HIST 120 Syllabus

HIST 120 is fully online using CANVAS as the learning platform (no more Blackboard!). You can access Canvas through the SAC website, or by going directly to http://rsccd.instructure.com –use your Webadvisor username and password to login and choose “HIST 120” from your course list to access our course shell. The course is accessible of as today – feel free to login, click on links, download and review the syllabus, and get familiar.

• If you attempt to login but are unable to do so, try changing your Webadvisor password;
• If you have other questions about Canvas and how it works, you can ask me or you can call their Help Desk at 1-844-612-7428 (save this number!);
• Direct ALL questions related to schedule and course content to me, either by replying to this email or using the “Inbox” tool embedded in Canvas (it works just like email).

Is this your first fully online course?

Great! I highly recommend that you complete the SAC Student Online Orientation as well as the training moduleembedded in the course shell. Even if you are not new to online, you may be new to SAC or to Canvas, and these two training components will help you get prepared for a semester online at Santa Ana College.

• This course is an OER course, meaning the required textbook is FREE and is embedded throughout the course modules. The text is also available as a pdf – once you log in you will see the links for download on the Welcome page. No other texts are required for purchase.

We will be starting the semester on February 11 – I will be checking to make sure you have at minimum logged in to the course shell by that date, and also that you have completed the training modules and welcome discussion by the assigned deadline of February 14 – failure to do so may result in automatic exclusion. Please communicate any problems or questions you have at this time to avoid any delays week 1. Get started by familiarizing yourself with our course layout. You will navigate through the course using the Course Navigation Menu on the right side of the screen, or by clicking the links on the Course Home Page.  Please review the Course Information Module including the Welcome Video, Course Syllabus, and Configure Your Settings in Canvas pages.  

Course Syllabus:  Hist 120_SP19 Syllabus.pdf

Meet Your Instructor:  Megan Lange 

For more information about me personally, you can visit my webpage with all sorts of book recommendations, pictures, and course information. 

Course Description: 

This course examines the major political, economic, intellectual, and social forces at home and abroad that shaped American life from the colonial period through the Civil War. The course meets the California State University requirements for United States History. We will pay specific attention to intercultural encounters among indigenous Americans, Africans, and Europeans, as well as the ideas of Americanism and freedom, politically and materially, within different subsets of populations in the United States, and how this concept changed over time. We will also examine the concepts of liberty and the ways in which the acquisition of land permeated early American foundations. Be ready to read and write and engage! 

Textbook Information:  

Our textbook this semester is FREE! We will be using OpenStax which you can use in a number of different ways: online, download the pdf, purchase the book, or view the chapters embedded into each module. I recommend you do a combo of these options that includes a download of the pdf, just in case your internet connection goes out in the middle of a deadline.

Here is an image of the hardcopy book cover.

Course Learning Objectives: 

At the conclusion of this course, you should be able to:

1. Demonstrate the ability to interpret primary and secondary sources and to compose an argument which uses them, as appropriate, for support;
2. Demonstrate an understanding of U.S. History through current analytical categories of race, class, gender and ethnicity;
3. Demonstrate an understanding of America’s growth in a global context;
4. Explain the major economic, technological and scientific developments and their historical significance;
5. Analyze major political trends, attitudes, conflicts and events—including both mainstream and reform efforts—and explain their historical significance;
6. Explain the major social and cultural developments, their causes and effects, and their historical significance.

Student Learning Objectives:  

Upon completion of this course you will be able to:

• Critically analyze and interpret primary documents and secondary sources, and will be able to interpret qualitative and quantitative data in order to evaluate historical events;
• Develop communication skills through oral and written exercises, and develop analytical skills by critically interpreting historical events;
• Analyze how local, national, and international policies and practices developed in the past continue to impact your contemporary life.