Module One
As you can see from the “table of contents” page, there are five modules, each lasting for three weeks. The dates for the module are delineated on that previous page. Since this is the first module, I will explain the layout, repeated in the subsequent four module pages. First will be an announcement as to any special assignment for the particular module. Then the readings from the course texts are delineated. There will be videos to watch that can be accessed through the college’s library holdings. You may have to login using your Banner ID and password. Each video will be linked so you do not have to search for it (let me know if there are ANY issues). Related to your course texts will be a series of webpages, some you must read, that are connected to the modules topic(s). These are outside my control. I attempt to find government, museum, and university sites but if you have ANY problems, let me know. Then we will be watching a movie (more on this in an announcement). You will be writing a reaction paper for each and here Murdoch will be quite helpful. Last is the essay for each module. Review the announcement on essay exams for direction.
Special assignment: this module is going to have a “mini-module” in it. You should plan on completing that work in the first week. For the rest of the module, you will have the entire three-week period. Caution: do not put your work off until the last minute (very easy to do, BUT NOT in your best interests).
Course readings for Module One: From Faragher, Frontiers: A Short History of the American West, read the Introduction and chapters 1-3, 15. From Murdoch, The American West: The Invention of a Myth, chapters 1 and 2.
Videos for this first module: From the PBS series The West: The People and Empire Upon the Trails. From the American Cinema series, The Western (if you find this interesting or see a possible research paper topic, you may also like Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs: The History of Western Cinema. Only the first video is required).
Below are websites that have content connected to this module. Those with an asterisk (*) are part of your course readings and should be used as part of your discussion posts and essays. Those without an asterisk are there for your enlightenment. Use them to further your own learning or as a starting point for a possible research topic. *Henry Nash Smith’s Daniel Boone (“Civilizer” and “Natural Man”) California Mission History Lewis and Clark Rivers, Edens, Empires Zebulon Pike
As explained in a Blackboard announcement, we will be looking at a film(s) in each module. For this module we will be watching the following: From the Library of Congress, The Great Train Robbery John Ford’s Stagecoach
Using your texts and notes, examine these interactions, explaining what you see happening, and make an argument that explains the significance of this early period of history. This module’s essay: As we have seen, there was no singular approach when it came to interactions between native peoples and the different Europeans who came to the New World. Reminder, you must do this essay then one of the next three.