Why a Web Course?

The easy answer to this question might be, “because it is the wave of the future.” I am sure we all can imagine a time—and indeed many of us are already there—when every aspect of our lives will run through the filter of the Internet.  One reason we use the Internet so much is because there are so many resources online to help manage our lives. The same thing is true of learning on the Internet. The sheer volume of information online has made self-education commonplace. Who hasn’t needed a last-minute recipe or wanted instant medical information on some ache or pain? So, in one way, this course is simply an extension of what many of us are already doing in our daily lives.

If there is so much information out there and most people know how to go on Google and conduct a simple search, it seems we are back to square one: Why a Web course? And, in particular, why a history Web course?

Here are a few reasons …

• To learn what questions to ask and how to answer them: Historians don’t just compile and present information. They bring a theoretical paradigm andan analytical strategy to their research material, and employ a methodology for conducting their research and presenting their findings. In short, they know what questions they want to ask and how they want to approach answering them. In addition, they are able to take their findings (their answers) and put them in context, making connections between pieces of information to make history more accessible, interesting, and relevant. In this class, we will hone our questioning skills and try to interrogate the past with the age-old discipline of historians even as we work in the medium of tomorrow.
  

• To learn how to evaluate sources: For unwary historians, the Internet is at once a treasure trove and a trap. Consider that people of every political, social, and cultural persuasion imaginable have equal access to the Internet. What are the chances of all that information being unbiased or otherwise accurate? Information does not just appear on the Internet; someone at some point had to put it there—and for a reason. The historian must wrestle with any author’s intent when engaging with historical information. When it comes to historical information on the Internet, however, the task becomes even greater because of the increased volume of data and the anonymity of many Web content providers. Bias or other issues of perspective do not necessarily rule out historical data, but they must be considered in any historian’s calculations and mitigated through the historical method. In this Web course, we will engage with a variety of sources and “put them to the test.” While all the course material is vetted by the instructor, we will learn how to apply the critical edge needed to question it and place it in context. In the process, we will discover why sources like Wikipedia and Ask.com, while convenient for quick access to basic information, have not yet crossed the threshold of acceptable sources for historical scholarship.
  

• To become part of a learning community: Perhaps the greatest reason to take a Web history course and not cloister ourselves in solitary inquiry is to become part of a community of scholars all actively engaged with the past. Online courses provide a unique opportunity to go deep into topics together in a way that a standard in-class discussion session cannot. (There cannot be any wallflowers in this class, because there are no walls!) In this course, we will learn how to build on the observations of our peers, articulate our interpretations in a way that engages with other students’ insights, and practice presenting our findings in a manner respectful of our peers’ value systems and perspectives. By the end of the semester, we will have developed a shared and diverse perspective on the past—even if we disagree about its meaning.

[top of page]

Course Objectives

The purpose of this class is to learn about historical developments in the post World War II era and to appreciate the historical roots of these issues. The class materials are designed to:

1. introduce places, people, events, and ideas in world history since 1945
2. improve ciritical thinking, communication, and writing skills.

You will have an opportunity to discuss material in online forums as well as develop your ideas through independent work.

[top of page]

How the Course Works

The course is divided into thirteen lesson weeks and two exam weeks. Each lesson week we will read selected passages from our textbook and review a series of primary and secondary source materials. Then we will discuss the material on Blackboard’s discussion forum. Blackboard will be the primary interface for student-to-student and student-to-instructor interaction. The forum content and my weekly summary of the forum combine the lecture and discussion formats of a standard class.

We will start each lesson week (Monday and Tuesday) reading over the course assignments and taking notes on them in preparation for discussion and exams. You should refer back to our themes and the lesson study guides as you read the assignments to inform your interpretation. Readings and sources (videos and other material) will sometimes be grouped together into blocks of two or three pieces on a single topic.

On Wednesday, the discussion forum on Blackboard will be opened for your contributions. The forum will contain a “question thread” for each of the week’s readings or sources or groups of readings or sources (one thread for each group). There will also be one “themes and connections” thread per forum that challenges you to think about broader issues that tie the disparate readings together. You should attempt to address each thread, citing material from the textbook and our weekly selections, and actively engage your peers through responses and questions.  At the end of the week, contributions to the forums will be evaluated individually according to the grading rubric found in Blackboard’s Documents area.

To do well on the discussion forums, you should

• address each reading for the week, citing evidence from the texts
• consider broader themes and contexts in analytical and interpretive postings
• actively engage with your peers in a respectful manner.

These forums are time-sensitive. Participation in them is required, and if they are missed they cannot be made up. Preparation will help us cover the material, so be sure to read the study guides to know what to look for in our sources.

The course also includes a midterm and final exam, administered through Blackboard. These are essay exams that will assess your knowledge of the broader themes in the class narrative and specific examples from our readings.

[top of page]

Themes

It is impossible to provide a truly comprehensive treatment of any historical era. Historians therefore focus on particular subjects and themes around which they can develop an historical narrative. The broader a course’s perspective, the more historians must lean on themes to hone their analysis. They might, for example, focus on economics and design a course around the theme of development. Or, they might focus on politics and design a course around the theme of conflict and resolution. For this course, the following themes will guide our exploration of the past:

• political ideologies and the paradoxes of their implementation
• the growth of nation-states, nationalism, supranationalism, and internationalism
• tensions between individual rights and societal claims.

The first theme will guide our investigation of the Cold War and the spread of communism and capitalism throughout the world. It will consider how political ideas and practice interact in a variety of settings, from powerful democratic regimes to impoverished oppressed peoples.

The second theme will inform our study of the evolution of classic European nation-states after World War II, the creation of new nations following decolonization, and the development of economic and political treaties and organizations that have contributed to greater international stability.

The third theme is perhaps the most important. We will explore the many claims of individuals in an age in which human rights have risen to the top of international political priorities. This theme emerges in discussions of religious identity, women’s rights, environmental degradation, and ethnic and racial discrimination, and it touches on the fundamental quandary of modernity—the limited scope of “universal” virtues and values.

[top of page]

Text and Materials

Required texts are available from Friday Center Books & Gifts. You can order the books online, or you can print out the book order form to fax or mail with payment for texts as indicated on the form.

The following textbook is required:

• Michael H. Hunt, The World Transformed: 1945 to the Present. New Your: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004. ISBN 978-0-312-24583-2

Professor-Emeritus Hunt is a US diplomatic historian at UNC-Chapel Hill who taught this course for many years.

The only other book you need to purchase is:

• Aimé Césaire, A Discourse on Colonialism. New York: Monthly Review Press, 2000 (originally published in 1950). ISBN 978-1-58367-025-5

Each lesson’s reading assignments are posted on the lesson pages. In addition to assignments in the Hunt textbook you will be assigned online readings or videos to view. These additional materials will also be posted as links or pdfs on the course Blackboard site.

You should read a newspaper with good international reporting or watch or listen to an international news broadcast (such as BBC World News, CNN International, Reuters International) every day—it is critical in this course to stay engaged with world news.  You should also have access to an atlas. If you do not have ready access to one, I recommend that youo consider purchasing an inexpensive historical atlas like Hammond's Historical Atlas of the World. These additional resources will help you understand the course material, and referring to them will enliven our discussions.

[top of page]

Grading Process

Final grades will be determined as follows:

• Discussions: 30%—Forums will open at 3 pm each Wednesday and close on Saturday night at 11:59 pm. Your contributions will be evaluated according to the criteria in the discussion forum grading rubric. Each forum will be graded on a 100-point scale, and the average of all forum grades will be your final discussion grade.
• Midterm: 25%—The midterm will consist of one three-page essay in which you will answer one of three prompts, plus a section of term identifications. You will have from 3 pm Wednesday to 11:59 pm Saturday to submit your answers in a Microsoft Word document (or other compatible text format) using the Assignments tab in Blackboard. Be sure to keep copies of all your work.
• Final exam: 40%—The final will consist of two three-page essays in which you will answer two of four prompts, plus a section of term identifications. You will have from 3 pm Wednesday to 11:59 pm Saturday to submit your answers in a Microsoft Word document (or other compatible text format) using the Assignments tab in Blackboard. Be sure to keep copies of all your work.
• Participation: 5%—Your participation grade is an overall assessment of your engagement with the course. It is based on discussion forum grades, the number of Blackboard logins, and appraisals of submitted work. There will be several extra-credit opportunities on Blackboard that can boost participation grades considerably and contribute to the life of our learning community. These may include film reviews, discussions of current events, term identifications, challenges, and so on.

Grade conversion scale:

Please take time to understand the qualitative assessment for each numerical grade. “Superior” work requires considerable effort and originality beyond simple participation.

[top of page]

Honor Code

Remember that as a student of UNC-Chapel Hill, you are bound by the University's Honor Code: “It shall be the responsibility of every student at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to obey and support the enforcement of the Honor Code, which prohibits lying, cheating, or stealing when these actions involve academic processes or University students or academic personnel acting in an official capacity.” An especially serious Honor Code violation is plagiarism. If you are uncertain about what is considered plagiarism, please talk to your course instructor.

[top of page]

Communication

While the online experience does not offer face-to-face contact, it is important to remember that your instructor is in fact a person! There is no obstacle (within reason) that good communication cannot overcome. You may contact your instructor with questions regarding the content of the course and your progress—there is an e-mail link at the top of every lesson page. Please include “HIST 140” in the subject line of your e-mail.

By all means contact your instructor if you are having difficulties fulfilling the class requirements. Late assignments without prior notification to the instructor will not be accepted. Judgments of demerit or dispensation on approved late assignments will be decided on a case-by-case basis. As a general rule, last-minute pleas are received less favorably than proactive appeals for extensions.

Contact your Instructional Designer at the Friday Center about problems with this Web site, including bad links.

If you have any logistical questions as you work through the course (enrollment, Onyen, credits, withdrawal, and so on), contact the Student Services staff at the Friday Center for Continuing Education (phone 919-962-1134 or 800-862-5669).

See below for protocols and procedures on sending e-mails.

[top of page]

Course Mechanics

Blackboard

All communication between you and your instructor, including course discussion forums and e-mail, will be conducted through a learning management system called Blackboard. You will need your UNC Onyen and Onyen password to access Blackboard. Please contact the Friday Center if you do not have an Onyen or are unsure of your status.

There is a link to the Blackboard site in the gray navigation bar at the top of every page in this course. Click on that link, and then use your Onyen to log in to Blackboard. Click on the “HIST 140” link, and you will see navigation buttons on the left taking you to the Discussion Forums, Exams, Assignments, Course Documents, and so on.

If you experience problems accessing Blackboard, this is what you should do:

• If you do not already have a UNC Onyen, go to the Onyen Web site and follow the instructions for creating an Onyen.

• If you have an Onyen but have forgotten it (or the password), visit the Onyen Web site.

• If you have your Onyen but can't log in to Blackboard, contact Janice Durham at the Friday Center.

• If you can log in to Blackboard but can't find this course listed, contact Janice Durham at the Friday Center.

• If you can't locate an exam or discussion forum in Blackboard, contact the Instructional Designer.

• If you have other technical problems while using Blackboard, contact Blackboard Help (use the Help button in Blackboard, or call 919-962-HELP).

Library Services and Resources (including e-reserves)

Students enrolled in Carolina Courses Online have access to the UNC Library System. Visit Distance Education Library Services to access a wide array of online services and resources including e-reserves, online databases, online journals, online books, and live help with research and library access.

Most online resources require you to log in with your Onyen and password. If you have any trouble finding the resource that you need or logging in to a resource, you can contact the library through the contact information at Distance Education Library Services. You can chat live about your problem, or send an e-mail to request assistance.

Web Resources

The following Web resources will be helpful to you as you work through the lessons. They will be particularly helpful for researching more on terms for each lesson.

• CIA Factbook
• Wikipedia (be sure to use other resources to corroborate information)
• Encarta Online
• The New York Times
• OnlineNewspapers
• World Bank Data by Country
• United Nations CyberSchoolBus
• Amnesty International
• Freedom House

E-mail

E-mails regarding the course will be sent from within Blackboard and will go to your UNC Onyen e-mail address (the one that appears when you post to the discussion forum). Off-campus users can access their UNC mail using Webmail. You can have your Onyen e-mail forwarded to a different e-mail address by clicking “Forward email” at the Onyen Web site. Please also notify Janice Durham at the Friday Center of the change.

If you use a filter on your e-mail account, you are responsible for ensuring that it does not prevent you from receiving messages from your instructor, the course listserv, or Friday Center staff.

We strongly recommend that you use your UNC e-mail account for all e-mails regarding your course. Hotmail users should be aware that Hotmail will block messages sent from within Blackboard because Blackboard uses “blind carbon copy” to protect privacy. If you forward your mail to a commercial e-mail service provider (yahoo.com or msn.com, for example), messages from your instructor, Friday Center staff, or other students may be delayed because these service providers sometimes place temporary blocks on messages originating from universities. If you are using a commercial e-mail service provider, the e-mail links in this course may not work for you.

Submitting Assignments

It is extremely important for you to save copies of any work you send to me via e-mail. If I don't receive your work, you must have a duplicate copy, indicating the date sent, to prove that you submitted the assignment on time. It is your responsibility to maintain copies of your sent e-mails, as there is no way to guarantee that any e-mail message will be delivered.

Other Questions

Contact me with questions regarding the content of the course and your progress. There is an e-mail link to your instructor at the top of every lesson page. Please include “HIST 140” in the subject line of your e-mail.

Contact your Instructional Designer at the Friday Center about problems with this Web site, including bad links.

If you have any logistical questions as you work through the course (enrollment, Onyen, credits, withdrawal, and so on), contact the Student Services staff at the Friday Center for Continuing Education (phone 919-962-1134 or 800-862-5669).

[top of page]

Lessons and Schedule

[top of page]

Lesson 1