Type of Action

	Course Deletion		Requisite Change
	Course Revision		Repeatability Change
	Description Change		Diversity Option
	Title Change	X	General Education Option  -  Area: Humanities
	Number Change
	Contact Hour Change		Computer Requirement
	Credit Change		Writing Requirement
	Add Cross-listing		Other

Effective Term: Fall, 2001

New/Current Course Number: HISTRY 125

New/Current Course Title:  History of Modern America
 

Department(s):  History

College(s):  Letters & Sciences

Other Programs Affected: None
 

Check if course is required in:

 ____Major/Emphasis (specify):
____Minor/Emphasis (specify):
____Other (specify):
 

Attach the following:

1. Detailed explanation of changes (use FROM/TO format)


FROM: History 740-125, no general education designation

TO: History 740-125 General Education Humanities designation
 
 

2. Justification for action

History 125 (History of Modern America) has not been offered since the revision to the general education requirements. With the reduction in 900-120 (U.S. Experience in a World Context) offerings, History 125 will again become part of the history department’s regular course offerings. It is important that this 100-level course be categorized as a general education-humanities offering.

General Studies Breadth Elective: Humanities

Relation to core courses in General Studies: While American political developments and the emerging place of the United States relative to other world powers is an aspect of this course, the main theme of this course is the study of the individual in American history and society since 1877. Like U.S. Experience in a World Context (900-120) and Global Perspectives (900-140), this course will require that students demonstrate the ability to draw comparisons between their own experience, or a their previous academic understanding of a particular topic, and other experiences different in time or place from their own. This course will also compliment Individual and Society (900-130) by surveying the importance of social history in the American story.

Goals of General Education met by this course: This course meets several goals of UW-Whitewater’s General Education mission. In-class critical discussion of each assigned topic is an important aspect of each class meeting. In these discussions, students will be required to share their ideas on the different ways in which individual people have played a part in American history. The material presented in class will often be drawn from historically different points of view. As a result, the discussion will require students to think critically about the conflicting ideas presented through assigned readings and discussion. (#1). The required assessments in this class (quizzes and exams) will also demand that students communicate their understanding and interpretation of the subject matter in a clear and consistent manner (#5). Students successfully completing this course will also have a basic knowledge of the American past, and their relationship to that past. (#4). Students will gain a broad understanding of the American past in terms of certain successes and failures. Emphasis will be placed on the role of the individual in societal choices. (#2). The course will also examine the differing cultural experiences in the United States.(#3).

Learning Objectives: The main objective of this course is that students understand the many ways, both positive and negative, that the individual and American history are intertwined. More specifically, students should be able to: identify important historical themes present in the United States; describe the development of these themes in the United States; interpret present day events in relation to their historical antecedents; understand the place of the United States in today’s global world; recognize that everyone has a historical significance, regardless of apparent social status, gender, class, or ethnicity; think critically about the historic and contemporary American experience.