Palo Alto College, San Antonio Texas
U.S. History 1301 on the Web Home Page
Peter J. Myers Associate Professor of History pmyerspac@hotmail.com
Phone: 210/486-3153 Help Desk: 210/220-1616 Office: 123 in Social Sciences Building
Office Hours: 12:00-1:00 & 2:00-3:15 (MWF) & 11:15-1:00 (TR) or by appointment

Internet Student

Read This First!	On Line Orientation for History 1301- REQUIRED
Course Objectives	Goals and Opportunities & Palo Alto College Catalog Description
Class Calendar	The Themes- What you have to do, and when you have to do it!- 90% of the grade
Required Books	*The Electronic Textbook & Flyover History: Remembering Our Ignored Past- Volume I*
Course Syllabus	Course requirements, grading, books, and important links
Final Exam	10% of the grade- DUE on December 8th- Monday
FAQ's	Frequently asked questions
About the Instructor	Your intructor's background, experience, and some philosophy
Acknowledgements	A List of Thank Yous

Palo Alto College Catalog Description of History 1301

A general survey of United States History from Indigenous Peoples to the middle of the nineteenth century.
Satisfies one-half of the Texas legislative requirement of six semester hours in American history.

Course Objectives:

My goal as your history instructor is that you as an undergraduate student will utilize this on-line class the same way as you would any other college course. This is a unique opportunity to discover American history through a variety of printed primary and secondary sources as well as the possibilities available on the World Wide Web. HISTORY 1301- Electronic Textbook provide a non-traditional perspective on our recent past. Along with the Electronic Textbook, you will read many articles from Flyover History: Remembering Our Ignored Past- Volume I- 7th edition. (Available for purchase at the Palo Alto College bookstore.) I attempt to tailor the thematic assignments and exams in conjunction with the readings, relevant web sites, television shows, and even individual field trips.

This course allows you the opportunity to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the links between the past, the present, and the future. In order to better understand our world, we must first recognize the trends, forces, and people who contributed in the shaping of contemporary American life. I encourage you to analyze those forces of the past that have had an effect on us as a people, who possess the skills necessary to examine and analyze our present environment and culture.

Another objective of this course is to become more technologically savvy. Colleges and universities around the country have an immense responsibility to help bridge the gap between the highly skilled creators of technology and the rest of us. This course will hopefully serve students' interests in this pertinent endeavor.

Lastly I want you to view history through the lens of inquiry. Not to memorize "important" dates, names, and facts (unless you are competing on Jeopardy) BUT to reconsider why understanding the past is integral to who we are and how fascinating history truly can be.

On Line Orientation for History 1301-Read This First!

It is REQUIRED that you read and complete this entire On Line Orientation,
regardless of whether or not you will be attending an On Campus Orientation.

On-Campus Orientation for Summer semester will be on:
Monday- August 25, 2008: 5:30-6:30 pm (Location: Ozuna 119)
Wednesday- August 27, 2008: 5:30-6:30 pm (Location: Ozuna 125)

(Note: You need only attend one On-Campus orientation.
It is not mandatory to attend an On-Campus orientation,
although I do recommend it.)

History 1301 on the Web is designed for students who:

are self-motivated
do not need much direction from their instructors
like to read and write
do not procrastinate
have some familiarity with computers and the Internet.

Access to a computer on a regular basis is required. You must have an e-mail address: to submit quizzes and assignments, to receive grades, and to communicate with the instructor. Age makes no difference; motivation and self-discipline do. This course requires much reading and outside research in web based sources. If you feel you have what it takes to succeed, this course will be interesting and rewarding.

Your FIRST requirement for this course is answering an Orientation Questionnaire.
ALL students must complete this ORIENTATION QUESTIONNAIRE BEFORE I can grade anything else. Thanks.

GETTING TO THE COURSE AND DOING THE WORK:

Link to the Class Calendar. Here you will find twelve themes listed, each with it's own link.
For example, Click on Theme One. Everything required for Theme One is located there.
Read the Introduction to the theme . Each introduction is short- approximately a page and provides the student with a basic background on the subject area. (In fact, I recommend that you read all of the themes' introductions regardless of whether or not you select that theme to submit.)
Read the required chapters for the theme in HISTORY 1301- Electronic Textbook and Flyover History: Remembering Our Ignored Past- Volume I- 7th edition. .
Complete the quiz. When you submit the quiz, list the question # and the letter for each answer next to the #.
For example:
QUIZ #1
1. A
2. B
3. C
4. D
5. A
6. B
7. C
Now scroll down to Assignments. You will have a minimum of six essay assignment choices. Each assignment choice has a capital letter in front of it. (Letters A through J are used as assignment letter options.) (Ignore the box: "For In-Class Students Only!") Select three of the assignment choices and complete each essay with a minimum of 100 words. (Unless otherwise noted.) Here's a concise site on The Writing of a Historical Essay or Research Paper.
The essay assignments are to be written in paragraph form and are to be IN YOUR OWN WORDS. If a quote is used in the paper, it should be short (a sentence or two) and be in quotation marks and/or italics. Here's an example: "It is two old worlds that linked up, making one new world." (Flyover History, p. 21) Plagiarism will result in a 0 for the theme submitted. If a student is caught plagiarizing on a second theme, s/he will receive an F for the course.
Once you have completed the theme's work- reading the introduction and chapters, doing the quiz, and typing three essay assignments- send all of your work to me at pmyerspac@hotmail.com. Be certain to label the email's subject area with the course name and theme's number. (e.g. Subject: History 1301- Theme #1 submission) Although I prefer that all work is directly submitted on to your email, you may send one attachment with all work (three essays and a quiz) per theme. More than one attachment per theme slows down the process considerably for reading and grading!
You are required to complete NINE THEMES out of the twelve, so you have many choices. The Themes constitute 90% of the course grade. You are required to complete three of the four themes in Column A, three of the four themes in Column B, and three of the four themes in Column C. Starting with this semester, those students who complete Themes #1, #5, and #9 will receive one bonus point for each submission. I want to encourage students to begin course work ASAP and this should provide an extra incentive for those "early birds." (Send no quizzes nor assignments for the three themes you do not select.)
The Final Exam is worth 10% of the course grade and it is REQUIRED. The final exam is due on Monday, December 8th by NOON.
Requirement! Please include your name, course name, and theme # on all emails (and attachments). Your email address is not enough. I find it hard to remember email addresses (e.g. mama1@yahoo.com = Sue or huskyman@juno.com = Harry) but I will get to know your name within a few weeks.
Send all of your theme work together to me at pmyerspac@hotmail.com. (Don't send the quiz and assignment essays separately.) Your theme's work can be sent directly on to the email or sent via an attachment. If you use an attachment, you must use the program Microsoft Word.
Due dates are important. Once a Theme's due date has past, you missed it. LATE WORK IS NOT ACCEPTED.
When you have a question or comment or concern about a particular theme or the course, please label your email with a word such as: QUESTION, COMMENT, PROBLEM, URGENT... This way I'll be able to differentiate the assignment theme emails (which take more time to read and assess) from the emails that need immediate attention.
All of your theme work will be graded usually within 48 hours. I will send your grade directly to you through your email address. There is not a place on the Web to view your grades, so be sure to keep a record of your grades. If you happen to lose track of any of your grades, please email me.
If you do not hear back from me within 72 hours of the theme's due date, please contact me at pmyerspac@hotmail.com and/or leave me a message on my phone at 210/921-5058.
SAVE ALL WORK during the semester! There have been times when an email has not reached me. When this occurs, I ask that the student re-send the theme work to me. Do not delete any of your theme work during the semester. Save it on a flashdrive and your harddrive.
Students are to use HISTORY 1301- Electronic Textbook and Flyover History: Remembering Our Ignored Past- Volume I- 7th edition to their fullest potential. NOTE: The Electronic Textbook may be updated during the semester. I will also direct students to vitally important information sources available on the World Wide Web. (All themes have web resource links.) Often you will be asked to view a television show on PBS, watch a clip on YouTube, and occasionally there are opportunities for individual field trips.
Although I attempt to keep current on all the Web links for the course, occasionally sites are removed from the Internet. If you ever discover a link which is "broken", please inform me ASAP. I'd appreciate it.
At this point, click on the course Syllabus and on FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions). After reading these over, many of your initial questions will be answered. Students with individual questions or comments should direct them to me at pmyerspac@hotmail.com , or phone me at 210/921-5058. Please keep in touch . Have a great semester.

Peter J. Myers- Associate Professor of History

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

A Story of "The Man Behind The Curtain"

There are many roads that you can take in life. There are the well worn paths that have been taken numerous times and then there are others that have few footprints. Over my two-score and some years, I have ventured off on many paths far from my New York roots. Although I was born in NYC, I was raised primarily in Long Island- if I was to write an autobiography, I'd title it Son of Suburbia. I grew up in a single income family, where my father was a Presbyterian chaplain at a psychiatric institution and my mother was a housewife who worked part-time at the local elementary school. Many a summer day I biked to Jones Beach or spent it at my aunt and uncle's original pre-fab house in Levittown. I attended Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania; Worked as a fratenity consultant in Indianapolis, Indiana; Graduated with a Masters in American History from New York University; Received my teaching certification from Queens College; And was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Papua New Guinea. I moved to San Antonio in 1987, where I worked: as high school teacher, a weekend house parent for wayward boys, and a part-time instructor at San Antonio College. The following year I began my career as a history professor at Palo Alto College. I am married to Marguerite Leroux Myers, who traveled to Texas from her British Columbia home as a traveling nurse. We have three AmeriCanadian children- Dylan, Brianna, and Justin; this school year we host a foreign exchange student- Luisa from Germany.

In this class, I recommend that you try The Road Less Traveled. This course provides you with the flexibility to venture off into the past that will shine light on areas of history that might have been little known to you before. You have the opportunity to follow those paths that might make all the difference.

To read some students thoughts on Myers, link to Myers Makes History come Alive for PAC Students. (Source: Palo Alto College: The Pulse)

Class Calendar

This is the place to go for your all of your assignments. For example, when you click on Theme #1 you will find all of the information you need to complete THREE theme assignments and the quiz. You are required to complete three assignment essays and a quiz per theme. This means you must read the materials, answer the multiple choice quiz, and finish a minimum number of essays. The themes constitute 90% of the course grade. ( The Final Exam is 10%.) You are to complete a minimum of THREE THEMES from Column A, THREE THEMES from Column B, and THREE THEMES from Column C.

A- Themes 1-4	B- Themes 5-8	C- Themes 9-12
Theme #1: Mesoamerica Due: Tuesday, September 2nd	Theme #5: Confederation to Constitution Due: Monday, September 29th	Theme #9: Manifest Destiny Due: Monday, October 27th
Theme #2: First Encounters Due: Monday, September 8th	Theme #6: Midwives to Mill Girls Due: Monday, October 6th	Theme #10: Slavery Due: Monday, November 3rd
Theme #3: English Conquest Due: Monday, September 15th	Theme #7: Herstory Due: Monday, October 13th	Theme #11: Abolitionists & Apologists Due: Monday, November 10th
Theme #4: The American Revolution Due: Monday, September 22nd	Theme #8: Displacement Due: Monday, October 20th	Theme #12: The Civil War Due: Monday, November 17th

Acknowledgements

It takes a college community to raise a Web professor. I am grateful for working at Palo Alto College, where so many people are willing to go out of their way to help you. I am particularly indebted to Lana Roderique, who spent countless hours teaching me HTML as a second language. Lucy Barlow has scanned and loaded a number of items for this course. Irene Scharf- librarian extraordinare- provided the initial impetus for co-teaching a history course in a computer lab; she has been an inspiration for her creative approaches in using the Web. Professor Rob Hines has shared many ideas on how to be a more effective Internet teacher; he paved the way for others to follow as Palo Alto's first History Web instructor and he continues to teach Internet History. I thank librarian Colby Glass for the use of his office to complete projects and for providing me with numerous web sites- many of which are incorporated into History 1301. Ginny Stowitts- chairperson of the Social Sciences- encourages History on the Web to expand and improve. Anita Soliz- administrative assistant- is always there when I open my door and shout "HELP!" Gary Shelman has provided me with the classroom space to teach the web-enhanced classes. My history colleagues Javier Aguirre, Louis Armstrong, Ed Atwood, Tori Beckman-Wilson, Marty Bock, Nancy Crockett, Rex Field, Joe Kaufmann, Paul Toro, Todd Velasco, and numerous others always provide inspiration on scholarly subjects. I am particularly impressed with the caliber of students who enroll in Web-related courses. They have shared many ideas on how to improve the content of this course. And I'd be remiss in not mentioning my greatest fans- my wife Marguerite and children- Dylan, Brianna, and Justin. In the end, I alone bear responsibility for the materials on these web pages.

the illinois institute of art

Back to the Main Menu

Online ACCD Library Catalog | Palo Alto Library | Palo Alto College