Welcome to the course. To get started,
this document explains
the course format and requirements.
After reading this document, you should
read the "Course
Information" which provides greater detail on each
aspect of the course, and a description of the "Course
Discussion." Then, refer to the course
overview and on-line syllabus.
I. Lectures:
There are twelve one-hour lectures to be viewed over the course of the term. You should view the lectures following the schedule on the course syllabus.
II. Readings:
The course readings will consist of a textbook, a guide to writing your papers, and on-line primary documents.
-
The basic textbook for the course is Hunt et al.The Making of the West (3rd ed) vol 2.
- Primary documents, available (free of charge) from
the on-line
course syllabus.
- A guide to writing History papers, William Storey, Writing History: A Guide for Students.
III. Discussion:
For each set of readings , you will be expected to respond to questions in the on-line class discussion, in a small group of 10 or so other students. For each of the twelve units in the course, you will be expected to respond to a discussion question. The discussion questions, collectively, will be worth 30% of your semester grade.
IV. Essays:
You will write a midterm essay and a final essay, which will be distributed to you and which you will turn
in from the "Assignments" area of the course WebCampus site .
Each essay will be a response to a specific question posed by the instructor. Your essay will be based on material from the lecture, the textbook, and the primary source documents; you will not need to undertake any outside research for the essay. Each essay will be worth 35% of your term grade.
V. General:
Most importantly, you should feel
free to ask any questions, now or at any point in the semester,
either by posting to the "Main" area of the discussion (if
it is a question that you think will be of interest to the
entire class) or to me directly, using the "mail" feature
of webct. (I would prefer that you send course-related email
using the webct email though in case of urgency, please
feel free to write me at my "regular" email: gbrown@unlv.nevada.edu.)
Welcome to the course and I look
forward to working with all of you over the course of what
will be, I hope, an excellent semester for all of us. |
