There are multiple learning goals for this class. The primary goal is that students gain a broader knowledge of U.S. history and an understanding of America's past based on perspectives of different groups of Americans, as well as how events, practices, and beliefs of the past continue to shape current policy, systems, and society. Students will learn to analyze and contextualize primary and secondary sources, and will practice critical thinking, analytical, writing, and communication skills as they come to their own conclusions about the historical narrative and who should control it. 

I have a master of arts degree in American history, and bachelor of arts degrees in political science, English, and communications with a journalism emphasis. I am lead teacher at The Foster Woods Folk School, which focuses on humanities education within an ecosocial justice framework aimed at celebrating and improving our connections as a global community of humans and non-humans living on Planet Earth. In this role, I work with learners of all ages with a primary focus of working with learners in grades three through 12. I was the director of a social justice center for three years during which time I routinely taught about and facilitated conversations about historical and current political events for both teen and adults participants. Before that, I was a newspaper editor and reporter for 15 years. I have been teaching history, social studies, and English Language Arts classes for several years. 

Homework Offered
Each class meeting will end with a reading and journal assignment to be completed before the next class. At the end of each week, students will have a one-page essay to complete offering an analysis of the past week's topic based on a prompt. An estimated two to four hours will be needed each week to complete the reading and writing assignments. 
2 - 4 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
For students who need a final grade/letter of completion, this is how the final grade will be calculated: 

Class Participation (Attendance and Discussion): 25 Percent
Journal: 25 Percent
Essays: 50 Percent

Students receiving a final grade of C (70 percent) or greater will be issued a letter of completion reflecting the final grade. 
Grades Offered
Journal responses and essays are graded throughout the course. 

– A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

– An Indigenous People’s History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

– A Queer History of the United States by Michael Bronski

–  A Disability History of the United States by Kim E. Nielsen

– An African American and Latinix History of the United States by Paul Ortiz

– A Black Women's History of the United States by Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross

– Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

– She the People: A Graphic History of Uprisings, Breakdowns, Setbacks, Revolts, and Enduring Hope on the Unfinished Road to Women’s Equality by Jen Deaderick 

– The American Yawp (https://www.americanyawp.com/index.html) 

– A True History of the United States by Daniel A. Sjursen

– Whose America? Culture Wars in the Public Schools by Jonathan Zimmerman

– School Book Nation by Joseph Moreau

– We Were There, Too! Young People in U.S. History by Phillip Hoose

-- Lies my Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen