AMH 3931-0177 American Myths, American Values

Syllabus

Spring 2019
MWF, 10:40-11:30/ TUR 2354
Professor Jack E. Davis, Ofc. Keene-Flint 235
davisjac@ufl.edu 273-3398
Ofc. Hrs: W & F, 11:30-1:00

In this course, we will examine the major myths that inform, and that are informed by, American values. The unifying fabric of America culture, myths shape the meaning of the American experience, American identity, and national character, and in turn determine the prevailing understanding of social groups and their relationships with the dominant American culture. It is this dynamic of myth, culture, and society that will constitute the focus of this course.

Course Objectives:

Expanding ones knowledge of fundamental myths and values and their place in the larger American historical experience
Introducing the student to scholarship on the subject.
Promoting critical thinking about American myths and values and their impact on the social relationships among different human groups.

Research Paper

(Including Style & Grammar exercise) – 30%

Take-Home exercise #1 – 30%

Take-Home exercise #2 – 30%

Class participation 10%

Total 100%

Course Books:

James Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your History Textbook Got Wrong
Michael C. C. Adams, The Best War Ever: America and World War II
Stephanie Coontz, The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap
Mike Wallace, Mickey Mouse History: And Other Essays on American Memory

Week I (January 7-9 (no class Friday Jan 11))

Introduction; Defining American Myths and Values
Reading: Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, introduction, chapter 3.

Week II (January 14-16 (no class Friday Jan 18)) Inventing a Nation and Its History

Audio: Michael Parenti, The Struggle for History
Reading: Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, chapters 11, 12.

No class Monday, January 21, MLK Day

Week III (January 23-25) American Values and the Prototypical American Hero

Reading: Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, chapters 1, 2.

Week IV (January 28-Feb 1) The American Hero cont.

Film: The Natural
Reading: Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, chapters 1, 2.

Week V (February -8 (no class Monday February 4)) Anglo-Saxon Superiority and the Red Man Myth

Reading: Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, chapter 4.

Week VI (February 11-15) Red Man Myth cont.

No class Friday February 10
Style and Grammar Exercise Due (print out from my web site)
Film: In the White Mans Image
Reading: Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, chapter 4.

Week VII (February 18-22) Myths of Race

Film: Ethic Notions
Readings: Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, chapter 5.

Week VIII (February 25-March 1) Myths of Race cont.

Take-Home Exercise #1 Due
Film: Amos N Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy
Reading: Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, chapter 6.
Spring Break March 2-10

Week IX (March 11-15) Myths of Race cont.

Reading: Coontz, The Way We Never Were, 232-54.

Week X (March 18 & 22 (No class on Wednesday March 20)) Cold War Conformity and American Family Values

Prospectus/Bibliography Due
Film Leave It to Beaver
Reading: Coontz, The Way We Never Were, 1-121, 149-179.

Week XI (March 225-29) War and Glory; Reshaping Values with Old and New Myths

Films: The Green Berets and Platoon
Reading: Adams, The Best War Ever.
Week XII (March April 1-5) War and Glory cont.
Reading: Adams, The Best War Ever.

Week XIII (April 8-12) The Struggle for History

Reading: Wallace, Mickey Mouse History, section IV.
Research Paper Due April 10

Week XIV (April 15-19) Mickeys World

Reading: Wallace, Mickey Mouse History, section II.
Week XVI (April 22-24) Tying Up Loose Ends
Take-Home Essay Due (April 24)

Course Requirements Descriptions:

All written work for the course must be typed or computer generated and in 12-point double-spaced print. Your work must also be presented in third-person language. It also must be turned in on the due date to be graded at full credit.

Course Attendance is required. A missed class will result in a deduction from your class participation grade. An absence is considered excused if there is an acceptable reason according to UF policy (http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/policies/regulationattendance.html). Examples of acceptable reasons are medical illness, religious holidays, military obligation, and the twelve-day rule. It is the students responsibility to notify the instructor of an excused absence and to provide documentation of an acceptable reason. Otherwise, the absence will be considered unexcused and will result in a quiz grade of zero if a quiz is administered when the student is absent. Whenever possible, the instructor should be notified prior to the absence. When this is not possible (e.g., due to unexpected emergency or illness), the instructor should be notified as soon as possible.

Take-home essays will represent responses to a list of essay questions provided on my web site at least one week prior to the due date of the assignment. The questions will be drawn from the assigned readings and the course lectures, and you will be expected to use the course readings and your class notes as sources to answer the questions. Each answer must be presented in essay format, using formal, academic language and style (i.e., complete sentences, tightly constructed paragraphs, no colloquialisms). Do not, in other words, provide answers in lists or bullets. Those that address each question in a rigorous and organized manner are more likely to earn a decent grade. These grades will be dependent in part on your compliance with the rules in the “Style & Grammar Guide” exercise.

The Research Paper should represent original work that deals with the dynamic of myths and values in American history. Many students in the past have done poorly with this assignment because they made the mistake of simply debunking a myth without examining its connection to American values. Please remember that your papers inquiry should reflect the larger objective of this course. Please consult the Research Paper link on my web site for common guidelines related to writing a research paper. Do also remember that your capacity to follow the Style & Grammar rules will, as always, count toward your grade.

Other Business:

Plagiarism:

Keep in mind that your written assignments must represent original work. You cannot copy the words, phrases, arguments, ideas, and conclusions of someone else or of another source (including Internet sources) without giving proper credit to the person or source by using quotation marks and a foot note. Do not cobble together paragraphs or passages of separate texts and then try to claim that you have done original and legitimate work. You must write with your own ideas and in your own words. If you copy the words of someone else without putting those words in quotation marks, REGARDLESS OF CITING THE SOURCE, you are plagiarizing. Plagiarism is theft, and it is academic dishonesty. Plagiarism is grounds for an automatic failing grade in the course, a grade that is final and that cannot be made up. If you have any questions about how you are citing or using sources, come to me for the answers. Please also review the universitys honesty policy at: {http://www.dso.ufl.edu/judicial/academic.htm}.

Classroom Assistance:

Please do not hesitate to contact the instructor during the semester if you have any individual concerns or issues that need to be discussed. Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office { http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drp/}. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide that documentation to the instructor when requesting accommodation.

UF Grading Scale

Please note UFs new grading scale with the addition of minuses.

A = 4.0
A- = 3.67
B+ = 3.33
B = 3.0
B- = 2.67
C+ = 2.33
C = 2.0
C- = 1.67
D+ = 1.33
D = 1.0
D- = 0.67
E = 0.0
E1 = 0.0 Stopped attending or participating prior to end of class
I (incomplete) = 0.0
Note: A grade of C− is not a qualifying grade for major, minor, Gen Ed, or College Basic distribution credit. For further information on UF’s Grading Policy, see:

http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/policies/regulationgrades.html

http://www.isis.ufl.edu/minusgrades.html

Alpata: A Journal of History:

Keep in mind that the undergraduate- and graduate-student members of Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society at the University of Florida publish an academic journal each spring. In the fall, the journal editors will be sending out a call for submissions (articles and book reviews) to the journal.

Take Home Essay 2

To complete the assignment, you are required to respond to the instructions below by writing an essay (using third-person language only) of no more than five pages. This means that you will need to put a lot of thought not only into the content of the paper but also into the presentation of your response (I will not read past 5 pages). You should compose the essay in a single seamless narrative, without rephrasing the questions and without listing responses in bullets.

To be successful at this task means that you will want to employ an economy of words in tightly constructed sentences and paragraphs. You should write in clear and concise language that conveys only information that is relevant to the subject. In other words, avoid becoming bogged down in minutia but provide the information necessary to show that you have a comprehensive understanding of the history. When you respond to the questions, always think in terms of historical significance and draw on the course readings that cover the period that you are asked to discuss.

(Remember to follow the rules in the Writing Mechanics Exercise. Retrieve it from your class notebook and put it on your desk next to your computer before your begin. Many people in the class dropped a letter grade in other writing assignments because they failed to follow the rules outlined in the exercise.)

_________________________________________________________________________

Drawing from assigned readings and class lectures, discuss three of the four following myths: racial myths associated with African Americans; family myths as examined in Stephanie Coontz’s book; World War II myths, and the cultural struggle over Enola Gay (consult the Wallace book on the Enola Gay too); and Walt Disney’s America, past and future. Ensure that in your discussion you refer to the various ways in which the myths were propagated, their message, and their cultural meaning (i.e., the values embodied within). Good luck.