This course explores domestic developments in the United States from the end of World War II in 1945 to the end of the Cold War in the 1990s. Among the events and trends we will study are civil rights from Brown to Bakke and beyond, national health care reform from Truman to Clinton, witch hunts from McCarthyism to political correctness, and the home fronts during the Korean, Vietnamese, and Gulf wars.

This upper-level course about the United States during the Cold War will enhance your mastery of the study of history. You will write a research paper about a topic of interest related to the second half of the 20th century (see "Research Paper"); family history papers are encouraged. You will also compare the views of the authors of the two text books. Thus, you will learn about the United States in recent times and you will become a more accomplished researcher and writer.

The books for this course are Promises to Keep: The United States Since World War II (1995) by Paul Boyers (ISBN: 0-669-20350-5) and Present Tense: The United States Since 1945 (2d ed., 1996) by Michael Schaller and others (ISBN: 0-395-74534-9). Each offers a different, view of key developments in late 20^th-century U.S. history. The two will help you learn about the people, the events, and the historiography of this era.

If the books assigned for this course are not available in the campus bookstore, you can order them on-line (e.g., < www.amazon.com > or < www.bn.com >). You need a credit card to order books via the internet; how quickly they arrive depends on which method of delivery you select. You can also ask the bookstore to special order them.

There are two exams in this course. The first exam is scheduled for October 17 at 10:50 a.m.; the second is scheduled for December 12 at 8:00 a.m. Both exams will be essay in nature; each will be comprehensive. The average of the two exams will count for 30% of your final grade in this class.

A copy of this syllabus is posted on the Department of History and Political Science website at www.regis.edu (click on "Regis College," "Undergraduate Programs," "History and Political Science," "Course Offerings," "HS 428."

Attendance and participation are important to your success in this class. You may earn up to 3.5 points for each class in which you participate. The sum of the points earned (101.5 points are possible) will count for 30% of your final grade in this class.

Absences deny you the opportunity to hear what is being presented and to learn from class activities. Absences also prevent you from earning participation points.

Late arrivals and early departures are disruptive and show an absence of polite behavior toward colleagues. Partial absences result in a loss of points from your daily participation grade.

You may inform me of an impending absence as a courtesy, but please understand that it is not my place to give or deny permission to miss class. Only you can make the decision about attending.

If you are a varsity athlete whose season of competition is the Fall Semester or a forensics competitor, you must present your schedule to me as soon as possible to determine if your scheduled absences are compatible with course requirements. We need to determine this before the end of the drop/add period on September 7.

Full or partial absences do not result in deadlines being extended.

Failure to properly complete in-class assignments may also result in the loss of participation points.

You will write a history-based research paper; consider making it a family history paper. If you choose the family history version of the research paper, you will study the life of one of your parents (or another relative) for some part of the period prior to 1980; I recommend that you concentrate on the years during which the subject of the paper was between the ages of 18 and 28 and faced some of the same issues which confront you: education, employment, marriage, family. Non-family history papers will examine a topic related to some aspect of the period between 1945 and 1980. The paper will count as 40% of the final grade for this course.

Because writing is a process, you will: report regularly on your research as part of the participation grade; submit a topic and a preliminary literature search (a.k.a. "bibliography") by September 19 worth 5% of the paper grade; provide a preliminary thesis statement by October 3 worth 10% of the paper grade; turn in a revised thesis statement with a preliminary outline by October 31 worth 15% of the paper grade; write a draft copy of the paper by November 14 worth 20% of the paper grade; give an oral presentation on the findings of your research (scheduled for November 28 & 30 and December 5) worth 20% of the paper grade; and submit a final copy of the paper three days after your oral presentation worth 30% of the paper grade.

Written assignments, except the draft and the final copy of your paper, may be emailed to me.

The periodic research reports should be brief and specific. Discuss what you have done since the last report, not what you intend to do.

The topic should be specific. The preliminary literature search should include all the materials you can find about your topic (e.g., books, articles, videos, interviews, etc., including both general and specific histories of the United States during the period being studied).

The preliminary thesis statement should be a one or two sentence statement of the conclusion which flows from your research.

The revised thesis statement will be first on the page and the preliminary outline which follows should show how you will "prove" the thesis. It must follow standard procedures for outlining (Roman numerals for major headings, capital letters for major subheadings, Arabic numerals and lower case letters for further subdividing).

The draft should be the full paper, complete with foot or end notes. At this point, you should be substantially done with the research and writing phase, except for relatively minor revisions following my feed back to you and what you learn from giving the oral presentation.

The oral presentation is your opportunity to share with the class what you have learned as result of your research. It is the public sharing of research that contributes to our store of knowledge.

The final copy of the paper should be a "piece of cake." If the draft was well-done, the revisions will be relatively minor and easy to make. This paper is not returned; be sure to keep a copy for your records.

Back up your work regularly and save it to at least two different floppy disks.

Communicate with me frequently about the progress of your research. I can help you solve problems. You should also make frequent use of the Regis College Writing Center to help you formulate ideas, critique drafts, and polish the final essay.

When you need help with grammatical points such as punctuation, consult Diana Hacker, A Writer’s Reference. Hacker also has a good section on using the internet for research. For research or note-taking issues, look at Neil R. Stout, The History Student’s Vade Mecum: Getting the Most Out of Your U.S. History Course. For mechanical points such as footnote format, use Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Turabian is the standard style manual for history writing. Copies of these books are available in my office.

Among the places where you can find information about post-1945 United States history are: your text books; Dayton Memorial and other libraries (books, articles, data bases, audio & visual materials); the internet (on-line encyclopedias, museum holdings, pictures, textual material); and people with appropriate expertise like your professors.

One successful approach to the internet is to use a variety of search engines to look for topics in which you are interested. Some finding aids you might start with are: < www.yahoo.com >;

< www.ask.com >; < www.lycos.com >; < www.excite.com >; < www.HotBot.com >; < www.snap.com >. There are others which you will find as you use the internet. Each has its own method of finding information, hence each will come up with somewhat different results for the same topic. The more you "surf the net" to study history, the more adept you will become at finding and pursuing leads.

Another approach is to go directly to general sources for history such as: < www.historynet.com >; < www.historychannel.com >; and < www.historyplace.com >.

You will also find useful resources on the Regis Net available on campus. These include the Electronic Library and the Expanded Academic ASAP.

All work is graded on the basis of 100 points with the following relationship between points and letter grades:

90-100 = A (100 = A+ and 90 = A-);

80-89 = B (89 = B+ and 80 = B-);

70-79 = C (79 = C+ and 70 = C-);

60-69 = D (69 = D+ and 60 = D-); and

0-59 = F

As in most classes at the college level, your grade will depend upon the quality of your work.

The University does not give an A+ grade for courses.

To help you strive for the highest grade, there are two aids included with this syllabus: "Grading Guide" on page 8; and "Evaluation Sheet for the HS 428 Research Paper" on page 9. A newly prepared "Guidelines for Papers" is available as a separate handout.

Under Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, students with verified disabilities who are otherwise qualified have a right to equal access to classes at Regis University. If you are a student with a disability and you need accommodations for this class, please document your disability and discuss necessary accommodations with the Director of Learning Support Services (Carroll Hall 225; 303-458-4941). Then, make an appointment with me to discuss your needs.

A comprehensive "Course Calendar" is on page 7. Use it to keep track of course topics and assignments.

Your work in this course will be evaluated on the basis of several factors:

• performance on two tests (30%); and
• attendance and participation in class activities and special assignments (30%).

My office is located in Carroll Hall, Room 228. I am always available whenever I am in the office, but formal office hours are as follows:

Monday: none; research day

My office phone is 303-458-4971. If you reach my voice mail, please leave a detailed message and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Always speak a telephone number s-l-o-w-l-y-! You can also contact me by email at: < rbrockwa@regis.edu >

You may obtain your final grade in this class by email (send a request to my email address) or by mail (give me a stamped, self-addressed envelop). I will respond as soon as grades are ready. You may obtain your final exam by mail (give me a large self-addressed envelop with sufficient postage) or you may pick it up in my office at the beginning of the Spring semester.

Written assignments must be turned in (or emailed when allowed) by the beginning of the class at which the material is due. An assignment received after the beginning of class is late. Late assignments are subject to grade reduction.

However, sometimes things happen. Therefore, a "Late Coupon" is attached to this syllabus. To use it, fill in the blank spaces and staple it to the to the front of the assignment; the material will be accepted without question and without penalty (except that any assignments not received by December 8 will receive a grade of zero). In the case of materials which are emailed, make reference to the coupon in the email and then give the completed coupon to me either at my office or in class; the coupon is not effective until I have received it.

You may use the coupon at any time during the semester, but once used it can not be replaced. The coupon is yours alone; it can not be transferred to anyone else.

Class Topic Assignments Reading Schedule

Aug 29 United States in 2000

Aug 31 United States in 1945 S 1-41; B 2-35

Sep 05 United States, 1946-1950 S 44-90

Sep 07 United States, 1946-1950 B 71-104

Sep 12 Origins of the Cold War B 37-68

Sep 14 Origins of the Cold War

Sep 19 United States in the 1950s Topic/Prelim Bibliography Due S 92-173

Sep 21 United States in the 1950s B 106-186

Sep 26 United States in the 1950s

Sep 28 United States in the 1950s

Oct 03 United States in the 1960s Prelim Thesis Statement Due B 186-330

Oct 05 United States in the 1960s S 176-333

Oct 10 United States in the 1960s

Oct 12 United States in the 1960s

Oct 19 United States in the 1970s S 336-441

Oct 24 Midsemester Holiday No Class

Oct 26 United States in the 1970s B 333-442

Oct 31 United States in the 1970s Revised Thesis/Outline Due

Nov 02 United States in the 1970s

Nov 07 United States in the 1980s B 444-502

Nov 09 United States in the 1980s S 444-527

Nov 14 United States in the 1980s Draft Paper Due

Nov 16 United States in the 1980s

Nov 21 United States in the 1990s Return Drafts S 530-571; B 502-515

Nov 23 Thanksgiving Day Enjoy!

Nov 28 Presentation of Papers (Final Paper due 12/1)

Nov 30 Presentation of Papers (Final Paper due 12/4)

Dec 05 Presentation of Papers (Final Paper due 12/8)

Dec 07 Generalizations & Review

Dec 12 Semester Exam (8:00 a.m.) S = Schaller; B = Boyer

"A" work responds fully to the assignment, is distinguished by clear and powerful use of language, may introduce an original or highly imaginative interpretation of the topic, and is virtually free from errors in mechanics, usage, facts, and structure. Such work will sound like that of a thoughtful student and not like the work of the professor or of the author of a book on the subject. There will be evidence of good control both of language and of course material.

"B" work reflects a fairly good understanding of the assignment, is not overly general or abstract, uses language well, expresses the student’s intentions most of the time, is organized and unified, and is largely free from serious errors in mechanics, usage, facts, and structure. Such work contains evidence of a student’s ability to understand and organize information in an orderly fashion.

"C" work is inconsistent in handling the assignment and in expressing the student’s intentions, provides some details, examples, or evidence which makes the work interesting and persuasive even though these are not fully developed, shows some lack of focus or is disjointed in presentation, and is generally accurate in the use of language even though there are errors in mechanics, usage, facts, and structure. Such work will state major points and support key ideas, but often at a high level of generality.

"D" work shows difficulty managing the assignment, does not develop the student’s intent, has few examples or other supportive evidence, is difficult to read due to problems with organization and transitions, shows an absence of thoughtful preparation, and has a sizable number of errors in mechanics, usage, facts, and structure. Such work generally states ideas with little or no support for them, and/or is illogical and disorderly, and/or is so flawed that it difficult to follow.

"F" work is largely unresponsive to the assignment, lacks focus, is rarely developed with details, examples, or other sorts of evidence, the student’s intention is not clear, ideas are difficult to follow and are generally disorganized, and there are numerous errors in mechanics, usage, facts, and structure. Such work usually has virtually nothing going for it.

Grade for this paper: ______