History of Virginia – HIUS 390
CG • Section 8WK • 07/01/2018 to 12/31/2199 • Modified 03/25/2024
Course Description
For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.
Rationale
This course will provide the student with an understanding of the history of Virginia and show how the state fits into broader American history. It will most benefit the student who is interested in a more detailed understanding of the importance of Virginia as well as the student who is pursuing a career requiring a specialized knowledge of the history of Virginia.
Course Assignment
Textbook readings and lecture presentations
After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.
Founding Documents Essay Assignment
The student will compare the Virginia Declaration of Rights with other founding documents from American history (the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights) and write a 1-2-page essay discussing the similarities between them. The paper may exceed 2 pages if necessary, but the paper should not be 3 full pages or greater. The student should be sure to discuss at least two similarities the Virginia Declaration of Rights shares with each of the other two documents. These three documents should be the only sources consulted for this assignment, as all of the analysis in this essay should be original to the student. All citations for this assignment (footnotes and bibliography) should be formatted according to proper Turabian style. (CLO: A, B, C)
Historic Site Project Assignment
The student will virtually or physically tour a historic site in Virginia and create a 2-4 minute presentation that focuses on the site's physical appearance, the history of the event/issue/topic commemorated by the site, what the student learned, and why the site is important. The student may virtually tour a historic site on Encyclopedia Virginia's virtual tours page, or, if the student lives in Virginia, he/she may physically tour a historic site of his/her choosing within the state. To fully answer the questions assigned to the student regarding the site, the student may supplement information collected on the tour with additional research from scholarly sources, if needed.
The student's presentation should contain a minimum of three slides and one image, recorded narration on each slide addressing the assigned questions, and a bibliography slide citing all sources consulted in proper Turabian formatting. Parenthetical citations should be used for in-text citations for the purposes of this presentation. Options on creating the presentation in PowerPoint, Adobe Spark Web, and Canva have been provided within the assignment instructions. The student should be sure to submit the presentation in Canvas as a video file (or, if the student used Adobe Web Spark or Canva, he/she has the option to submit a publicly accessible URL to the video). (CLO: B, C, D)
Research Project Assignments (2)
Research Project: Annotated Bibliography Assignment
The student will compile an annotated bibliography in proper Turabian format that contains two scholarly journal articles he/she can use for the research paper. The student should evaluate each source to verify it is from an academic journal, deals with the student's chosen research topic, and is about Virginia history. The bibliography will include a paragraph around 150 words in length (no fewer than 120 words) following each citation that summarizes the article and provides an explanation of its relevance to the chosen research paper prompt. The student will then provide both a quotation and a paraphrase from the article that he/she may be able to incorporate into the research paper, both footnoted in Turabian style. (CLO: D)
Research Project: Research Paper Assignment
The student will write a research paper in current Turabian format that focuses on a prominent theme in Virginia history. The student will choose one of three provided topics in order to write the research paper. The paper must include at least 3 scholarly sources (not counting the course textbook or the Bible) and be a minimum of 5 pages. The research paper must contain a properly formatted bibliography and in-text citations (footnotes) for all direct quotations and paraphrases from the student's sources. (CLO: C, D, E)
Quiz: Virginia Geography
The quiz will cover information found in the assigned study material for the corresponding module. The quiz will be open-book/open-note, contain 6 matching and fill-in-the-blank questions, allow for one attempt, and have a 20-minute time limit. (CLO: A)
Quizzes: Module (7)
Each quiz will cover the assigned study materials for the corresponding module. They will be open-book/open-notes, contain 20 multiple-choice questions, allow for one attempt, and have a 1-hour time limit. (CLO: A)
Quiz: Final Exam
The quiz will cover the assigned study materials for the corresponding module. It will be open-book/open-notes (it is prohibited to reference material outside of this course for this quiz), contain 26 multiple-choice questions and 2 essay questions, allow for one attempt, and have a 2-hour time limit. (CLO: A)
