Sample Syllabus

History 445: History of American Women Online Sem YearInstructor: Freda Bradley, MA (History) Email: [email protected]

Phone: Home 123.456.7890Cell 123.456.7890

COURSE GOALS:By the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Discuss the evolutionary history of women in the United States from pre- history through the present including the notable women who participated.

• Explore the difference between sex and gender.• Explain sex and gender as a system of power relations that has influenced

politics, public policy, and the economy.• Characterize the status and sphere of women in various cultures and

historical periods.• Identify how the ideological change in sex and gender has intersected with

ideas about race/ethnicity.• Articulate the issues of sex and gender that still affect decisions in the 21st

century.

REQUIRED RESOURCES:

Barker-Benfield and Clinton, Portraits of American Women. Dubois and Dumenil, Through Women’s Eyes.McMillen, Southern Women.

Access to the Internet; Internet browser compatible with the current WVU-P online learning platform; Access to this course through Learning Studio, Adobe Acrobat Reader; Adobe Flash Player; Windows Media Player; QuickTime; and RealPlayer

GRADING:

13 Discussion Boards (20 pts each) = 260 points3 Critical Thinking Assignments (100 pts each) = 300 points Midterm Reflection Paper = 100 points Comparative Project = 75 points Final Reflection Paper = 100 points Total = 835 points

GRADING SCALE:A = 90-100; B = 80-89; C = 70-79; D = 60-69; F = 0-59

COURSE OVERVIEW:

Before beginning this course, all students should have a working knowledge of Learning Studio. Be certain that you are using either CHROME (recommended) or Firefox browsers for Learning Studio to operate properly and make sure youensure you are running compatible software. IF you are not, please go to IT (Information Technology) for advice immediately. I cannot help with this step.

To participate fully in this course, students are required to use the assigned textbooks, an Internet browser supported for use with Learning Studio, access to Learning Studio, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Windows Media Player, QuickTime, and RealPlayer. Please be sure that you have access to all required resources.

The Course Home will be your main reference page and the port through whichyou will access all the weekly assignments including the introduction and syllabus. Course Home lists the weekly assignments currently available to the student. Clicking on a weekly title will access that assignment, which includes the assigned readings, required websites and media as well as Discussion access. The assignments titled “Critical Thinking” are your Course Essay assignments and will be your “tests.” I strongly encourage students to complete the Lessons insequence. Due Dates are FIRM.

At the end of the syllabus, you will also find a Course Schedule. THIS SCHEDULE MAY CHANGE AT THE INSTRUCTOR’S DISCRETION. If it does, announcements will be posted and a class-wide email will be sent via Learning Studio. Assignment deadlines are also included in the Course Schedule section of the syllabus in addition to being on the lesson tab in Learning Studio.

If you have any technical questions about this course (internet connectivity, Learning Studio acting up, etc), please contact the help desk by email at [email protected] or by calling 304-424-8296 and follow their suggestions. If you have any questions about the content of this course (the readings, websites links broken, strange typeset in your posted readings, etc), please contact the professor at [email protected].

READING ASSIGNMENTS:

The texts, readings, and websites examine major themes, events, and people in the history of American women and provide all information for the course. This course

encompasses well over 400+ years of history, and moves very quickly. Therefore, it is important that students keep up with the reading and take notes to be better prepared for course assignments. Please report nonfunctioning links to your instructor immediately.

CRITICAL THINKING ASSIGNMENTS:

Students are also required to utilize the essay prompts posted (approximately one every three weeks or so) u s ing hi s torical evidence and evidence FRO M TH E READ I NG S to support your answers. These supportive statements are required to have a footnote or endnote in CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE formatting.There are guides and videos posted in DocSharing to guide you through this. Your responses should be submitted via Learning Studio’s Dropbox to the instructor.All responses must be submitted through the “Dropbox” to the appropriate section. Responses included as an attachment or as an e-mail message will not be graded unless I request a copy. SAVE A COPY OF THESE FOR YOURSELF! If the system goes down, or if I cannot open your Dropbox, I will ask you to email it to me as an attachment, so it is VITAL that you save a copy for yourself and keep it until the course ends. The instructor will provide written feedback for this assignment, which will be available after the assignment’s due date has passed.

COMPARATIVE PROJECT

There will be one comparative project where the entire class will participate in a “group” activity. In this activity, we will learn how propaganda was used to encourage the “re-domestication” of women after World War II and to create a specific type of culture during the Cold War. We will also compare this propaganda to that of the Soviet Union at that time and further compare it across ethnicities. We will also use this later to compare with the propaganda of today’s pop culture. Directions will open around Midterms.

WEEKLY DISCUSSIONS:

This course covers well over 400 years in 15 short weeks. It moves very quickly and covers numerous topics. Therefore, it is imperative that we have discussions weekly to make sure you are understanding some of the nuances of this course. Some will be more involved than others, but this will take the place of a weekly reading quiz. This assignment is intended to stimulate scholarly discussion on topics included in the assigned reading, websites, and media. For each DISCUSSION, students are required to post one substantive comment or question to initiate discussion and respond to two other comments or questions posted by another student in a substantive manner. (“Good pos t” and “I ag r ee” a re NO T subs t an ti v e an d w ill no t b e graded ). The comments and questions must pertain to

the reading assignments, questions, and websites. Responses should be reasoned and based on historical evidence and the reading material. Students may make multiple postings and are encouraged to do so. The more you participate, thehigher your grade, as can be seen in the posted “Discussion Board Grading Rubric”found in DocSharing.

**New to Learning Studio: You MUST post your initial comment BEFORE the rest of the comments can be viewed. THEN, you can read other students’ postings and comment as required.

The discussion grade is based on the combined scores received for your postings to initiate discussion and your two comments. The maximum grade for each is: 10 points for your initial comment, and 5 points each for the two replies required. So, be aware that if you miss ONE REPLY, your grade will be a 75%. This is where many students get tripped up. They think they’ll do ONE reply and it won’tmatter, but it matters quite a lot in your final grade. Your grade will also be based on the quantity and the quality of your postings in these discussions including spelling and grammar.

The instructor will be monitoring the discussions and will participate. Inappropriate comments and questions that violate the campus’s social justice policy or the course’s policy on academic integrity will result in zero points for the week’s assignment in addition to being reported as per institution policy to the Dean of Student Affairs.

FINAL REFLECTION PAPER (this takes the place of your final exam):

By the end of this course, you should better understand how to critically think more like a historian. You will be given several choices of essay topics, and the primary source material will be provided to you. From this, you will critically read and create an analytical essay based on all your newfound knowledge and the sources provided to you. You will need to provide additional secondary sources (that may include our semester’s readings), in this essay. The essay shall be 6-8 pages in length, typed, double-spaced, with either FOOTNOTES OR ENDNOTES, and a bibliography that is consistent with the Chicago Manual of Style. DO NOT USE APA OR MLA FOR YOUR CITATIONS.

The paper MUST be annotated and include a separate bibliography page. You must use either the Chicago Manual of Style or Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations for the style of the citations, bibliography, and format of the essay.

An automatic deduction of 5 points will be taken if this format is not used. There will be lots of material provided to you for instruction as to how this is done properly and they will be stored in DocSharing. Additionally, I will accept rough drafts of sample pages up to TWO WEEKS before the due date of the Final Paper to help you with formatting issues. I can also make time for assistance at either the Main or Ripley campuses for individual or group instruction.

Grading of the finished paper will be based on quality of writing (grammar, punctuation, etc.), your ability to meet the requirements of the paper, the introduction, the conclusion, and your use of provided material. Emphasis will also be placed on proper annotation and the inclusion of a bibliography in Chicago Manual of Style. The rubric I use will be posted in DocSharing. The final draft is due by midnight on FRIDAY, December 5, 2014. La te essays w ill no t b e g r ade d and w ill r esu lt in a zer o f or t he fi nal .

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

General course announcements made during the semester will be available through the Learning Studio announcement tool. To access the announcements, simply click to view from your homepage. They appear on the right side of your screen. Please check them often.

SOCIAL SHARE STREAM TOOL:

You will notice that there is a “social media” thread on your course home page that looks somewhat like a Facebook feed. I DO NOT USE THIS tool. DO NOT SUBMIT ANY POSTINGS VIA THIS TOOL. THEY WILL NOT BE GRADED. I cannot turn this off without turning off your announcement tool, so I had to leave it here. Just be wary of using it in THIS course.

DUE DATES AND TIMES:A ll l esso n ass i gnment s ar e du e a s li ste d in t h e cours e schedu l e . Late assignments are not accepted. I will accept rough drafts early for suggestions, if desired, up to one week prior to the due date.

COMMUNICATION:

All communication needs to be made using WVUP email. I require this policy for two reasons. First, this is an online course, therefore, all communication should be online. Secondly, an email thread will document all correspondence between faculty and students.

The instructor will not respond to email messages that are from addresses other than those assigned by WVU Parkersburg.

W he n con t ac t in g t h e cours e ins t ruc t o r b y emai l concernin g a n issu e wi th t hi s course, p l ease a ll ow a m i n i mu m of 24 hours, not i nclud i n g weekends, f or a response. I w ill a tt emp t to respon d to ema il messages on weekends, bu t t hat is not t o be expected. I f you do not have a respon se afte r 24 hours , p l eas e send a secon d messag e a s a fo ll ow-up.

OFFICE HOURS:

In addition to routine email correspondence, I check the course board regularly unless something prohibits. I encourage all students to contact me with any questions. You will find that my “virtual door” is open and accessible. Individual meetings with students are also available upon request. If you find you need extra help with ANY part of this course, I will be available at a mutually agreeable time/place. Just ask. If you do not ask, I assume you are doing the work to your own expectation.

******Institution specific statements follow here: Social Justice Policies, Academic Integrity Policies, Disability Policies, etc appear here.

*******Detailed Course Schedule including topics, due dates, etc. appear beneath the policy section so the student can print just the schedule if they so desire.

October 26, 2014—Week 10: The 19th Amendment, including Discussion board 10Critical Thinking Assignment 2—Submit via Dropbox by midnightOct. 26, 2014

November 2, 2014—Week 11: Prosperity, Depression, and War, including Discussion Board 11

November 9, 2014—Week 12: The Way We Never Were (Comparative

Project Will Replace Discussion Board)Comparative Project: The Re-Domestication Project and the ColdWar

November 16, 2014—Week 13: Feminist Movement and Civil Rights, including Discussion Board 13

November 23, 2014—Week 14: Roe v. Wade (1973) (this study has an

OPTIONAL Discussion Board for extra credit)Critical Thinking Assignment 3—Submit via Dropbox by midnightNov. 23, 2014

THANKSGIVING BREAK—You may choose to do Week 15 early if you like…it will be open.

**DATE CHANGE**FR I DAY , December 5, 2014 11:59pm—Last day of

class— Misrepresentation of Today’s Woman—Final Discussion Board DUE ON FRIDAY December 5, 2014 by MIDNIGHT.

FINAL REFLECTION PAPER DUE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 by

MIDNIGHT

**There is no final exam in this course. The directions for this assignment will open around Midterms. Your assignment will

center on an analysis of primary sources of the 20th century Feminist Movement. Once you finish your Final Reflection paper and your final Discussion Board,

that is the end of this course. Therefore, the date of Friday December 5,

2014 is the end of the course.












MIDNIGHT





chapter divided into TWO weeks. There will be additional material contained in Learning Studio under each week for you also. Each learning week also contains a Discussion Board unless otherwise stated. I will schedule about three weeks at a time to open for you to view.

Dates are DUE DATE S (not start dates)

Each Week’s assignments are DUE BY:

August 21, 2014—Week One: Introduction, including Discussion Board 1August 31, 2014—Week Two: Pre-contact to 1650, including Discussion

Board 2September 7, 2014—Week Three: The Colonial Mosaic, including

Discussion Board 3Critical Thinking Assignment 1—Submit via Dropbox by midnightSept. 7, 2014

September 14, 2014—Week 4: Multi-Culture and Revolution, including

Discussion Board 4September 21, 2014—Week 5: Designing Female Thought, including

Discussion Board 5September 28, 2014—Week 6: New Boundaries, including Discussion

Board 6**Rough Draft Sample pages of Midterm Papers

accepted until midnight for review

MIDTERM PAPER: DUE OCTOBER 5, 2014 11:59pm (Dropbox)

October 5, 2014—Week 7: Era of White Male Privilege, including

Discussion Board 7October 12, 2014—Week 8: Mass Immigration and the West, including

Discussion Board 8October 19, 2014—Week 9: Passed the Fifteenth—Women’s

Suffrage, including Discussion Board 9












MIDNIGHT





Documents

Sample Syllabus