Course Syllabi for Summer Institutes

2008 Syllabus: Pee Dee Region or Midlands and Upstate Regions
United States History to 1865: Content, Methods, and Resources for Teachers

2007 Syllabus

2006 Syllabus
United States History since 1865: Content, Methods, and Resources for Teachers

2005 Syllabus
United States History to 1865: Content, Methods, and Resources for Teachers

2004 Syllabus
United States History since 1877: Content, Methods, and Resources for Teachers

2003 Syllabus
United States History to 1898: From the Age of Discovery to the Emergence of Modern America

2002 Syllabus
The Structure of American History

2008 Syllabus, Pee Dee Region
United States History to 1865: Content, Methods, and Resources for Teachers

Pee Dee Region, Master Scholar: Dr. Kevin B. Witherspoon , Assistant Professor of History, Lander University

Course Description

Teachers of early American history confront special challenges in reaching their students. In an age of instant gratification and technology that leaves the world at one’s fingertips, today’s students often struggle to see the relevance of what seems a very distant subject, and they often find inadequate answers to the inevitable question, “When am I going to use THIS?”

The intensive course of study over these two weeks will, in part, attempt to arm the history teacher with concrete and meaningful solutions to these problems. While we will not cover recent American history, we will draw connections between modern American society and its origins in the Colonial and Revolutionary periods. We will explore the roots of racism in America by examining the origins and horrors of African slavery. We will discuss the making of the nation, the formation of its government, its expansion to its current geographic dimensions, and the diversification of its ethnic makeup to include immigrants from Ireland, Germany, China, and elsewhere. And, here in the cradle of the Confederacy, we will explore the origins and causes of the Civil War.

At the same time, this course will incorporate the theme of this summer’s institute, “Two Sides to Every Story.” Indeed, historical debate is often more than a two-sided story, and we will discuss such debate over many different topics, including:

• The significance of disease in the period of conquest
• The role of religion in the colonies
• The viability of the southern agricultural economy
• The role of women in the colonies
• The intentions of the Founding Fathers
• The effectiveness of presidents such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison
• The intent of the Monroe Doctrine
• The extent of the democratic revolution of 1828
• The causes of the Mexican War
• Abraham Lincoln’s role in Emancipation

Course Requirements
(This is a graduate-level course designed for classroom history teachers)

• Participation:  Students must attend and participate in the activities of all ten days of the summer institute, the fall meeting, and the mid-year retreat.  The date for the fall meeting will be determined during the institute.  The retreat takes place on February 20-21, 2009.
• Portfolio Assignment: Students will conduct original historical research using local primary sources to develop and teach one lesson on American history.  Students will also complete one additional project by selecting one of the following options: 1) Develop and present a workshop that demonstrates the use of primary source materials or cultural institutions in the classroom, OR 2) Develop a project in conjunction with a local cultural institution that promotes the use of primary source materials or cultural institutions in the classroom. See the Resources section of the course binder for information on the portfolio assignment.  The Portfolio is worth 50 points of the final grade. See Portfolio Assignment for more details.
• Pre and Post Tests: Participants will take a pre and post-test for evaluation purposes only.  Completing these tests is worth 10 points regardless of performance.

Required Textbooks and Readings

• Brinkley, Alan.  The Unfinished Nation:  A Brief, Interactive History of the American People.  Volume I to 1865, With Primary Source Investigator CD.  McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2005.
• Perdue, Theda and Michael Green.  The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents.  Bedford St. Martins Press, 1995
• Wood, Peter.  Black Majority: Negroes in Colonial South Carolina from 1670 through the Stono Rebellion.  W.W. Norton and Company, 1975.

Schedule of Content Insturction

Day 1:

• Pre-Columbian Societies
• Exploration and discovery
• Early settlement
• Cultures collide

Day 2:

• Establishing the Colonies
• The Colonial Economy
• Colonial Society
• Great Awakening

Day 3:

• Slavery in the Colonies
• Black Majority
• The French & Indian War

Day 4:

• The American Revolution
• The Confederation
• Washington’s presidency
• The two-party system

Day 5: 

• Jefferson to Jackson
• The Jeffersonian Era
• The Expansion of Democracy

Day 6:             

• Movement West
• Indian Removal
• Cherokee Removal

Day 7:             

• The Economic Revolution
• Immigration

Day 8:

• Reform Movements
• The Old South

Day 9: 

• Sectionalism and the Impending Crisis
• The Crisis of the 1850s

Day 10:

• The Civil War
• The Beginnings of Reconstruction

2008 Syllabus, Midlands and Upstate Regions
United States History to 1865: Content, Methods, and Resources for Teachers

Midlands and Upstate Regions, Master Scholar: Dr. Paul Christopher Anderson, Associate Professor of History, Clemson University

Course Description

If we were looking for a shortcut to understand how to think about history, we might put it this way: Historical consciousness—that special awareness of what makes a past event, theme, force, or person important enough to know—is best developed by focusing on continuity and change. If things don’t change, we don’t have any reason to know history. Society would be content to keep doing what is has been doing, and our reason for doing it would be very simple: because we have always done it this way.

But history is best understood—and is most exciting—when we explore the tensions that arise when new developments emerge out of (and often in tension with) old practices. We frame almost all significant historical questions by asking: What is changing, and why is it changing? (Or like this: What’s new, and why is it new?) New doesn’t always “win;” history shows us that often people cling to what they know. But we understand these developments much better—we are more historically conscious—when we understand why they adopt the new or stick to the old. 

We often try to capture this awareness with the shorthand of key terms and events—say, “tobacco culture” or “city on a Hill” or “Stamp Act” or “cotton gin.” But we can also achieve this by asking Big Picture questions, as in: “Why did the American colonists react so violently (they did, after all, tear houses down) to the pittance that was the Stamp Act?” As you make your way through the Institute, you should develop an understanding that in history, the questions we ask are as fully compelling—and often more compelling—as the answers we give. Our main goal is to help you understand the answers as fully and comprehensively as we can. But we are also striving to help you understand why the questions themselves are important.

Course Requirements
(This is a graduate-level course designed for classroom history teachers)

• Participation:  Students must attend and participate in the activities of all ten days of the summer institute, the fall meeting, and the mid-year retreat.  The date for the fall meeting will be determined during the institute.  The retreat takes place on February 20-21, 2009.
• Portfolio Assignment: Students will conduct original historical research using local primary sources to develop and teach one lesson on American history.  Students will also complete one additional project by selecting one of the following options: 1) Develop and present a workshop that demonstrates the use of primary source materials or cultural institutions in the classroom, OR 2) Develop a project in conjunction with a local cultural institution that promotes the use of primary source materials or cultural institutions in the classroom. See the Resources section of the course binder for information on the portfolio assignment.  The Portfolio is worth 50 points of the final grade. See Portfolio Assignment for more details.
• Pre and Post Tests: Participants will take a pre and post-test for evaluation purposes only.  Completing these tests is worth 10 points regardless of performance.

Required Textbooks and Readings

• Brinkley, Alan.  The Unfinished Nation:  A Brief, Interactive History of the American People.  Volume I to 1865, With Primary Source Investigator CD.  McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2005.
• Smith, Mark M., ed.  Stono: Documenting and Interpreting a Southern Slave Revolt. University of South Carolina Press, 2005.
• Ash, Steven V. A Year in the South: 1865.  Harper Perennial, 2004.

Schedule of Content Instruction

Day 1: Discovery and Settlement

We begin with questions: what, exactly, were Europeans looking for? Why were they looking? What did they find—and what did they create?

Day 2: Colonial America

By 1750, most features of life in the colonies—institutions, customs, social life—had developed to maturity: into, in other words, stable but “American” institutions. Yet most colonists still thought of themselves as British. The fun part is often apparent when those two identities collide—but we’ll have some fun, too, when we notice that these features of life were not without their own collisions.

Day 3: Dependency and Independence and Rebellion

Equality was not a cause of the American Revolution; it was—over time—a result of it. Instead, people in the colonies lived on a scale of dependence (even whites). At the bottom of that scale were African-American slaves.  At Stono in 1739, some of those slaves sought to topple the scale.

Day 4: The American Revolution

The single most important event in American history: It changed everything in 1776, and it still changes us today. It’s worth our while to find out how, and why.

Day 5: The Age of Federalism

Today, the Constitution is viewed as a sober, far-seeing document—a fulfillment of the ideals of the Revolution. In a way it was. But in many, crucial ways, it was not. Today, the Founding Fathers are viewed as sober, far-seeing men. In many ways they were. But in many crucial ways, they were not.  

Day 6: The Early Republic and the Transportation Revolution

The word here is expansion. Territorial. Economic. Political. Betwixt 1815 and 1840, an agrarian republic begins a decades-long transition into a commercial and industrial democracy. The world we live in today—the America we comprehend today—is the child of these expansions.

Day 7: The Old South

We might as well subtitle this day “Exploding the Myths.” Except that it is fun to explore why the myths were created in the first place. So we’ll go with “Exploring” the myths.

Day 8: The Sectional Crisis and Secession

How and why did two sections, each of which shared so much (including the more nefarious things, like racism) end up in the bloodiest war in American history? The short answer is: they were arguing over slavery. The longer answer, as we shall see, is that they were arguing over the legacy of the American Revolution. (I told you that was an important event.)

Day 9: The Civil War

Contrary to popular belief, the outcome was not inevitable. That it was not—that the Union could have lost it; that the Confederacy might have won it; that the Union took revolutionary steps to ensure its victory—is why the Civil War has been called “the crossroads of our being.”

Day 10: Reconstructing Lives

Now what? What did the war mean? We’ll let Steven Ash help us understand by discussing his book A Year in the South, 1865.

2006 Syllabus
United States History since 1865: Content, Methods, and Resources for Teachers

Master Scholar: Dr. Paul Christopher Anderson, Associate Professor of History, Clemson University

Course Description and Thematic Questions

If we were looking for a shortcut to understand how to think about history, we might put it this way: Historical consciousness—that special awareness of what makes something important enough to know—is best developed by focusing on continuity and change.  If things don’t change, we don’t have any reason to know history.  Society would be content to keep doing what is has been doing, and our reason for doing it would be very simple: because we have always done it this way.

But history is best understood—and is most exciting—when we explore the tensions that arise when new developments emerge out of (and often in tension with) old practices.  We frame almost all significant historical questions by asking: What is changing, and why is it changing? (Or like this: What’s new, and why is it new?)  New doesn’t always “win;” history shows us that often people cling to what they know.  But we understand these developments much better—we are more historically conscious—when we understand why they adopt the new or stick to the old. 

We often try to capture this awareness with shorthand.  The history of the United States from Reconstruction to the Present is encapsulated by pithy terms that seek to describe time periods and significant developments:

1. Industrialization
2. Urbanization
3. Jim Crow
4. Populism
5. Progressivism
6. Imperialism
7. The Great Depression
8. The Cold War
9. The Civil Rights Movement
10. Vietnam        

But we can also achieve this by asking Big Picture questions.  As you make your way through the Institute, you should keep the following questions in mind.  Our main goal is to help you understand the answers as fully and comprehensively as we can.  But we are also striving to help you understand why the questions themselves are important.

1. Assess the “radicalness” of Reconstruction. What forces and events made it radical? What forces and events made it conservative? Was Reconstruction a success or a failure? Why?
2. Analyze the rise of big business and monopoly in America. What problems did the Industrial Revolution create? How did reformers attempt to deal with these problems? By 1906, which obstacles had reformers overcome and which remained?
3. Describe and analyze American imperialism. What forces drove imperialism? How was it justified? Finally, how and why did the idea of “the west” help propel imperialism?
4. Compare American involvement in the world wars. What forces made Americans ambivalent about entering the conflicts? What forces pushed America into them? How were the wars similar and different? Finally, how did America react upon emerging from them?
5. Analyze the Great Depression. What caused it? How did both Hoover and FDR attempt to stop it? How and why might it be said that the Depression era created a shift in the nature of American government and left lasting impact on the American pysche?
6. Compare the feminist movement to the civil rights movement. What features did they share in common? What set them apart? What opportunities did each capitalize upon and what limitations did each face? Why, finally, did each seem to lose force and cohesion after 1973?

Course Requirements
(This is a graduate-level course designed for classroom history teachers)

• Participation:  Students must attend and participate in the activities of all ten days of the summer institute, the fall meeting, and the mid-year retreat.  The date for the fall meeting will be determined during the institute.  The retreat takes place on February 9-10, 2007.
• Portfolio Assignment: Students will conduct original historical research using local primary sources to develop and teach two lessons on American history.  See the Resources section of the course binder for information on the portfolio assignment.  The Portfolio is worth 50 points of the final grade. See Portfolio Assignment for more details.
• Pre and Post Tests: Participants will take a pre and post-test for evaluation purposes only.  Completing these tests is worth 10 points regardless of performance.

Required Textbooks and Readings

• Brinkley, Alan.  The Unfinished Nation:  A Brief, Interactive History of the American People.  Volume II: From 1865, With Primary Source Investigator CD.  McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2005. 
• Dawson, George and Richard Glaubman.  Life is So Good: One Man’s Extraordinary Journey through the 20th Century and How He Learned to Read at Age 98.  Penguin Books, 2000.

2005 Syllabus
United States History to 1865: Content, Methods, and Resources for Teachers
HIST R599: Special Topics in American History

Master Scholar:  Dr. Marty D. Matthews, Professor of History (Adjunct), North Carolina State University

Course Description and Objectives:  As Master Scholar I will be responsible for instructing you in historical subject matter.  Although I consider myself a political historian, I also focus on social, economic, and military history.  For example, during my lectures on the Revolution, I examine political and social developments that paved the way for American independence, as well as military aspects of the Revolution itself.  I will not be able to cover as much material as I do in my college survey course, but will instead attempt to present an overview of important concepts and introduce you to primary materials that deal with the various eras studied.

I like to think of my class as a journey.  We will be “traveling” from the arrival of the first inhabitants on the American continent; through the establishments of European colonies; the creation of a new nation and early social and political developments therein, which eventually lead to a civil war; and end our trip with attempts to heal the rifts caused by that great conflict.

I use the theme of “UNITY versus DISUNITY” as an uncomplicated conceptual framework for my students.

Some questions to keep in mind:

• Compare and contrast the tobacco and rice producing colonies of the south with the religiously oriented ones in the north.
• How did the colonies overcome their differences to successfully unite against the most powerful nation in the world?
• At what point did the American Revolution become inevitable?
• What concerns and issues were addressed and avoided at the Constitutional Convention?  Compare and contrast federalists and anti-federalists.
• Was the early republic united?  Why and how or why not?
• Compare and contrast Democratic-Republicans and Federalists; Democrats and Whigs; Democrats and Republicans.
• At what point did the Civil War become inevitable?
• Who were the “winners” during Reconstruction?  The “losers”?  How do we define those terms?

Textbooks and Readings:

• The Unfinished Nation, A Brief Interactive History of the American People, Volume I: to 1877 by Alan Brinkley, with interactive “Primary Source Investigator” CD-ROM.
• Packet of historical documents (Treasure Trove) provided by TAH staff.

This text is ideal for our institutes because it should not be too difficult for you to read a few chapters each night in preparation for the following day’s lecture.  I instruct my students to simply read the material to become familiar with it so when they come to class they are prepared.  There is no need to take notes on this first reading.  When I lecture, I give them clues as to the information with which they should become more knowledgeable.  Upon receipt of my clues, they should return to the text and become familiar with that aspect of the reading.

Course Requirements:

• Participation:  Participants must attend and take part in activities for all ten days of the summer institute, the fall meeting, and the mid-year retreat.  The date for the fall meeting will be determined during the institute.  The retreat takes place on February 10-11, 2006.
• Portfolio Assignment: Participants will conduct original historical research using local primary sources to develop and teach two lessons on American history.  See the front section of the course binder for information on the portfolio assignment.  The Portfolio is worth 50 points of the final grade.   See Portfolio Assignment for more details.
• Tests/Surveys: Participants will take a pre and post-content test for evaluation purposes only. Completing these tests is worth 10 points regardless of performance.  Participants will also complete a short methods survey and interest survey.

2004 Syllabus
United States History Since 1877: Content, Methods, and Resources for Teachers

Master Scholar:  Dr. Melissa Walker, Associate Professor of History, Department of History and Politics, Converse College

Course Description and Objectives:  This course is designed to help South Carolina teachers broaden and deepen their understanding of American history since the end of Reconstruction. The course will also provide teachers with instruction on the nature of historical inquiry.  The course is organized chronologically and within that chronological framework, the following four themes will be emphasized: 

• The evolving role of the federal government--that is, the continuing struggle over what role is appropriate for the national government.
• The democratization of American society--the spread of power to more people including women, African-Americans, immigrants, and finally native Americans.
• The transition from an agricultural to an industrial to a post-industrial economy, including urbanization, technology, the development of a business infrastructure and the growth of free market capitalism.
• The growth of the United States as a world power

Textbooks and Readings:

• James A. Henretta, David Broady, and Lynn Dumenil, America:  A Concise History, 2nd edition (2002), vol. 2. 
• Samuel T. McSeveney, Selected Historical Documents to Accompany America’s History, 4th edition (2001), vol. 2
• Packet of articles and documents covering both content and methods

The main textbook is James A. Henretta, David Broady, and Lynn Dumenil, America:  A Concise History, 2nd edition (2002), vol. 2.  This book provides a brief but thorough overview of the major themes and trends in American history since 1877.  The book includes helpful illustrations and charts, first person accounts of historical events, timelines, and suggestions for further reading.  The publisher also provides an on-line study guide for students.  The text is not required reading while the institutes are in progress because participants will have little time for outside reading.  Rather the text is a reference for participants to consult during the institutes and a resource for use in preparing lessons for your students.  I have identified chapters that are relevant to the topics we will be discussing on a given day.

Course Requirements:

• Participation:  Students must attend and participate in the activities of all ten days of the summer institute, the fall meeting, and the mid-year retreat.  The date for the fall meeting will be determined during the institute.  The retreat takes place on February 4-5, 2005.
• Portfolio Assignment: Students will conduct original historical research using local primary sources to develop and teach two lessons on American history.  See the Resources section of the course binder for information on the portfolio assignment.  The Portfolio is worth 50 points of the final grade. See Portfolio Assignment for more details.
• Pre and Post Tests: Participants will take a pre and post-test for evaluation purposes only. Completing these tests is worth 10 points regardless of performance.

2003 Syllabus
United States History to 1898: From the Age of Discovery to the Emergence of Modern America

Master Scholar:  Dr. Larry Nelson, Professor of History, Francis Marion University

Rationale: Because the Summer Institutes for 2003 are intended primarily for middle school teachers who teach American History to their students, the content portion of the Summer Institutes is designed to help participants broaden and deepen their understanding of American History to 1898.  I have divided the subject matter into ten chronological topics: one topic for each day of the institutes, and I have selected four thematic topics that I will develop within each chronological topic.  We will, for example, discuss race and race relations in each chronological topic from the origins of slavery in the era of settlement through the system of de facto and de jure segregation that defined the status of African Americans at the emergence of modern America.  As we work our way through the topics, we will grapple with issues and interpretations as well as general historical content.  In teaching the material, I will rely upon the inquiry approach, utilizing as much class discussion as possible.  During these discussions, I will involve institute participants not only in the historical content but also in the process skills essential to the study of history.

Textbook: The textbook is Robert A. Divine, T. H. Breen, George Fredrickson, and R. Hal Williams, The American Story (2002).  American Story seems particularly appropriate for the Summer Institutes.  This up to date text is a careful abridgment of a larger text by the same authors.  American Story provides the necessary generalizations and the appropriate supporting facts but does not deluge the reader with minutia.  This text has well chosen chapter-by-chapter bibliographies of traditional materials and of web resources.  The text is not required reading while the institutes are in progress because participants will have little time for outside reading.  Rather, American Story is a reference for participants to consult during the institutes and a resource for them to use when preparing lessons for their students.  To guide participants who may wish to refer to the text while the institutes are in progress, I have identified the chapters that are relevant to the topics we will be discussing.

2002 Syllabus
The Structure of American History

Master Scholar:  Dr. Larry Nelson, Professor of History, Francis Marion University

Rationale and Course Objective: Keeping in mind that the Summer Institutes for 2002 are intended for elementary teachers who teach American History to their students, I have designed the content portion of the Summer Institutes to help participants understand the broad structure of American History. The focus will be on the large components of American History and on the relationships that bind these components into a coherent whole. To this end, I have selected ten chronological topics; one topic for each day of the institute. I have also selected four thematic topics that I will develop within each chronological topic. We will, for example, discuss race and race relations in each chronological topic from the origins of slavery in the era of Settlement through the civil rights movement of Modern America. In teaching the material, I will rely upon the inquiry approach, utilizing as much class discussion as possible. During these discussions, I will involve institute participants not only in the historical content but also in the process skills essential to the study of history.

Textbook: The textbook is Robert A. Divine, T. H. Breen, George Fredrickson, and R. Hal Williams, The American Story (2002). American Story seems particularly appropriate for elementary teachers. This up to date text is a careful abridgment of a larger text by the same authors. American Story provides the necessary generalizations and the appropriate supporting facts but does not deluge the reader with minutia. This text has well chosen chapter-by-chapter bibliographies of traditional materials and of web resources. The text is not required reading while the institutes are in progress because participants will have little time for outside reading. Rather, American Story is a reference for participants to consult during the institutes and a resource for them to use when preparing lessons for their students. To guide participants who may wish to refer to the text while the institutes are in progress, I have identified the chapters that are relevant to the topics we will be discussing.

Scoring Rubric
Scoring Rubric for the South Carolina Teaching American History Project Portfolio