History of American Politics – HIUS 341
CG • Section 8WK • 11/08/2019 to 04/16/2020 • Modified 02/01/2024
Course Description
The course covers American national politics, including the development of the American party system, episodic political issues, and the influence of major politicians. Special emphasis is placed on critical U.S. presidential elections.
For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog
Rationale
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 Assignment
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.
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.
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.
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.
Political Campaign Assignment
The student will research a specific presidential or congressional political campaign of his/her choosing from between 1920 and 1970. The focus of the research will be on the slogans and paraphernalia used in the campaign and what that reveals about the political culture of the period. The student will make a 6–8-minute narrated Adobe Spark presentation in which he/she analyzes the significance of 1 slogan and 1 piece of paraphernalia used by 1 candidate in the election. The student must provide a bibliography of at least 4 scholarly sources in current Turabian format.
Oral History Interview Assignment
The student will conduct an Oral History Interview with a family member, friend, co-worker, etc. of his/her choosing. 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. 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-word summary of the interview. The student will also write a 1–2-page analysis of the views expressed in the interview. In the analysis, the student will assess how those views reflect larger developments in American political culture and thinking, and how those views compare/contrast with traditional American understandings of politics and government. The student will also video record the interview and submit the recording with the written part of the assignment. The interview must be at least 10 minutes.
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, and have a 1-hour time limit.
