Assignments = required readings, films, etc. for everyone, regardless of project completed.
Projects = graded work; students must do two per week, only one per section (350-600 words;
12-point Times Roman; double-spaced)
Section #1 projects must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.
Section #2 projects must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Thursday.
Section #3 projects must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Saturday.
Responses/Comments = responses to projects & classmates’ comments (150-200 words)
Must complete two a week.
Indicate additional research in a bibliography (following Chicago/Turabian format)
at the end of a project. (Words do not count towards the 350-600 project total.)
See chart under INSTRUCTIONS on website for locating Chicago Manual information.
End each project with “I pledge” and with word count.
General text: American Yawp--A Free and Online, Collaboratively Built American History Textbook
(americanyawp.com):
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The Cold War
The Affluent Society
The Sixties
The Unraveling
The Rise of the Right
The Recent Past
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28
29
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Complete ONE project for the week’s two sections: due by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.
Complete ONE response/comment (due by noon Thursday).
(The final “exam” project is due by 11:59 Thursday.
See separate instructions—to be posted in “Calendars” page.)
WEEK FIVE: 1960s-1980s –Changing Culture, Politics, Policies
SECTION 1: “Watergate”: Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford
ASSIGNMENTS:
Youtube:
“Watergate” (NationalGeographic: The Final Report) (45:57)
“Richard Nixon Am Not A Crook”
“Ford Pardons Nixon” (9:34)
“Saturday Night Live President Ford” (8:30)
Presidential surveys:
“Siena College Research Institute Survey” on American presidents
C-SPAN’s 2009 Historians Presidential Leadership Survey.
PROJECT OPTIONS:
● Create a glossary of terms and people related to the Watergate
scandal that drove President Nixon from office. Be sure that you use
full sentences with sufficient identification and clarification; entries
should be clear to anyone who reads your glossary even if they know
nothing about the scandal or Nixon. List additional sources consulted
in a bibliography at the end of your glossary. (Bibliography words do
not count toward project’s word count.)
● Through the University of Virginia’s Miller Center (millercenter.org), read
the two essays on domestic affairs and foreign affairs during the brief
presidency of Gerald Ford. Summarize and explain the keys to understanding these aspects of the Ford administration.
 Using the American Presidency Project (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/
inaugurals.php), study the two inaugural addresses of Richard Nixon
(1969/1973) OR of Ronald Reagan (1981/1985). What does each suggest
about how the president viewed his coming four years as president in
terms of potential problems and solutions?What is the tone of each?
What is each’s major focus? If they differ, clarify how and why.
SECTION 2: 1970s-1980s -- Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan
ASSIGNMENTS:
Youtube:
“Jimmy Carter Crisis of Confidence” (17:52)
“Reagan at Brandenburg Gate – ‘tear down this wall’” (1:43)
“President Ronald Reagan – ‘Evil Empire’ Speech” (4:37)
“Wu is on the Phone” (4:01)
“Nov. 9, 1989: The Berlin Wall Falls” (3:20)
For 1st segment on Chevy Chase: “Who’s the Best Presidential Impersonator” (4:05)
Readings:
Pflüger, “Human Rights Unbound: Carter's Human Rights Policy Reassessed” (1989 11 p.)
Bowden, “Among the Hostage-Takers” (2004 12 p.)
Edidin, “Iran Was Once One of America's Closest Allies; Now It Is One of
President Obama’s Biggest Headaches” (2009 5 p.)
Allen, “The Wall” (2014 8 p.)
Levine, “Love in the Afternoon: The Supercouple of 1980s US Daytime Soap
Opera” ( 2014 16 p. text)
PROJECT OPTIONS:
● Using C-SPAN.org, watch the 1980 presidential debate between Jimmy
Carter and Ronald Reagan. What issues dominated the debate? Did the
candidates approach the debate, each other, and the issues in the same
way? What was the key issue established by Carter? By Reagan? (Tip:
review earlier readings about presidential debates.)
● Using “Top 100 Speeches” at presidentialrhetoric.com, read Barbara
Jordan’s 1976 keynote speech and Mario Cuomo’s 1984 keynote
speech to the Democratic Convention. Only eight years apart—
separated by the single term of Jimmy Carter and three years of the
Ronald Reagan presidency—do they differ in how they see the party
and the country? What is each asserting about the key to the future of
the United States in the midst of Republican administrations?
● Check thepeoplehistory.com’s facts and images for either the 1970s or
the 1980s. Find additional images and information that helps clarify the
decade you choose. Create a six-ten slide power point (with brief
written narrative for each slide) to present your discoveries. Be sure to
include foreign policy developments/issues/personages.
● Using the following articles, prepare an analysis of issues related to
the difficulty of evaluating the Reagan presidency: Kruger, “Decade
Trouble” from ArtUS (2003); “The Reagan Legacy,” “The Gipper’s
Economy,” “Cold War to Star Wars,” “Beloved by the Media,” “Reagan
in Truth and Fiction” from The Nation (June 28, 2004); Hertzberg,
“Winner” from the New Yorker (June 28, 2004); Erwin, “Reagan in
Retrospect” (2001 14 p.) (total page count: 25)
Wednesday, June 17, is Reading Day.
Thursday, June 18, is “final exam” day.
Summary of session’s projects and responses/comments—followed in same
document by 350-500 overview of your work and its quality—due by 11:59 p.m.
Thursday.
Overview must be an essay, with clear introduction and thesis statement and
with supporting paragraphs that begin with useful topic sentences.
Do NOT merely list and summarize each project and response. Stand back
and explain the “forest,” using the “trees” for support.