Unit 3 up to Spring Break
by admin - March 10th, 2014
This week: the 1970s, and starting on the research paper (see new tab, above). Continue reading →
This week: the 1970s, and starting on the research paper (see new tab, above). Continue reading →
No class on Feb 14th, due to the snow. Continue reading →
Here’s the unit overview; as we go along I will add links to the discussion days as needed, so check back before/after each class for any updates. Continue reading →
Our class discussion got off to a great start this week with our free-wheeling discussion of the US in 1945. Continue reading →
What to do by Friday: Continue reading →
This website serves as the hub for Tona Hangen’s course, “The United States Since 1945,” for the Spring 2014 semester at Worcester State University (MWF 10:30 am). Continue reading →
Reminder, our third exam will be at 8:30 am on Monday, May 7th in our regular classroom. Your lowest exam grade gets dropped, so if you’ve taken the two previous ones you are not required to take the third one (but I always recommend it). The exam will be a combination of multiple-choice and essay questions. You may bring and use the Chafe book, History of Our Time. Your Congress papers are due at the last exam. If you are not planning to take the exam, please make sure I have your Congress paper in hand before 8:30 that morning.
Thanks, see you then! –Prof Hangen
Here’s the plan for our last four classes.
Mon 4/23 – 9/11 and Post. Reading: HOT 369-395 and MO 296-309.
Wed 4/25 – Congress Day #8 – please be there, it will be our day for hearings, debate and voting on 9 or 10 bills – a big agenda.
Fri 4/27 – Recession 101 (or Congress Day #9 if needed). Instead of reading we have listening, a one-hour radio program (long live radio! But I digress). Please listen to, and take notes on, the “Giant Pool of Money” episode of This American Life from from May 9, 2008 that attempted to explain the origins of the emerging recession (then tagged as a “housing crisis”). Note how the producers narrate this tale, and what was (then) considered significant or ominous. From the vantage point of 2012, what parts of this story might you tell differently?
Mon 4/30 – History in OUR time. If you were assigned to add a new document to the end of the Chafe volume, what would it be? Bring your new document to class IN PRINTED FORM. If it’s lengthy, excerpt/edit it to under 5 pages. Also, your Congress page should be done by this day. The end-of-term instructions for your Congress project are found here: http://us45.wikispaces.com/END+OF+TERM+INFO
Reminder: Our third exam will be Monday 5/7 at 8:30 am in our usual classroom. Note the time is EARLIER than our class meeting time by one hour. Your Congress papers are due at the last exam. If you are not planning to take the exam, please make sure I have your Congress paper in hand before 8:30 that morning.
I’m working from home this morning due to sickness. In place of our class discussion, please take a few minutes to respond to the reading by completing this form. Hit “submit” when you’re done to send it to me. Thanks!
A few of you mentioned that it would be helpful to have some notice on what we’d be doing in Congress days. The next three Congresses are designed to switch gears somewhat from reenactment to writing new legislation. Tomorrow in class I will have a small packet for you describing the process (in somewhat more detail than Schoolhouse Rock, "I’m Just a Bill").
Bring the MOSS book to class, and also bring your laptop.
We’ll be updating the Committee pages and beginning to design/draft legislation. Your legislation does not have to be related to your committee work. Everyone will write his/her own bill which will go to the various committees for discussion and recommendation before heading to the whole Congress for a vote, in our future Congress days.