Oberlin College
Department of History
History 257: American West
Spring 2006
MWF 9:00-9:50 AM
Pablo Mitchell
Office: King 141E, x8191
E-Mail: pablo.mitchell@oberlin.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday 11-12, Wednesday 10-11, Friday 11-12 (and by appointment)
The American West occupies a special place in American history. This course will survey major events in Western history, from the journey of Cabeza de Vaca and the Pueblo Revolt, to the Gold Rush and the Mexican American War, to World War II, the rise of the urban West, and 1960s political mobilization from Tierra Amarilla to Orange County to the Castro. Themes will include the West as geographic region, the West as place of cultural mixing, and the West of desire and fantasy.
Required Text:
Richard White, It’s Your Misfortune and None of My Own
Optional Texts for Book Reviews
Tomás Almaguer, Racial Fault Lines (1994)
Peter Boag, Same-Sex Affairs (2003)
Susan Lee Johnson, Roaring Camp (2000)
Patricia Limerick, Legacies of Conquest (1987)
Lisa McGirr, Suburban Warriors (2001)
Elliott West, The Contested Plains (1998)
Donald Worster, Rivers of Empire (1985)
The textbook is available for purchase at MindFair books (and the college bookstore ).
All texts are available on reserve at Mudd Library and through Ohiolink.
Additional readings are available Online and through Blackboard.
Grading:
Class Participation/Attendance 20
Quizzes 40
Midterm Exam 50
Final Exam 50
Book Review 40
Final Grade will be out of 200 points
Class Participation:
Regular attendance and thoughtful, prepared, respectful participation in classroom discussion are required features of the class. Attendance (and absences) will be considered in determining your final grade.
Quizzes and Exams
Scheduled reading quizzes (see below for dates) covering the readings and lecture material will focus on critical locations, concepts, events, and individuals in Western History. There will also be a midterm exam and a final exam.
Written Assignment
The written assignment for the course will be a 4-5 page book review. The book review should address the author’s thesis or main points, methodological approach, and historiographical concerns. The most successful essays will focus on both describing the author’s intentions and evaluating the work’s relative strengths and weaknesses. Students will choose one of the optional texts for the book review (other books may be substituted with permission of the instructor).
Papers must be legibly typed or word-processed, with reasonable fonts, double-spacing, and 1-inch margins. Please attempt to stay within the assigned page limits. Late papers will be penalized 1 point for every 24 hour period the papers are late. Papers more than ten days late will not be accepted. Students must complete all written assignments in order to receive credit for the course.
Honor Code
All work in this class is governed by the Honor Code of Oberlin College. The honor code is available at: http://www.oberlin.edu/students/links-life/rules-regs.html#honor. If you have questions about how the honor code applies to any assignment or work done for the class, please feel free to consult the instructor.
Schedule and Reading Assignments:
Monday February 6 Introduction
Wednesday February 8 New Days Rising
Read: White, pgs. 1-26
Friday February 10 New Days Rising
Read: White, pgs. 27-53
_____________________
Monday February 13 Armies of Whiteness
Read: White, pgs. 57-69
Wednesday February 15 Armies of Whiteness
Read: White, pgs. 70-84
Friday February 17 Reform and Resistance
Read: White, pgs. 85-102
Thomas G. Andrews, “Turning the Tables on Assimilation: Oglala Lakotas and the Pine Ridge Day Schools, 1889—1920s”
http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/whq/33.4/andrews.html
Monday February 20 Reform and Resistance
Read: White, pgs. 103-117
Wednesday February 22 Reading Quiz
Friday February 24 Mountain Men and Mountain Mommas
Read: White, pgs. 119-136
_____________________
Monday February 27 Law and Order
Read: White, pgs. 137-178
Wednesday March 1 Gold Fever
Read: White, pgs. 179-194
Friday March 3 Wagons Ho!
Read: White, pgs. 194-211
_____________________
Monday March 6 Little Houses on the Prairies
Read: White, pgs. 212-235
Wednesday March 8 Engines That Could
Read: White, pgs. 236-269
William Cronon, “Annihilating Space: Meat”
Available Through Blackboard in “Course Documents”
Friday March 10 Reading Quiz
_____________________
Monday March 13 Hard Days and Nights
Read: White, pgs. 270-297
Wednesday March 15 Drawn by Law
http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jah/89.1/lee.html
Friday March 17 West of Sex
Read: White, pgs. 316-327
Monday March 20 Social Distortions
Read: White, pgs. 328-340
Wednesday March 22 Separate and Unequal
Read: White, pgs. 340-352
Friday March 24 MidTerm Exam
_____________________
Monday March 27 Spring Break
Wednesday March 29 Spring Break
Friday March 31 Spring Break
_____________________
Monday April 3 Securing the Perimeter
Read: White, pgs. 353-387
Wednesday April 5 Chambers of Commerce
Read: White, pgs. 391-430
Friday April 7 Bodies Impolitic
Read: White, pgs. 431-443
_____________________
Monday April 10 Reading Quiz
Wednesday April 12 Bodies Impolitic
Read: White, pgs. 443-457
http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/whq/34.1/warren.html
Friday April 14 Great Depression
Read: White, pgs. 461-477
_____________________
Monday April 17 Great Depression
Read: White, pgs. 477-495
Wednesday April 19 California Dreamin’
Read: White, pgs. 496-517
Friday April 21 Reading Quiz
_____________________
Monday April 24 Cities of Empire
Read: White, pgs. 517-533
Wednesday April 26 Writing the Range
Read: Patricia Limerick, “The Case of Premature Departure”
Available on Blackboard and through web at:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8723%28199203%2978%3A4%3C1380%3ATCOTPD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-U
Friday April 28 Cities of Empire
Read: White, pgs. 537-573
_____________________
Monday May 1 Expanding the Parameters
Read: White, pgs. 574-596
Wednesday May 3 City of Angels
Read: White, pgs. 596-612
Friday May 5 Western History as American History
Read: Frederick Jackson Turner, “Significance of the Frontier in American History”
Available at http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/TURNER/ and Blackboard
_____________________
Monday May 8 Electric Horsemen
Bring Rough Draft of Book Review to Class
Wednesday May 10 With a Pistol in Her Hand
Read: White, pgs. 613-634
Friday May 11 Lonesome, Crowded West
Book Review Due Friday May 11, 2006 by 5pm
Final Exam Date, Time, and Location T.B.A.