 lecture for Econ 161
“Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy 1920-1929” (Source: Library of Congress)

Station 4: Poetry and Art of the Harlem Renaissance
The online link takes you to a web gallery of images and sculpture created by artists of the Harlem Renaissance. In addition, you have a small packet of poems – read and discuss a few with your group.
Link: Art Focus on Harlem Renaissance (PBS African American World)
Handout: HR Poem Packet

Start of class: we’ll screen this clip as a demonstration of what jazz is and what to listen for – it’s a master class of the great jazz trumpeter Winton Marsalis, riffing on “Happy Birthday.”

The week of 2/6 we will start a new unit, on the 1920s. Our main focus in class will be EH Ch 22 on Progressivism and Ch 24, “The New Era.” The online quiz for this unit will cover chapters 21 and 23.

Mon 2/6 – Progressivism. Progressivism is a word (like Reconstruction) that encompasses not only a time period but also a complex social movement and political transition. Read EH Ch 22 for background before class.

Also, the next online quiz will open on Monday by noon. It will cover chapters 21 and 23 and be open until midnight on Friday, Feb 10th. As before, you can take it up to three times and Blackboard will record your highest grade.

Here’s a shorter version of the slideshow from Monday. I know some of the text is small in the embedded version, so click on the “fullscreen” icon in the lower right corner of the mini-player to bring it up larger on your screen.

Wed 2/8 – The Roaring Economy. Reading is EH Ch 24 p. 657-665

Fri 2/10 – Workshop Day on the economy and culture of the 1920s. Reading is EH Ch 24 p. 665-670.

Reminder: bring your laptop on Friday to the workshop day.

Each of these numbers is a link taking you to a collection of photographs, maps, or a film about American cities in the late 19th century. Working in pairs, apply critical thinking and primary source analysis questions to the source, and use it to expand your working knowledge of the late 19th century city. You’ll receive a handout with ideas and suggestions for how to approach and analyze these kinds of visual image sources (if you miss class – the handout is here).

Work with one number at a time (pick from the basket in the middle of the room). Take your time with the sources. If you only get to one during this class period, that’s fine. This is not a race, it’s an opportunity to explore in depth.

End of class writing prompt: What did you learn about your city? What did you learn about the sources that historians can use to study the 19th century city?

For our first workshop day on Friday 1/27, please bring your laptops to class. We will be working in pairs or threes and the more laptops we have in class, the better this will go. To prepare, read the section on “Digital Detecting” on EH p. 527. We’ll work with historical photographs, maps and film clips to help us understand the late 19th century urban environment.

NOTE: We have a NEW classroom location, since Sullivan 320 is so cramped. From now on, we will meet in LRC-168. This classroom is on the bottom floor of the library building. The easiest way to find it is to enter on the Student Center side through the sliding glass doors into the lobby with the vending machines. Take your first hallway on the right, and then it’s the first one on your left.

Your next Skillbuilder is due on Monday, 1/30. Please use the tabs above and read the “Skill Builders” page. You may write about any of the “Dueling Documents,” “Historian’s Toolbox” or “After the Fact” sections from *anywhere* and any time period in your textbook. If you would like to go deeper and explore something that’s not in your textbook, I’ve now posted a list of ideas I’m calling “Extreme Skill Builders” – check out the tab above. Feel free to consult with me if you have any questions about these assignments. On the Skill Builders page, I’ve posted a couple of good examples from past semesters so you can see a model of how these work.

Remember, the online quiz (found on Blackboard under “Quizzes”) closes on Friday night at midnight. You can take it up to 3 times; it draws from EH Chapters 18 and 19.