History 2211 Online Syllabus

Discussion Posts:
Discussion occurs on a weekly basis from Tuesday at NOON to the following Tuesday at NOON, with the only exception being Week 10 when there will be a break from discussion. You should aim to be a regular weekly participant in discussion since you're not able to go back and make up missed posts. How you make and distribute your posts is up to you. You can reply to one or more of my questions, reply to a classmate, or make up your own new post.

In order to earn a passing grade (C) in discussion please meet all of the following requirements:

1. Read all posts made by your classmates -- yes, this will be a lot of reading, but that is factored into the overall course reading load.
2. Post at least four times per week
3. Make at least two of those posts before Saturday evening

If you wish to earn a grade greater than C in discussion, you must meet and exceed those requirements. I don't have an exact equivalent of the number of posts you must make for each grade. Evaluating discussion grades includes comparing each student to his/her peers. It also includes evaluating the strength of a student's work each week. You should aim to make several longer and more substantive posts per week, closer to a paragraph in length, and including specific examples or quotations from the reading. A rough estimate would be that 6-7 posts per week would fall in the B range, and 8+ posts per week would be in the A range -- but those have to be legitimate posts that are a few sentences long. Making numerous one-line posts that say something like "I agree with Sarah" will not advance your discussion grade. Click here for a chart that describes which components contribute towards a strong discussion grade.

How will you receive a grade and feedback? I will not be providing weekly feedback or scores on discussion but am more than happy to provide some individual feedback more frequently. Just use your "Contact Linda" forum to request it. I will provide a midterm score after the first eight weeks of the semester. You will receive a final score for discussion at the end of the semester, and your discussion grade will be an average of the two halves of the semester.

How will you receive a grade and feedback? I will not be providing weekly feedback or scores on discussion but am more than happy to provide some individual feedback more frequently. Just use your "Contact Linda" forum to request it. I will provide a midterm-ish score after the first four weeks of the semester. You will receive a final score for discussion at the end of the semester, and your discussion grade will be an average of the two halves of the semester.

What if you miss a week of Discussion? I will automatically drop your "lowest" week in Discussion at the end of the semester. You cannot go back and make up missed work in Discussion since the goal of requiring weekly posts is to produce a back-and-forth dynamic that helps you learn the course materials and feel connected to your classmates. We can't work together to grow a classroom community if students are posting at different times throughout the semester, so please make sure to stay involved in the current week! Late work in Discussion is not counted, so make sure to get your posts in before the Tuesday noon deadline.

How you make and distribute your posts is up to you. You can reply to one or more of my questions, reply to a classmate, or make up your own new post. << Important! All posts are counted, no matter how you make them. Students usually have a different mixture of replies and new posts each week.

As much as possible, I hope to generate discussions that are student-centered and student-led. I will comment occasionally, especially to clarify questions of fact, but my hope is that your voices are the most prominent throughout the semester, not mine. Also, since I evaluate your discussion posts more thoroughly after the discussion has ended, I may miss something during the time that the discussion is actually occurring. Please alert me about any concerns or questions that arise during each week of discussion.

Given that life is easily disrupted these days, I wanted to build in an opportunity for you to "take a break" from discussion. You have two free tickets that can be used to skip a week in Discussion or if you have a week where your work in discussion isn't as strong as you'd like. Unlike the tickets for quizzes, this ticket will be automatically applied by Linda -- one in the first half and one in the second half. Put another way, when I calculate your discussion grades, I will automatically cancel out the score for the lowest weeks.

How you make and distribute your posts is up to you. You can reply to one or more of my questions, reply to a classmate, or make up your own new post.

As much as possible, I hope to generate discussions that are student-centered and student-led. I will comment occasionally, especially to clarify questions of fact, but my hope is that your voices are the most prominent throughout the semester, not mine. Also, since I evaluate your discussion posts more thoroughly after the discussion has ended, I may miss something during the time that the discussion is actually occurring. Please alert me about any concerns or questions that arise during each week of discussion.

EXTRA CREDIT FOR YOUR DISCUSSION SCORE: There is an ungraded Discussion Forum in D2L called "Class Cafe." I would like to encourage you to stop by the Cafe and "chat" with your classmates. In order to encourage folks to post in the Cafe, you can earn up to TEN extra credit points to be added to your discussion score at the end of the semester, five available in the first half and five in the second. How can you earn the extra credit points? It's pretty easy! I will award points for the posts you make, and will strongly encourage you to have at least one post be a question for others to answer. The rest of your posts can be replies to your classmates. If you make 10 posts and are involved in the overall conversation, you will earn 10 points.

	There are many assigned readings available for free on the internet. If you’re confused about which internet link to read for class, ALWAYS start at the class schedule webpage. Everything you need is there. I highly suggest you print out these readings if you can. Printing out readings helps you become an “active reader,” which means you can take notes, highlight, etc. as you read. You have free printing in the campus computer lab, so I suggest you make a trip to campus and print out the readings for the entire course. Printing on-campus is free!
	North Country: The Making of Minnesota by Mary Lethert Wingerd and Kirsten Delegard. This book is the main "textbook" for our class. It begins in the earliest years of the history of the land that will eventually become Minnesota and goes up through official statehood. This book aims to tell a more complete and complex history of Minnesota, weaving together the intertwined stories of indigenous peoples, early French and British traders, and European settlers. This book also contains some amazing illustrations with accompanying essays. For sale in the bookstore or can be purchased via on-line retailers. Any edition is fine; you may purchase used to save money! It also may be available to check out (for free) via your college or public library. I highly recommend that you do NOT purchase an electronic version of this book. Reading and note-taking in the hard copy of the book will help with reading comprehension, but more importantly, the beautiful (and required) images are not included in the electronic version. If you are not able to purchase this book, there will be a free link to an electronic version posted on D2L.
	The Haymakers: A Chronicle of Five Farm Families by Steven Hoffbeck This book tells the stories of five families from different times in Minnesota history, including the author's own farm family. In addition to learning about how farmers do their daily work, this book also tells the stories of immigrants to our state and the struggles that family farmers had and continue to have. If you have any farmers in your family background (or even if you don't!) the stories in this book will feel familiar to you. For sale in the bookstore or can be purchased via on-line retailers. Any edition is fine; you may purchase used to save money! It also may be available to check out (for free) via your college or public library. If you are not able to purchase this book, there will be a free link to an electronic version posted on D2L BUT be aware that the electronic version of this book will only be available to limited students to use at the same time, so if you plan to rely on the electronic book you will need to plan ahead.
	Rez Road Follies by Jim Northrup. Students usually love this book. Northrup spins together humorous stories of his family and his tribe's history, mixed in with serious discussions of Native American history and politics. For sale in the bookstore or can be purchased via on-line retailers. Any edition is fine; you may purchase used to save money! It also may be available to check out (for free) via your college or public library. If you are not able to purchase this book, there will be a free link to an electronic version posted on D2L BUT be aware that the electronic version of this book will only be available to limited students to use at the same time, so if you plan to rely on the electronic book you will need to plan ahead.
	The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir, by Kao Kalia Yang. A story of a Hmong family who fled Laos and eventually immigrated to Minnesota. We will read approximately half this book and the other half is available as an extra credit assignment. For sale in the bookstore or can be purchased via on-line retailers. Any edition is fine; you may purchase used to save money! It also may be available to check out (for free) via your college or public library.
	Class Action: The Landmark Case that Changed Sexual Harassment Law by Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler. This book tells the true story of Lois Jenson, who was one of the first women to work in a mine up on the Iron Range. She and other women experienced devastating sexual harassment while on the job. They banded together and won the first class action sexual harassment lawsuit in U.S. History. We will read approximately half this book. For sale in the bookstore or can be purchased via on-line retailers. Any edition is fine; you may purchase used to save money! It also may be available to check out (for free) via your college or public library.