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. 

2 - 4 hours per week outside of class
Homework
Frequency: 1-2 per week
Feedback: as needed
Details: 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. 
Assessment
Frequency: 7 or more throughout the class
Details: Journal responses and essays are graded throughout the course. 

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. 
Letter Grade
Frequency: 1 after class completion
Details: Students who complete the course with a C (70 percent or greater) will receive a letter of completion with their letter grade within a month of the course's last meeting. 
Certificate of Completion
Frequency: 1 after class completion
Details: Students who complete the course with a C (70 percent or greater) will receive a certificate of completion within a month of the course's last meeting. 

– 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