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AMERICAN CULTURES PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE AMERICAN STUDIES 2500 | Spring 2021

Office Hours T/R, 1-2 [email protected] This course introduces students to American cultural history from the earliest contact between North American indigenous peoples and Europeans up to the present, addressing popular norms and beliefs as well as literature, art, and philosophy. Topics include concepts of exceptionalism, democracy, and the marketplace, struggles over inclusion and citizenship, and the U.S. role in globalization.

Table of Contents COURSE READINGS .............................................................................................................................. 2 COURSE REQUIREMENTS...................................................................................................................... 2 CONTENT MODULES ................................................................................................................................. 2 READING QUIZZES .................................................................................................................................... 2 TUTORIAL ............................................................................................................................................... 3 VIRTUAL DISCUSSION SECTIONS................................................................................................................... 3 CITIZENSHIP ............................................................................................................................................ 3 CRITICAL INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 3 FINAL EXAM............................................................................................................................................ 3 GRADE BREAKDOWN ................................................................................................................................ 4 NUTS AND BOLTS ................................................................................................................................. 4 EXPECTATIONS......................................................................................................................................... 4 WRITING ................................................................................................................................................ 4 COMMUNICATIONS................................................................................................................................... 4 THE WORKDAY RULE ................................................................................................................................ 4 ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES........................................................................................................................... 4 LATE WORK ............................................................................................................................................ 5 MAKE-UP EXAMS ..................................................................................................................................... 5 HONOR CODE .......................................................................................................................................... 5 SPRING CALENDAR KEY DATES .................................................................................................................... 5 ADVISORY ............................................................................................................................................ 6 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ............................................................................................................................. 6 SOME NOTES ON LANGUAGE ...................................................................................................................... 6

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FINAL GRADE SCALE ............................................................................................................................. 7 CONCISE COURSE SCHEDULE ................................................................................................................ 8 SCHEDULE OF READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS ...................................................................................... 8 HOW TO APPROACH EACH MODULE............................................................................................................. 8 WEEK 1 (1/25-1/29): INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................... 9 WEEK 2 (2/1-2/5): THE CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF COLONIAL AMERICA ............................................................ 9 WEEK 3 (2/8-2/12): THE WORLDS OF AMERICAN SLAVERY ............................................................................. 9 WEEK 4 (2/15-2/18): MAKING A NEW REPUBLIC.......................................................................................... 9 WEEK 5 (2/22-2/25): CATCH UP ............................................................................................................. 10 WEEK 6 (3/1-3/5): THE ANTEBELLUM HOTHOUSE ....................................................................................... 10 WEEK 7 (3/8-3/11): A MIDDLE-CLASS REPUBLIC......................................................................................... 10 WEEK 8 (3/15-3/18): OUTSIDERS IN A GENTEEL WORLD .............................................................................. 10 WEEK 9 (3/22-3/26): MODERN BELIEF ..................................................................................................... 11 WEEK 10 3/29-4/1: MODERN LIFE ........................................................................................................... 11 WEEK 11 (4/5-4/8): CATCH UP ............................................................................................................... 11 WEEK 12 (4/12-4/15): THE AMERICAN WAY ............................................................................................. 12 WEEK 13 (4/19-4/22): THE REBELLION OF THE 1960S ................................................................................. 12 WEEK 14 (4/26-4/29): PRESENTATIONS/CONCLUDING LECTURE .................................................................... 12

Course Readings Readings will be made available on Brightspace or through the Library website. If you prefer paper copies, many of the background readings come from the following book which can be had cheaply on Amazon or elsewhere: Boyer, Paul S. American History: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Course Requirements Content Modules The course consists of ten content modules covering cultural history in colonial North America and the United States. Each module will contain short background readings, more focused secondary readings, primary readings written during the period, as well as a lecture screencast and links to relevant video and audio recordings.

Reading Quizzes At the end of each module, you’ll take a five-question true/false quiz on the Primary and Secondary source readings. The quizzes are due the week after the University’s reading days. I highly recommend not waiting to the last minute to complete them.

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Tutorial Rather than trying to re-create the alchemy of the classroom experience via zoom (which I’m not sure is possible), this course is going to be conducted mostly asynchronously. You’ll be able to complete readings, take quizzes, etc, at your own pace. Each week, however, there will be synchronous tutorials during scheduled class time dedicated to discussing a particular module. Each tutorial will have 5 openings and will last for 35 minutes. You can find the tutorial signups by clicking on “groups” under the assignments tab on the navbar. You may only sign up for one tutorial per week. In order to receive full credit for tutorials, you must attend and thoughtfully participate in at least 8 sessions. Rather than have a new meeting link every week, there is a single link to my personal zoom room on the Brightspace navbar. That is where I’ll be when we do your tutorials and where I’ll hold office hours as well.

Virtual Discussion Sections Each content module has a virtual discussion section attached to it via a tool called Flipgrid. If you haven’t used it yet, it’s great; intuitive and easy to use. The basic idea is that you can post short video messages and respond to others. Virtual discussion sections will last one week and your participation in each discussion section will receive a grade of 0-3. In order to receive a 3, you must post a thoughtful response to that week’s discussion question (available in the flipgrid topic) that is at least two minutes long as well as a respectful response to someone else’s post.

Citizenship This is a holistic assessment of your behavior towards me and the other students in the class. Online environments appear to have a disinhibiting effect on rudeness and vitriol, so it’s extremely important that we practice good manners and thoughtful, sober disagreement. It’s also important that we not use the course as an opportunity to grandstand about our personal politics. If you think that shapeshifting lizards control the government, please keep it to yourself.

Critical Introduction As your final project for the course, each of you will produce an 8-10 page critical introduction to a significant artifact from American cultural history. The critical introduction will include the following elements: historical context, biographical information about the artifact’s creator, critical assessment of its impact, questions for discussion, and a guide to further reading. In addition to the written component, in the final week of the term, you will present (via flipgrid) your artifact to the class.

Final Exam At the end of term, you’ll take a fifty question, comprehensive final examination. The exam will consist of a variety of true/false, multiple choice, multi-select, and short answer questions. It will cover the primary and secondary readings, the background readings, and screencast material. The exam will be available to “checkout” for a period during exam week.

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Grade Breakdown Virtual Discussion: 15% Tutorial Participation: 15% Citizenship 10% Reading Quizzes 15% Critical Introduction 15% Critical Introduction Presentation 10% Final Exam 20%

Nuts and Bolts Expectations I want this course to be engaging and at least a little bit fun. We’re going to be covering a lot and you’ll need to be on point. If you want to succeed in this class, be prepared to give over a significant amount of time in the next three months to reading and writing. You will need to log in to Brightspace and check the announcements every day. You will have to read between roughly 20 pages every day to stay on track. You’ll need to set aside time to watch movies and take notes. You’ll need to prepare for your tutorial meetings with me. If you do all that, you can earn high marks and you’ll learn a lot.

Writing In order to pass this course, you must be able to produce college-level writing. If you find yourself struggling with the writing assignments, please contact the writing studio. https://www.vanderbilt.edu/writing/

Communications The best way to reach me is by email. I also have set office hours twice a week and will happily arrange for a Zoom appointment if those times don’t work for you.

The Workday Rule The COVID emergency has effectively collapsed what little boundary still existed between the world of work and the rest of life. As with so much else in this strange time, it falls to us to rebuild it. Here is what we are going to do. Communications for this course will take place during normal business hours (M-F, 9AM-5PM CST). If you email me during that timeframe, I will do everything in my power to address your message before the end of the business day. Emails sent at 9pm on Saturday, however, will be addressed during business hours on Monday, barring emergency. I will also endeavor only to email you or make changes to the Brightspace page during business hours.

Assignment Due Dates

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The Workday Rule will also apply to assignments. Unless otherwise noted, all assignments are due on the specified date on Friday at 5pm. I will not ask you submit anything over the weekend.

Late Work This class is mostly asynchronous. You get to proceed at your own pace. Two things to keep in mind here, however. One is that when we have a due date, it is firm. There are too many complications baked into online learning for us to be dealing with late work. For the same reason, incompletes will only be granted under emergency circumstances. The second thing is that you should try to pace yourself, just as though you were running a race. Don’t try to push through too quickly and don’t let yourself fall behind. If you work steadily, you be in the best shape to finish with high marks.

Make-up Exams Students must notify me before the regularly scheduled time of any examination if they cannot attend and they must specify the reason for their absence. Emergencies or other extreme and unavoidable circumstances are the only acceptable grounds for a delayed examination.

Honor Code By staying in the class, you agree to abide by the Vanderbilt Honor Code. Violations of the code will result in an F for the class and referral to the Honor council. Here’s the code: “Vanderbilt University students pursue all academic endeavors with integrity. They conduct themselves honorably, professionally, and respectfully in all realms of their studies in order to promote and secure an atmosphere of dignity and trust. The keystone of the honor system is self-regulation, which requires cooperation and support from each member of the University community.”

Spring Calendar Key Dates Feb 5, open enrollment ends and P/F deadline. Feb 23-24, in-class reading days. April 1, withdrawal deadline for Spring 2021 classes. April 7-8, in-class reading days. April 26-30, dead week April 30, Spring classes end May 1-10, Spring final exams and reading days

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ADVISORY WARNING: This course deals with highly disturbing subject matter, including racism, misogyny, sexual assault, and mass murder. Some of the course materials may contain extremely graphic descriptions and/or imagery. The course may not be appropriate for everyone. Students in distress should contact the University Counseling Center: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/ucc/

Social Responsibility We all have a responsibility to the Vanderbilt community to do what we can to keep everybody safe and healthy during this extended crisis. Wear your mask, wash your hands, obey the rules.

Some Notes on Language I don’t want to police people’s language and I don’t want you to feel like you’re always on the verge of getting in trouble. We do, however, want to be mindful of the things we say to one another in tutorial and on Flipgrid. I say this especially because some of the historical literature we’re reading uses archaic and offensive language. When we’re discussing that language, we don’t just want to reproduce it without thinking about its potential effects. For example, use the euphemism “the N-word” when referring to the racist slur rather than saying the slur itself.

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Final Grade Scale Letter Grade

Percentage

A

93-100

A-

90-92.9

B+

87-89.9

B

83-86.9

B-

80-82.9

C+

77-79.9

C

73.0-76.9

C-

70-72.9

D+

67-69.9

D

63-66.9

D-

60-62.9

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Concise Course Schedule Dates highlighted in yellow are reading days. Days highlighted in red are days when I may be absent because my wife is having a baby. 1) 1/25-1/29 2) 2/1-2/5 3) 2/8-2/12 4) 2/15-2/18 5) 2/22-2/25 6) 3/1-3/5 7) 3/8-3/11 8) 3/15-3/18 9) 3/22-3/26 10) 3/29-4/1 11) 4/5-4/8 12) 4/12-4/15 13) 4/19-4/22 14) 4/26-4/29 15) 5/1-5/10

Introduction The Cultural Geography of Colonial America The Worlds of American Slavery Making A New Republic Reading Days The Antebellum Hothouse Making a Genteel Culture Outsiders in a Genteel World Modern Belief Modern Life Reading Days The American Way The Long 1960s Presentations and Conclusion Exams

SCHEDULE OF READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS How to Approach Each Module We’re covering a significant amount of time in the course and so we can’t do everything. Each module focuses on a set of themes from a particular period in American cultural history. You’ll note that in many of the modules, the various parts are complementary rather than reiterative. For example, the lecture in module 1 is a whip-around tour of the cultures in Colonial North America, but the secondary sources focus specifically on indigenous adaptation and the Primary sources deal with Puritan theology. Later in the course, there will be films to watch as well. To keep your head straight, here’s my recommended approach: 1. Read the background chapter in Boyer, American History: A Very Short Introduction. These are short and to the point. They’ll get you oriented in the overall narrative. 2. Watch the lecture screencast. 3. Proceed with either the primary or secondary readings. 4. Attend tutorial and contribute to the discussion on Flipgrid. 5. Finally, take the unit quiz. Occasionally there will be other due dates associated with the Critical Introduction, and you’ll want to keep an eye for those as well.

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Note that I may occasionally change the readings if I think there is a better fit for how the class is evolving.

Week 1 (1/25-1/29): Introduction a) This week we’ll meet as a class on Tuesday to go over the syllabus. Thursday class time will be extended office hours for people who are having trouble with the BS page or just have questions about getting oriented in the class. If you start reading for the first module, you’ll thank yourself later! b) Watch the short screencast introducing the class and the concept of cultural history.

Week 2 (2/1-2/5): The Cultural Geography of Colonial America a) Boyer, Chapter 1 (15pp) b) Lecture: Multicultural from the Beginning c) Secondary Texts: Daniel Richter, Looking East from Indian Country, Chapters 1 (30pp) and 3 (41pp). d) Primary Texts: Sections in Puritanism: A Narrative Anthology (13pp) and John Winthrop, “A Model of Christian Charity” e) Virtual Discussion Section: 1/26-2/5 f) Tutorials: 2/2 and 2/4 g) Quiz: Due 3/1

Week 3 (2/8-2/12): The Worlds of American Slavery a) Boyer, Chapter 1 (15pp) b) Lecture: The Origins of Chattel Slavery in British North America c) Secondary Texts: Kathleen Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs: Gender, Race, and Power in Colonial Virginia, Chapter 7 (35pp); Walter Rucker, “Conjure, Magic, and Power: The Influence of Afro-Atlantic Religious Practices on Slave Resistance and Rebellion,” (19pp). a) Primary Texts: Timothy J. Shannon, Atlantic Lives: A Comparative Approach to Early America, Chapters 3.4 (3pp), 6.1-6.7 (13pp) Thomas Jefferson, selections from Notes on the State of Virginia (2pp). b) Virtual Discussion Section: 2/8-2/12 c) Tutorials 2/9 and 2/11 d) Quiz: Due 3/1 e) Topic Pitch: Due 2/12 at 5pm

Week 4 (2/15-2/18): Making A New Republic a) Background Reading: Boyer, Chapter 2 (15pp) b) Lecture: The Making of Enlightened Republicanism c) Secondary Sources: Caroline Winterer, American Enlightenments: Pursuing Happiness in the Age of Reason, Chapters 5 (29pp) and 7 (27pp)

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d) Primary Texts: Benjamin Franklin, Selection from Autobiography (14pp); Thomas Jefferson et al, Declaration of Independence; James Madison, Federalist No. 10 and no 51 (6pp), Judith Sargen...