HIUS 341 History of American Politics

The American political tradition is unique in the history of the world. This course provides the student with the opportunity to study the key features and implications of that tradition and how they continue to shape our world. Because the course covers the entire span of U.S. history, it will augment other U.S. history courses in the degree program.

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in Course Overview.

Discussions (3)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student is required to create a thread in response to the provided prompt for each discussion. Each thread must be at least 500 words and demonstrate course-related knowledge. In addition to the thread, the student is required to reply to at least 2 classmates’ threads. Each reply must be at least 300 words. (FSLO: CIL 1; FSLO: CIL 2; FSLO: CIL 3; FSLO: CIL 5)

Primary Source Paper Assignment

The student will write a 3–5-page paper analyzing assigned primary sources on the size, scope, and power of the central government. The paper will focus on pertinent and assigned sections of Tocqueville and will be written in current Turabian format. (FSLO: CIL 1; FSLO: CIL 2; FSLO: CIL 3; FSLO: CIL 4)

Book Review Assignment

The student will write a 700–800-word review in current Turabian format on a book he/she selects from the approved book list. All books can be found in the Jerry Falwell Library. (FSLO: CIL 1; FSLO: CIL 2; FSLO: CIL 3; FSLO: CIL 4)

Political Campaign Assignments (3)

Political Campaign: Topic and Outline Assignment

Oral History Interview Assignments (4)

Oral History Interview: Topic and Interviewee Selection Assignment

In preparation for the Oral History Interview Assignment, the student must select the interviewee who can best discuss an opinion/perspective on a major political development/event/idea/controversy since 1960. This opinion need not be scholarly, but it must be informed in some way, either through professional interest/involvement (a politician), unique perspective (a pastor or activist), or personal interest. (FSLO: CIL 1; FSLO: CIL 2; FSLO: CIL 3; FSLO: CIL 4)

Oral History Interview: Question Set Assignment

In preparation for the Oral History Interview Assignment, the student will create a set of at least 10 questions designed to elicit substantive information about the interviewee’s perspective and will write a 300-400 word summary of the interview. (FSLO: CIL 1; FSLO: CIL 2; FSLO: CIL 3; FSLO: CIL 4)

Oral History Interview: Interview Recording Assignment

Chronicling America Assignment

Using a provided newspaper database, the student will examine a local or state political event from the state (or adjacent state) of the student’s current home (or birth/raising, if desired). This could be an election, controversy, political party dispute, debate, etc. The event must have occurred before 1931, and the student must find reference to it in a newspaper published before 1931. Once located, the student will write a 200–250-word description of the event and briefly analyze the political issues involved. Proper citation of the newspaper in current Turabian format is required. (FSLO: CIL 1; FSLO: CIL 2; FSLO: CIL 3; FSLO: CIL 4)

Quizzes (2)

The Quiz: Mid-Term Assessment and the Quiz: Final Assessment will be essay quizzes based on the materials from the first and second halves of the course, respectively. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 5 short-answer questions, allow for one attempt, and have a 1-hour time limit. (FSLO: CIL 1; FSLO: CIL 2; FSLO: CIL 3)