Course Syllabus
Updated May 2013
African American History |
AMH 2091
| Session I: Jan 7th-May 5th |
Table of Contents
Faculty Contact Information
Office Phone: | 954-240-9166 | |
Department Phone: | 954-201-7934 | |
Scan: | ssimpso2@broward.edu | |
Email: | All communication should be through the course email tool. Use my BC email ONLY if you are unable to access the course email: ssimpso2@broward.edu | |
Office Hours: | By appointment at Coral Springs Center. | |
Virtual Office Hours: | I will be available live from 1 pm to 3pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and thursdays which is when you can expect to contact me by phone or email and expect a real-time response. | |
BC Safety Phone#: | 954-201-HELP (4357) |
Course Description
This class is a survey of African American History from its beginnings in Africa and the emergence of the Atlantic Slave Trade until the present time in America. Some topics include the history of African civilizations, American Slavery and Reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance, African Americans and World War II, and the Modern Civil Rights movement including the Black Power Movement. Together, we will examine the internal world of the African American community. Emphasis is placed on the African American's contribution to American society socially, economically and politically.
Upon successful completion of this course, the students should be able to understand not only the essential facts in the history of the African American, but also be able to interpret critically the forces and personalities that have shaped their development.
This course meets Area 3A general education requirements for the A.A. degree. This course meets Area 3 or 5 general education requirements for the A.S. degree.
This course requires extensive reading and writing. This is a 16 week session, therefore, students will have only 7-8 days to complete 2-3 chapters of reading, which includes quizzes, discussions and writing assignments. Therefore, it is imperative that students keep track of the assignment due dates and Do NoT Procrastinate.
The due dates for Quizzes and Discussions are usually on Saturdays and written assignments are generally due on Sundays.
General Course Outcomes
At the conclusion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Identify and employ the components of historical research and analysis.
- Produce clearly organized, thoroughly developed writing assignments, including but not limited to short essays, research assignments, or research papers, which express defensible conclusions based on historical analysis.
- Examine and assess the background of the people in Africa with emphasis on the origins, language, and cultural and political characteristics of the African people. Chapters 1-2
- Examine how slavery developed and operated in North America and how the enslaved adapted. Chapters 3-10
- Examine the life of the enslaved African American in a rapidly changing and restless America during the antebellum period.Chapters 3-10
- Analyze the difficulties facing free African Americans and the relationship between African Americans and white Americans during the antebellum period, the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era. Chapters 3-10
- Analyze the difficulties facing freed African Americans and the relationship between African Americans and white Americans during the antebellum period, the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era.
- Examine the growing importance of the cultural and political contributions of African Americans to American society. Chapters 4-24
- Examine the changing role of African Americans in modern America and the growing opportunities available to them in American society. Chapters 3-24
- Analyze the importance of the modern civil rights movement in affecting the entire social, cultural, and political structure of America. Chapters 18-22
- Examine the important issues facing African Americans and the contributions made by the same in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Chapters 15-24
For a complete list of Broward College outcomes see: BC Course Outlines
Course Prerequisites
To maximize your chances for success in this course, make sure that you meet the following course course prerequisites:
- Course Prerequisites and Co-requisites: n/a
- Computer Knowledge and Skills:
- Students in this course should be familiar with the following computer skills.
- File Management - You should be familiar with finding and saving files on your computer.
- The Internet - You should be familiar with connecting to the Internet through an Internet Service Provider or Network Connection.
- Web Browser Software - You should be familiar with using web browser software to navigate the Internet and locate information.
- Email - You should be familiar with sending and receiving email messages.
- Discussions - You should be familiar with posting and reading discussion messages in a threaded format.
- Attachments - You should be familiar with sending email messages with attached files.
- Word Processing - You should be familiar with creating, editing, saving, and printing documents using Microsoft Word.
- Other Requirements
- You'll need a BC email address to access the online portion of this course.
- Obtain a County Library Card or University/College Library Card. You will need either a County Library Card which you may obtain at either North Campus or South Campus Library or a University/College Library Card from the Central Campus Library. These cards will allow you to use select library databases. (optional)
- Log into Course
- The direct link for login is https://bconline.broward.edu.
- Students in this course should be familiar with the following computer skills.
- File Management - You should be familiar with finding and saving files on your computer.
- The Internet - You should be familiar with connecting to the Internet through an Internet Service Provider or Network Connection.
- Web Browser Software - You should be familiar with using web browser software to navigate the Internet and locate information.
- Email - You should be familiar with sending and receiving email messages.
- Discussions - You should be familiar with posting and reading discussion messages in a threaded format.
- Attachments - You should be familiar with sending email messages with attached files.
- Word Processing - You should be familiar with creating, editing, saving, and printing documents using Microsoft Word.
- You'll need a BC email address to access the online portion of this course.
- Obtain a County Library Card or University/College Library Card. You will need either a County Library Card which you may obtain at either North Campus or South Campus Library or a University/College Library Card from the Central Campus Library. These cards will allow you to use select library databases. (optional)
- The direct link for login is https://bconline.broward.edu.
Course Attendance and Participation Policy
Attendance/Withdrawal Policy:
During the first week of class, you must complete the online orientation or you will be reported as a no-show and be withdrawn from the course. Simply logging into the course will not satisfy your attendance during this time. As with on-campus courses, students who are reported for non-attendance in an online course and are withdrawn are still responsible for paying for the course. If you do not complete the requirements of the first week of class, you should drop the course by the official drop/add deadline or expect to pay for the course. It is very important for you to actively participate in this online class. If you stop participating in class discussions, do not submit assignments, or fail to take quizzes or tests prior to the withdrawal date, you will be withdrawn from class and receive a W or, if it is your third attempt, an F. If you stop participating after the withdrawal date, you will receive an F. To avoid this situation, you should remain an active learner in this class and always communicate extenuating circumstances to me. Ongoing communication with the instructor is critical to your course success. Completion of tests, assignments, and other class activities are used as indicators of your participation in order to satisfy this reporting requirement. Please review the following dates for this session: Jan 13 th for 100% Refund March 24th to withdraw with a W March 24th last date to change to an audit May 5th Last Day of Classes. SPRING BREAK!!! March 3-9th |
Participation:
Regular, active, and meaningful participation in online learning activities is a critically important component of this course and is essential to your success. It is recommended that you log into the course several times during the online week. Frequency and quality of participation may affect your grade.
- Active participation is expected of all students in this course.
- Check your email and course discussions regularly. Ask questions.
- Post and respond to messages.
Computer Requirements
To complete the online segments of this course, you must have access to computer hardware and software that meets or exceeds BC's minimum hardware and software standards for e-learning courses. It is strongly recommended that you check your computer to verify that its hardware and software configuration meets or exceeds the BC standard.
- Is your computer ready for online learning? Click here to check it out.
- Additional Software required for this Course (optional) Assignments that require word processing must be submitted in Microsoft Word format. Documents created using Microsoft Works, or files that have ".txt", ".pdf", or ".asci" extensions will not meet course requirements. If you do not have proper software on your computer, you can use the Microsoft Word program on any of the "open lab" computers at any BC Learning Resource Center or in public libraries.
- Only word processing documents in Microsoft Word format will be accepted. Please virus check documents before sending them. AVG offers a free online virus check.
Required Course Materials
![]() | Required Text Hine, Hine and Harrold. African American: A Concise History, 4th edition Authors: Darlene Clark Hine, William C. Hine, Stanley Harrold Publisher: Pearson Copyright © 2012 ISBN-10: 0-205-80627-9 ISBN-13: 978-0-205-80627-0 Pearson Website:http://www.mypearsonstore.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=0205806279 eTextbook via CourseSmart: http://www.coursesmart.com/african-americans-a-concise-history-combined/darlene-clark-hine-william-c-hine-stanley/dp/9780205809905 |
Methods of Instruction
This is a 3-credit hour course and normally, a 3-credit hour course would meet two or three times each week (during a 16 week term) for a total of 3 hours per week or 48 hours per term. However, this is an online course, meaning that the course is conducted completely online providing learning modules, your syllabus, an online orientation assignment as well as written assignments, examinations, and supplemental information on the Desire2Learn system. You will be required to complete all of the required work on Desire2Learn in order to successfully complete this course.
The course has been planned to provide a variety of written assignments as well as online quizzes and examinations and discussions. Each tool used in this course is provided to train you to enhance your written communication skills as well as learn about the history of America. The discussions are planned in order for you to discuss the weekly topics with your classmates. The quizzes and examinations are planned for you to test your mastery of the weekly readings. The short answer response assignments and essay assignments are used as critical thinking tools to both test your mastery of the information as well as apply the information to a particular scenario. Hopefully, through these tools, you will have gained a deeper understanding of the evolution of the history of the United States and roles people and events played in its evolution as it relates to the African American. Even more importantly, hopefully, you will have continued to master your academic skills. Remember, in order to be successful, you, the students, are responsible for regularly reviewing the Course Schedule and completing all required class assignments.
Course Schedule and Assignments
Assignment Directions All assignments will be graded within five days of the submission date. |
1. DOCUMENT ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENTS (DAA): Document analysis assignments (DAA) require you to read documents of your choice from the web documents collection provided in the course, document excerpts embedded in the course textbook, and/or documents provided within the learning modules, and answer the following questions for each document:
|
2. DISCUSSIONS: Participating in the course discussions is an important part of your final grade. There is at least one class discussion for every chapter in the course. To successfully complete the class discussion assignments you must:
|
3. SHORT ANSWER RESPONSE (SAR) ASSIGNMENTS: Short Answer Response (SAR) assignments are writing assignments that test your mastery of the information as well as serve as exercises in critical thinking within the context of history. For short answer response assignments, it is important that:
Plagiarism Policy: There will be no rewrites for cases of plagiarism. At a minimum, you will receive a "0" for any incidents of plagiarism and you will forfeit any extra credit points earned in the course. |
4. MODULE QUIZZES Chapter quizzes will be in a multiple choice and/or true and false formats. These 20-point quizzes test your mastery of the information found in the textbook chapters and the learning modules. Please refer to the course schedule for more which chapter quizzes are assigned and their due dates. These chapter quizzes are timed. You will have 60 minutes and ONE attempt to take them. |
5. EXAMS: There are two exams for this course. They are non-cumulative. These exams will consist of multiple choice questions only. The questions will be based on information in your text, your previous assignments, and your course learning modules. Your examinations will be administered online and may be taken at home. You are not required to go to the testing center to complete these exams. The scheduled dates for these exams are provided below.These exams will be timed. You will have 120 minutes and ONE attempt to take them. Look out for announcements to be posted just before your exams. |
Course Schedule | |
Unit 1: Learning Modules 1-8 | |
Introduction to the Course and Orientation Date: Jan 6th-12th, 2014 | |
Learning Outcomes After completing the Orientation module, the students will be able to:
| Assignments: Orientation Activities:
|
Learning Module 1: Africa and The Atlantic Slave Trade Date: Jan 12-18th, 2014 | |
Learning Outcomes
| Assignments:
|
Learning Module 2: Colonial Experience and the Transformation from African to African American: Date: January 18-25, 2014 | |
Learning Outcome
| Assignments:
|
Learning Module 3: Slavery and Freedom in the Revolutionary Era Date: January 18-26th | |
Learning Outcomes
| Assignments:
|
Learning Module 4: Life in the Cotton Kingdom 1793-1861 Date: January 25-Feb 1st. | |
Learning Outcomes
| Assignments:
|
Learning Module 5: Free African Americans in the New Nation Date: February 1-8th | |
Learning Outcomes
| Assignments:
|
Learning Module 6: Let Your Motto Be Resistance: Abolitionism in America Date: February 8-15th | |
Learning Outcomes
| Assignments:
|
Learning Module 7: "And Black People Were at the Heart of It": The United States Disunites Over Slavery Date: February 15-22nd | |
Learning Outcomes
| Assignments:
|
Learning Module 8: Reconstruction and Post Reconstruction America February 22nd- March 1st | |
Learning Outcomes
| Assignments:
|
SPRING BREAK MARCH 3-9TH -NO ASSIGNMENTS DUE. ENJOY!!!! Unit 2: Learning Modules 9-16 | |
Learning Module 9: Politics of Race in the Gilded Age and March 1-15th | |
Learning Outcomes
| Assignments:
|
Learning Module 10: World War I and the Harlem Renaissance March 15-22nd | |
Learning Outcomes
| Assignments:
|
Learning Module 11: The Great Depression and World War II March 22-29th | |
Learning Outcomes
| Assignments:
|
Learning Module 12: The Road to the Modern Civil Rights Movement March 29-April 5th | |
Learning Outcomes
| Assignments:
|
Learning Module 13: The Second Reconstruction: The Modern Civil Rights Movement April 5-12th | |
Learning Outcomes
| Assignments:
|
Learning Module 14: The Black Power Movement: Black Culture (1970's-1990's) April 12-19th | |
Learning Outcomes
| Assignments:
|
Learning Module 15: The Black Power Movement: Black Politics (1970's-1990's) April 19-26th | |
Learning Outcomes
| Assignments:
|
Learning Module 16: The Millennium and the Obama Age April 26th -May 3rd. | |
Learning Outcomes
| Assignments:
4. Final Exam: Modules 9-16. Due: April 26th - May 4th |
Grading and Exam Policies
- Assignment Submissions
- Assignment deadlines are posted in the Course Schedule table. Assignments must be submitted through the course as a Microsoft Word attachment. No assignments will be accepted via email.
- Assignments submitted after the due date and time will only be accepted if prior arrangements have been made with the instructor.
- Discussion postings are expected to be posted according to the Course Schedule table.
- Online Quizzes
- Module quizzes will be available during the week they are assigned. They may be taken via any computer with an Internet connection. Course exams will be available during the week they are assigned and will close on the closing date.
- Collaboration between students and discussion of quiz and exam answers are NOT permitted.
- You will only be able to attempt each quiz once. Allow time to complete each quiz before the closing date and time. Make sure you have a solid Internet connection. If your ISP disconnects you during a quiz, that will count as an attempt and you will not be able to repeat the quiz.
- Please allow ample time to complete quizzes and exams. Technical issues can happen and excuses about technical problems will not be accepted from students who wait until the last minute to take exams.
- View your Grades
- nline quiz and exam grades will be available after finishing the quiz or exam. View "Grades" from the course homepage.
- rades for written assignments will be posted within 7 BC working days of the closing date of the assignment.
- rades for discussion postings will be posted within 3 BC working days after the due date.
- inal grades will be received based on the BC registration dates.
- How your Grade will be Determined
Assessment
Graded Points
Possible Extra Credit
Discussions (16 @ 10 points each) 160
Quizzes (14 @ 20 points each) 280
Short Answer Response Assignments (SAR)
(3 @ 100 points each) 300 3 @ 5 pts each
Document Analysis Assignments (DAA)
(3 @ 100 points each) 300
Exams (2 @ 100 points each) 200
Jim Crow LM13 10 pts
Total 1240 25 pts
Grading Scale
Grades
Points
Percentage
Grade = A
1240-1116
90-100+%
Grade = B
1115-992
80-89%
Grade = C
991-868
70-79%
Grade = D
867-774
60-69%
Grade = F
773 and below
59% and below
- Assignment deadlines are posted in the Course Schedule table. Assignments must be submitted through the course as a Microsoft Word attachment. No assignments will be accepted via email.
- Assignments submitted after the due date and time will only be accepted if prior arrangements have been made with the instructor.
- Discussion postings are expected to be posted according to the Course Schedule table.
- Module quizzes will be available during the week they are assigned. They may be taken via any computer with an Internet connection. Course exams will be available during the week they are assigned and will close on the closing date.
- Collaboration between students and discussion of quiz and exam answers are NOT permitted.
- You will only be able to attempt each quiz once. Allow time to complete each quiz before the closing date and time. Make sure you have a solid Internet connection. If your ISP disconnects you during a quiz, that will count as an attempt and you will not be able to repeat the quiz.
- Please allow ample time to complete quizzes and exams. Technical issues can happen and excuses about technical problems will not be accepted from students who wait until the last minute to take exams.
- nline quiz and exam grades will be available after finishing the quiz or exam. View "Grades" from the course homepage.
- rades for written assignments will be posted within 7 BC working days of the closing date of the assignment.
- rades for discussion postings will be posted within 3 BC working days after the due date.
- inal grades will be received based on the BC registration dates.
Assessment
|
Graded Points
| Possible Extra Credit |
Discussions (16 @ 10 points each) | 160 | |
Quizzes (14 @ 20 points each) | 280 | |
Short Answer Response Assignments (SAR) (3 @ 100 points each) | 300 | 3 @ 5 pts each |
Document Analysis Assignments (DAA) (3 @ 100 points each) | 300 | |
Exams (2 @ 100 points each) | 200 | |
Jim Crow LM13 | 10 pts | |
Total | 1240 | 25 pts |
Grading Scale
| ||
Grades
| Points |
Percentage
|
Grade = A
| 1240-1116 |
90-100+%
|
Grade = B
| 1115-992 |
80-89%
|
Grade = C
| 991-868 |
70-79%
|
Grade = D
| 867-774 |
60-69%
|
Grade = F
| 773 and below |
59% and below
|
Communication Policy
Expectations for Course Communication
- Email: Use the email tool only for private, personal, one-to-one communication with a specific individual or groups of individuals. Please do not send course related emails to the instructor's BC email address. Solicitations will not be tolerated. Assignments sent to the instructor's BC email will not be accepted.
- Alternate Communication: In the event that the course communication tools are unavailable for more than 24 hours, the instructor will communicate with students (if necessary) via their BC email addresses. Access your BC email account athttp://www.outlook.com
- Discussions: Use the "generic" discussion thread to post questions that might be of general interest to all students such as questions about assignments, tests, etc. Feel free to respond to other students if you think you can help them. Proofread the content of your posts before making them public; proper grammar and sentence structure are expected. Remember that the discussion tool is public - everyone will be able to view posts and responses. See the Netiquette section below for expectations regarding appropriate behavior in online discussions.
- Faculty Response Policy: Course emails and discussion posts will be answered within 48 hours. Emails sent on Saturday or Sunday may not be answered until Monday. It is recommended that you post course-related questions in the discussion area. If you need info related to a test or assignment, plan ahead and submit your questions well ahead of the due date. Your instructor isnot online 24 hours per day, so please allow time for responses.
- Chat: Chat allows you to talk with other students in the course in real-time outside of your on-campus class meetings. Students must set up times to meet other students in the chat tool. This is a useful tool for coordinating group projects.
- Netiquette: In all online communication, it is expected that all students will follow rules of online "netiquette". Netiquette is a set of rules for polite online behavior that all members of this class are expected to follow. Read some general netiquette rules here.Basically, these rules say "be respectful and be polite to each other" and "be patient," etc. No one is perfect and we all have different approaches to life, work, and school.
- Individuals who violate the netiquette policy or engage in disruptive online behaviors such as flaming (posting disrespectful or hostile comments), posting inappropriate comments, or shouting (posting messages using all capitals) may have their course access privileges revoked and/or they may be referred to the Student Dean. Students who continue to engage in unacceptable online behavior after being warned, may be permanently denied access to the course and/or may receive an F for the course.
- Please don't use email shorthand like ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing) or BTW (by the way) - not everyone knows what these abbreviations mean. If you want to use emoticons (smileys) to convey feelings, please stick with the basics happy :-) sad :-( or wink ;-). Others are less well known and are subject to different interpretations. The idea is to be clear in your communications.
- Privacy Notice: Course access records, quiz scores, email postings, discussion postings, and chat room conversations will be stored. This is one more reason to make sure that your communications adhere to the netiquette policy.
- Individuals who violate the netiquette policy or engage in disruptive online behaviors such as flaming (posting disrespectful or hostile comments), posting inappropriate comments, or shouting (posting messages using all capitals) may have their course access privileges revoked and/or they may be referred to the Student Dean. Students who continue to engage in unacceptable online behavior after being warned, may be permanently denied access to the course and/or may receive an F for the course.
- Please don't use email shorthand like ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing) or BTW (by the way) - not everyone knows what these abbreviations mean. If you want to use emoticons (smileys) to convey feelings, please stick with the basics happy :-) sad :-( or wink ;-). Others are less well known and are subject to different interpretations. The idea is to be clear in your communications.
Other Policies and Procedures
Special Needs - Students having special needs as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act should:
- Notify the Office of Disability Services as early in the term as possible. It is the student's responsibility to contact the Disability Support Office prior to document disability prior to receiving services.
- Notify the instructor after you have contacted the Office of Disability Services so that the instructor can consult with the Office of Disability Services to discuss what reasonable accommodations would be appropriate for your situation.
Academic Honesty
- Each student's academic work must be the result of his or her own thought, research, or self-expression.
- Cheating includes, but is not limited to copying the work of another person (Student Handbook p. 49) or permitting your work to be copied by another person, discussing test answers or questions with people who have not completed the test, distributing assignment materials to other students, possessing course materials that have not been formally released to students in the course, and collaborating on the completion of assignments not specifically designated in the syllabus as being group projects".
- Cheating will be considered a breach of BC's Code of Conduct Policy and may result in academic penalties (zero points on the assignment/test in question, a failing grade for the course), disciplinary action, and/or a referral to the Dean of Student Affairs.Examples 1) If it appears that two or more students have submitted the same material for any solo assignments, each student involved will receive zero points for that assignment. 2) If it appears that a student has copied an assignment from published material (including Internet sites), the student will receive zero points for that assignment.
Critical Event Procedure
- In the event of a school closing due to weather or other major event that might impact class schedules, the instructor will post an announcement indicating what changes, if any, the event will have on the course schedule and due dates.
Logging Off
- Security Warning: If you don't close your browser or log off, a person using that machine after you will have access to your course materials, could send e-mail to me in your name, and view your confidential student record. Protect your password. Click "Logout."
Changes to the Syllabus
- The instructor reserves the right to make changes to this syllabus. In the event that changes become necessary, students will be notified through course email.
Lab Safety (if applicable)
- Students must follow approved safety procedures when completing lab work.
24/7 Helpdesk Information
- For year-round, 24 hour technical assistance use the information below to reach the BConline.
- Phone number: 1 866 468-0009
- Chat: https://chat.perceptis.com/c/broward
- You can also open your own ticket online and can track any of your open help desk tickets at the BConline Support Center.
- Phone number: 1 866 468-0009
- Chat: https://chat.perceptis.com/c/broward
- You can also open your own ticket online and can track any of your open help desk tickets at the BConline Support Center.
No comments:
Post a Comment