HSTY 120 Course Schedule

NOTE: All dates and assignments are subject to change. Please be aware of any announcements made in class or via the course website.

Last updated: January 19, 2021

Unit 1: Autobiographies as Historical Sources

Date Format Topic Read to Prepare for Class Do to Prepare for Class
Mon., Jan. 25 Zoom Course Introduction
Wed., Jan. 27 Zoom How do historians work? Complete Skills Module: Understanding Secondary Sources
Mon., Feb. 1 Remote What is an autobiography? Diane Bjorklund, Interpreting the Self: Two Hundred Years of American Autobiography, ch. 2
Wed., Feb. 3 Zoom Telling the story of one’s life Samson Occom, “A Short Narrative of My Life” (undated) Complete Skills Module: How to Read a Primary Source
Mon., Feb. 8 Remote Terms of life stories Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson, Reading Autobiography, ch. 9 (selections)
Wed., Feb. 10 Zoom Evaluating different perspectives
  • Mary Antin, The Promised Land (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1912), ch. 9.
  • Jane Addams, Twenty Years at Hull-House, with Autobiographical Notes (New York: Macmillan, 1910), ch. 11.
Mon., Feb. 15 No class meeting Presidents’ Day
Wed., Feb. 17 Zoom Exposing slavery through autobiography Henry Bibb, Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American Slave, Written by Himself (New York, 1849), chs. 8-10. Immigration history response due
Mon., Feb. 22 Remote Honors Project: Reading an Autobiography  See Blackboard for details about the project
Wed., Feb. 24 Zoom Experiences of War Teresa Fazio, Fidelis: A Memoir (Lincoln, NE: Potomac Books, 2020), 13-31. Slave narrative response due
Mon., Mar. 1 Zoom Author Visit: Teresa Fazio
  • In addition to the class visit, Dr. Fazio will be participating in a conversation at 4:30 p.m. See the Arts & Ideas Series page for information and registration.
 Bring a question based on Fidelis

Unit 2: The First American?

Date Format Topic Read to Prepare for Class Do to Prepare for Class
Wed., Mar. 3 Zoom Eighteenth-Century British America
Mon., Mar. 8 Remote The Worlds of Benjamin Franklin  Franklin, Autobiography, Part One, pp. 9–67
Wed., Mar. 10 Zoom Presenting an Ethical Life  Franklin, Autobiography, Part Two, pp. 69–88 Complete Skills Module: Writing an Effective History Paper
Mon., Mar. 15 Remote The Emergence of Benjamin Franklin Franklin, Autobiography, Part Three, pp. 89–130
Wed., Mar. 17 Zoom An Incomplete Story Franklin, Autobiography, Part Three, pp. 130–60 Complete Skills Module: Writing About History in Your Own Words
Mon., Mar. 22 Remote Thinking About Franklin In Chaplin, ed., Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography:

  • I.B. Cohen, “Franklin and Science,” 336–43
  • David Levin, “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: The Puritan Experimenter in Life and Art,” 343–57
  • Peter Stallybrass, “Benjamin Franklin: Printed Collections and Erasable Writing,” 383–94
Wed., Mar. 24 Zoom The Man and the Performance Michael Warner, “Franklin: The Representational Politics of the Man of Letters,” in Chaplin, ed., Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, 357–83.
Mon., Mar. 29 Remote Research Day

Unit 3: Experiencing the Civil Rights Movement

Wed., Mar. 31 Zoom The Segregated Society of Jim Crow America  The American Yawp, ch. 26 (The Affluent Society) Franklin essay due
Mon., Apr. 5 Remote The Long Battle for Civil Rights Beals, Warriors Don’t Cry, Introduction (xix–xxiii), chapters 1–10 (pp. 1–115)
Wed., Apr. 7 Zoom Brown v. Board of Education and the Fight over Schools Beals, Warriors Don’t Cry, chapters 11–16 (pp. 116–75)
Mon., Apr. 12 Remote Research Day Beals, Warriors Don’t Cry, chapters 17–18 (pp. 176–203)
Wed., Apr. 14 Zoom Civil Rights and the Cold War Beals, Warriors Don’t Cry, chapters 19–28 (pp. 204–312)
Mon., Apr. 19 No class meeting Patriots’ Day
Wed., Apr. 21 Zoom Other Perspectives on Little Rock
Mon., Apr. 26 Remote Research Day

Conclusion: Autobiographies and History

Wed., Apr. 28 Zoom What is an Autobiography? Have Franklin, Beals handy for class discussion Beals essay due
Mon., May. 3 Remote Research Day Finalize projects for submission/presentation
Wed., May. 5 Zoom Presentations  Presentations due