It attempts to consider not only what we know about the past, but how we know it. Upon completion of the course, students are expected to have a basic knowledge of the key issues and events of American history and an understanding of how historians try to reconstruct the past. The class uses both lectures and small group student discussions of key issues and readings. There are no pre-requisites. There are two in-class essay exams and a final exam.
Students also write weekly essays on the readings.
Students also write a more lengthy essay on a key theme or issue in American's past, chosen in consultation with the instructor. The Art of Historical Detection. Frederick Douglass, The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass Kate Chopin, The Awakening Various handouts of primary sources.