Level 5 Course Description & Expectations 2009-2010

Modern American History: c1890—Present

Mr. James Sunderland

COURSE DESCRIPTION
GOALS of this COURSE:
1. Develop resourceful critical thinking skills—the primary goal of this course is to make you a more
resourceful thinker with sophisticated critical thinking skills such as evaluating interpretations,
reasoning to a conclusion, and decision-making.
2. Expose you to some broad currents in American History—This is a survey course, which means we
cover a great deal of material. Because we try to look with considerable depth we cannot possibly
learn everything about American History between 1890 and the present so we will focus on some of
the big ideas and major movements.

What this is course is NOT about:

• Teaching you the “truth” or “what really happened”—Of course we will endeavor to be accurate about
the past. However, the study of history is inevitably subjective with many interpretations &
perspectives. The idea of “truth” in the study of history is highly problematic. Rather we will focus
on learning to evaluate interpretations.
• Teaching you how great America is—Though there is much to be proud of in American history, it is
not a goal of this course to instill in you a sense of nationalism. A critical thinker comes to such
conclusions himself/herself on his/her own terms.
• Teaching you how evil America is—Similarly, although there are some shameful aspects of US
history, I will not try to inculcate in you a disgust of America. Again, a critical thinker makes such
judgments for him/herself.

COURSE CONTENT: This course is survey of United States history from about the year 1890 to the
present. The big idea that unifies this course’s curriculum is the rise of the United States as a world
power. Though all periods of American history have both domestic & foreign elements, the units tend to
be focused more on one than the other. Italicized units have a foreign focus and normal font units have a
domestic focus.
1) Review: Critical Thinking n/a
2) Review: American History to 1900 (1600-1900)
3) The Progressive Era: Adjusting to Industrialization (1890-1920)
4) Emergence as a World Power
• Spanish-American War & the challenges of world power (1898-1914)
• World War I: The difficulty of neutrality as a world power (1914-1919)
5) The Roaring Twenties: Prosperity at a Price (1905-1920)
6) The Great Depression & the 1930s: Causes & Solutions? (1929-1940)
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7) World War II: The American war experience both at war and at home (1939-1945)
8) The Cold War: Fighting without Fighting (1945-1989)
9) Post-War America—an evolving American identity (1945-Present)
10) A New World Order? (Present-Near Future)
THEMES & VALUES: Trying to find continuity & unity in such a vast curriculum is challenging. To
help bind this wide-ranging curriculum, we will be following some common themes & values throughout.
Below are the themes & values we will follow. The values of the “American Creed” are italicized.

Themes: Values:
• PEGS • Individualism vs. Collectivism
• Forces of Change • Equality vs. Hierarchy
• Diversity & Group Identity • Freedom vs. Order
• Interaction with Others • Democracy vs. Authority
• History & Myth • Capitalism vs. Centralization

MAJOR PROJECTS: You will 2 major projects this year—one due in January and one in June

History Fair: The major project for 1st semester is a History Fair project. This is primarily a
research project that requires you to do in depth research and analysis on a narrow topic. This may
be done either individually or as a group. Ultimately, you publish your project at the Winter History
Fair in January in one of five different forms: documentary, exhibit, paper, performance or website.
This project follows the format of the National History Day competition. Some students will have
the opportunity to compete in the regional History Day competition and potentially the state and
national competitions. Though completing a project is required, competition is by invitation & your
choice.

Synthesis Paper: Throughout the year, you will work on developing your own theory of American
History. You will be looking for a comprehensive answer to the question, “What is the essence of
American history?” Another way of thinking about this topic is trying to complete the sentence,
“The story of America is the story of…” An excellent answer will provide a unified understanding
of everything that has ever happened in American history. This is a big question that demands big
thinking. Whereas the History Fair project asks you to go into a great deal of depth on a narrow
topic, the synthesis project requires you to take a broad perspective. This is primarily a reflective
project and therefore relatively little new research is needed. Ultimately, your theory of American
history will be elucidated in a paper due in June.

GRADING
I use numerous means of evaluating your learning. Among these means are homework assignments,
papers, projects, tests, quizzes, presentations and class participation. Assignments vary in
number of points. The greater the number of points, the greater the value of the assignment.
Most types of assignments fall into the general category that constitutes 80% of your overall
term grade. Class participation, which emphasizes active learning and effective communicating,
is a separate category can counts 20% of your overall term grade regardless of total points.

Grading Categories:
General (homework, tests, projects, quizzes, papers, presentations) 80%
Class Participation 20%

CONTACT INFORMATION
Contact Information: You can reach me by phone at 781-275-1700 x8055 or by e-mail at
james_sunderland@bedford.k12.ma.us.