HIS 3931-4944

American Myths, American Values

Spring 2006

MWF, 1:55-2:45, Flint 119

Professor Jack E. Davis, Ofc. Flint 235

Ofc. Hrs., MWF, 12:45-1:45

In this course, we will examine the major myths that inform, and that are informed by, American values. The unifying fabric of America culture, myths shape the meaning of the American experience, American identity, and national character, and in turn determine the prevailing understanding of social groups and their relationships with the dominant American culture. It is this dynamic of myth, culture, and society that will constitute the focus of this course.

Course Objectives:

C Expanding one’s knowledge of fundamental myths and values and their place in the larger American historical experience

C Introducing the student to scholarship on the subject.

C Promoting critical thinking about American myths and values and their impact on the social relationships among different human groups.

Research Paper

(Including writing-mechanics exercise and prospectus/bibliography) 30%

Take-Home exercise #1 30%

Take-Home exercise #2 30%

Class participation 10%

Total 100%

Course Books (available at Goerings Bookstore):

James Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your History Textbook Got Wrong

Michael C. C. Adams, The Best War Ever: America and World War II

Stephanie Coontz, The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap

Mike Wallace, Mickey Mouse History: And Other Essays on American Memory

Week I (January 9-13) Introduction; Defining American Myths and Values

Reading: Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, introduction, chapter 3.

Week II (January 16-20) Inventing a Nation and Its History

No class Monday, January 16, MLK Day

Audio: Michael Parenti, “The Struggle for History”

Reading: Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, chapters 11, 12.

Week III (January 23-27) American Values and the Prototypical American Hero

Reading: Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, chapters 1, 2.

Week IV (January 30-February 3) The American Hero cont.

Film: The Natural

Reading: Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, chapters 1, 2.

Week V (February 6-10) Anglo-Saxon Superiority and the “Red Man” Myth

Reading: Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, chapter 4.

Week VI (February 13-17) “Red Man” Myth cont.

Writing Mechanics Exercise Due

Film: “In the White Man’s Image”

Reading: Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, chapter 4.

Week VII (February 20-24) Myths of Race

No class on Wednesday February 22

Film: “Ethic Notions”

Readings: Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, chapter 5.

Week VIII (February 27-March 3) Myths of Race cont.

Take-Home Exercise #1 Due

Film: “Amos ‘N’ Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy”

Reading: Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, chapter 6.

Week IX (March 6-10) Myths of Race cont.

Reading: Coontz, The Way We Never Were, 232-54.

Week X (March 13-17) Spring Break

Week XI (March 20-24) Cold War Conformity and American Family Values

Prospectus/Bibliography Due

Film” “Leave It to Beaver”

Reading: Coontz, The Way We Never Were, 1-121, 149-179.

Week XII (March 27-31) War and Glory; Reshaping Values with Old and New Myths

No Class on Friday March 31

Films: The Green Berets and Platoon

Reading: Adams, The Best War Ever.

Week XIII (April 3-7) War and Glory cont.

Reading: Adams, The Best War Ever.

Week XIV (April 10-14) The Struggle for History

Reading: Wallace, Mickey Mouse History, section IV.

Week XV (April 17-21) Mickey’s World

Research Paper Due

Reading: Wallace, Mickey Mouse History, section II.

Week XVI (April 24-26) Tying Up Loose Ends

Take-Home Essay Due (April 26)

Pick up final essay on Thursday May 4, 12:30-2:30 (Exam 4c schedule)

Course Requirements Descriptions:

All written work for the course must be typed or computer generated and in 12-point double-spaced print. Your work must also be presented in third-person language.

Take-home essays will represent responses to a list of essay questions provided on my web site at least one week prior to the due date of the assignment. The questions will be drawn from the assigned readings and the course lectures, and you will be expected to use the course readings and your class notes as sources to answer the questions. Each answer must be presented in essay format, using formal, academic language and style (i.e., complete sentences, tightly constructed paragraphs, no colloquialisms). Do not, in other words, provide answers in lists or bullets. Those es that address each question in a rigorous and organized manner are more likely to earn a decent grade. These grades will be dependent in part on your compliance with the rules in the "Writing Mechanics" exercise.

The Research Paper should represent original work that deals with the dynamic of myths and values in American history. Many students in the past have done poorly with this assignment because they made the mistake of simply debunking a myth without examining its connection to American values. Please remember that your paper’s inquiry should reflect the larger objective of this course. Please consult the “Research Paper” link on my web site for common guidelines related to writing a research paper. Do also remember that your capacity to follow the “Writing Mechanics” rules will also count toward your grade.

Class participation means that students must come to class prepared to participate in discussions. Classes will be conducted in both a lecture and seminar format. Attendance is required. Beyond two absences, each additional absence occurring without a written excuse will result in one point deducted from your final grade. If the class is particularly lethargic when it should be animated and eager to discuss the reading assignment, the frustrated professor deserves the right to give a pop (i.e., surprise) quiz. Your experience in the course will largely depend on how prepared you come to class.

Other Business:

Plagiarism:

Keep in mind that your written assignments must represent original work. You cannot copy the words, phrases, arguments, ideas, and conclusions of someone else or of another source (including Internet sources) without giving proper credit to the person or source by using quotation marks and a foot note. Do not cobble together paragraphs or passages of separate texts and then try to claim that you have done original and legitimate work. You must write with your own ideas and in your own words. If you copy the words of someone else without putting those words in quotation marks, REGARDLESS OF CITING THE SOURCE, you are plagiarizing. Plagiarism is theft, and it is academic dishonesty. Plagiarism is grounds for an automatic failing grade in the course, a grade that is final and that cannot be made up. If you have any questions about how you are citing or using sources, come to me for the answers. Please also review the university’s honesty policy at: {http://www.dso.ufl.edu/judicial/academic.htm}.

Classroom Assistance:

Please do not hesitate to contact the instructor during the semester if you have any individual concerns or issues that need to be discussed. Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office { http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drp/}. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide that documentation to the instructor when requesting accommodation.

Alpata: A Journal of History:

Keep in mind that the undergraduate- and graduate-student members of Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society at the University of Florida publish an academic journal each spring. In the fall, the journal editors will be sending out a call for submissions (articles and book reviews) to the journal.