Contact Information	Course Description	Course Resources
Course Tools	Course Format & Requirements	Schedule of Classes

Tracey Weis
Fall 2002 Tuesdays & Thursdays 9:30-10:45am and 11:00-12:15pm
Classroom: Bassler 120    Office: Adams House 105
Office Hours: TTh 8:30-9:30am in Bassler 120; Wed. 4:00-6:00pm in Adams 105; and by appointment

Tracey.Weis@millersville.edu or 717.871.2025
 

Course Description:
In this course we will examine and evaluate several kinds of historical evidence about the experiences of people of African descent in the United States--primary documents (e.g., speeches, letters, essays, memoirs, autobiographies), scholarly articles, films, presentations by MU Academic Theme year speakers, museum exhibitions, etc. This course is intended to be an introduction to the study of African American history through 1865; however, it is not only a "survey" course. Our investigations will focus on the following essential ideas:

• African American history as a field of intellectual inquiry and research
• The transition from slavery to freedom
• The political and cultural construction of race in 18th & 19th century America
• The emergence of African American culture
• The challenges of creating fundamental social change (e.g., abolition of slavery)

1. The investigation of local history, conducted in a comparative context, enables students to develop deep understandings of large-scale historical processes (e.g., the evolution of slavery in the Americas and the formation of free black communities in antebellum America). Lancaster County will serve as the laboratory for our investigations of African American history. As we research the history of African American presence and agency in the county, we will compare and contrast Lancaster county with other communities in the United States.

2. "Real historical understanding requires that students have the opportunity to create historical narratives and arguments of their own."

National Standards for History
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs/standards/thinking5-12.html

• An effective way to learn about history is to analyze original sources in historical context. We will examine several types of original sources (letters, speeches, essays, memoirs, photographs, and music) alongside other kinds of historical writing (monographs, historiographic essays, and other kinds of historical syntheses), constantly looking for similarities and differences.

• An effective way to develop and refine an appreciation for the complexities of historical texts to investigate their relationship to a variety of archival and contextual materials. We will work with printed and electronic texts, through electronic fieldwork and on-line writing projects, to explore the multiple relationships between historical texts and historical contexts.

• An effective way to develop a sophisticated understanding of historical writing is to write, constructively and frequently, about [primary and secondary] texts.

Course Tools
We will meet in a networked computer classroom (Bassler 120) where we'll learn to use a variety of electronic tools for locating and evaluating historical resources.
 

We will be using Washington State Universityís "Speakeasy Studio and Cafe" as the Web environment for the course. Much of our work will be available through this electronic workspace.   Go to http://speakeasy.wsu.edu

We will also be using the Web Scrapbook developed  by the staff of the Center for History and New Media  at George Mason University.

Finally, we will be working with the Microsoft Office suite, especially Word and Power Point.

Course Format and Student Responsibilities
Students are expected to take an active role in sharing the responsibility for making historical knowledge in this course. Class attendance and participation is essential. In addition to coming to class and doing the readings, students are expected to actively engage in the following course activities:

Participation (180 points or 30%)
 

Assessment of participation will be a shared responsibility. You will have the opportunity  to present a persuasive claim for up to 60 points in your mid-semester self-assessment  and up to 90 points in your final self-assessment. I will reserve a maximum of 30 points for my overall assessment of your participation. Participation will be based on: 1) seminar discussion, 2) collaboration in base groups, and 3) on-line discussion.

 
• Seminar Discussion (10%)

Everyone is invited and expected to share their knowledge, understanding and interpretations of the readings. We will each contribute special knowledge-- theoretical, historical, or experiential--to the discussion. Our writings, as well as our electronic fieldwork in digital archives, will help us to deepen our understanding of the readings. The readings, in turn, will help us to develop and to refine our understandings of the basic course themes.
 
• Collaboration in Base Groups (10%)

To promote participation, we will form smaller discussion groups or base groups. Base Groups are support groups where you discuss the texts, propose questions for class discussion, develop your critical interpretations, bounce ideas off each other, prepare for class, and read each others' drafts. Base groups will meet in class and out of class, on and off campus, in real time or on-line. Active and engaged participation in base groups will significantly improve the quality of your work and your understanding of African American history!
 
• On-line Discussion (10%)

Aside from class discussion and base group activities, we will also engage in on-line discussions of the readings. Each student is expected to make thoughtful contributions to the on-line discussions. We will work together to develop questions and other prompts for the discussions. Printouts of your contributions to discussions will be included in the mid-semester and final self-assessments.

Performance (420 points or 70%)
Performance includes the production of revised, final individual and group projects as described below:
 

• Unit 1 Presenting Stories About Race & Slavery at America's Historic Places.

(60 points)
Working in teams of four, students will research the interpretation of race and slavery at selected historic sites, produce a narrated Power Point presentation, and share the results of their research with the class in oral presentations.

Unit 2 Writing the History of African Americans in Lancaster County
(90 points)
Students will write individual essays that summarize the reading and research they have done on one of four communities in Lancaster County: Columbia, Christiana, Lancaster, and the Southern End.
 

• Unit 3 Investigating the History of African Americans in the U.S.

(120 points)
During the course of the semester, small groups will facilitate class discussion of selected chapters from In Hope of Liberty. Each group will meet with me at least one week before the scheduled discussion to review plans for the class (presentation of relevant film clips, discussion questions, webbed exercises, etc.). Each group will submit a 3-page review, based on peer evaluations, on the discussion.
 
• Unit 4 Reconstructing the History of African Americans in Lancaster Co.

(150 points)
Local history groups will develop virtual versions of Telling Stories: Slavery and Freedom in Lancaster County, the local history exhibition. Virtual versions will expand on the label copy used in digital reference version of the exhibition and will include additional primary resources and curriculum resources.

1. the syllabus and other handouts
2. evidence of participation: readings, class and base group notes, and printouts of on-line discussions of readings
3. materials for your presentation
4. archive of your writing: all drafts and rewrites of various writing projects
5. mid-semester and final self-assessments

SCHEDULE of CLASSES
This schedule is tentative and may be revised, at my discretion, according to the needs of the class.

Unit 1: Researching, Writing, and Interpreting African American History
Aug. 27 Introduction to African American History

Aug. 29 Telling Stories About Race and Slavery: Learning from America's Historic Places

Aug. 30 Last day to drop a course without a grade--5pm deadline!

Sept. 2 LABOR DAY RECESS

Sept. 3 Telling Stories About Race and Slavery (cont.)

Sept. 4 Last day to add a course--5pm deadline!

Sept. 5 Telling Stories About Race and Slavery (cont.)

Sept. 10 Power Point reviews of selected websites of America's Historic Places (Groups 1 & 2)

Sept. 12 Power Point reviews of selected websites (Groups 3 & 4)

Unit 2: Investigating and Interpreting the History of African Americans in Lancaster County
Sept. 17 Introduction to Local History

Sept. 19 Columbia

Sept. 24 Lancaster City

Sept. 26 Solanco

Oct. 1 Christiana

Oct. 3 Unit 2 review--local history essays due by 5pm on Friday, October 4th

Oct. 8 FALL RECESS

Unit 3: African and African American Life, 1720s through 1865
Oct. 10 Introduction

Oct. 15 Slavery in the North (Horton, Chapter 1)

Oct. 17 Culture, Race, and Class in the Colonial South (Horton, Chapter 2)

Oct. 22 Revolution and the Abolition of Northern Slavery (Horton, Chapter 3)

Oct. 24 Forging Freedom: The Evolution of Family and Household (Horton, Chapter 4)

Oct. 25 Last day to withdraw from a course and receive a W grade. Approved withdrawal card must be in the registrarís office by 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 29 Abolition and the Specter of Dependency and Disorder (Horton, Chapter 5)

Oct. 31 Mid-unit review

Nov. 5 "Uplifting the Race" Building Institutions for Social and Spiritual Welfare (Horton, Chapter 6)

Nov. 7 Culture, Politics and the Issue of African American Identity (Horton, Chapter 7)

Nov. 12 Ambivalent Identity: Colonization and the Question of Emigration (Horton, Chapter 8)

Nov. 14 The Growth of the Antebellum Antislavery Movement (Horton, Chapter 9)

Nov. 19 The Widening Struggle, Growing Militancy, and the Hope of Liberty for All (Horton, Chapter 10)
 

Unit 4: Reconstructing the History of African Americans in Lancaster County
Nov. 21    Research and Production

Nov. 26    Research and Production

Nov. 28 THANKSGIVING RECESS

Dec. 3 Presentation of Virtual Exhibitions on Columbia and Lancaster

Dec. 5 Presentation of Virtual Exhibitions on Solanco and Christiana

Dec. 10 Final Examination Session: Tuesday 8:00-10:00am (272.01)

Dec. 11 Final Examination Session Wednesday 2:45-4:45pm (272.0)