HIST 220 - The American Civil Rights Movement

Number of Credits: 3
The American Civil Rights Movement surveys the grass roots struggle of African Americans to gain equality and justice in the United States, tracing the movement from its origins in the years of Jim Crow, when racism, segregation, and discrimination reigned across the nation, through its achievements in the 1950s and 1960s, focusing upon the major events and personalities that transformed American society as well as the issues that remain unresolved and important for understanding race relations today. Credit by exam available. (Spring Term Only) Three hours lecture each week. Three Credits. Three billable hours.

Pre-requisite(s): eligibility for ENGL 101.
Course Objectives: Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Summarize and explain the major events of the American Civil Rights Movement in order to show clear, concise understanding of how they changed the nation (GE1, GE2, PG1, PG2, PG4)
Communicate orally, by discussing readings that offer various interpretations of key issues relating to the American Civil Rights Movement (GE1, GE2, PG1, PG2, PG4)
Demonstrate informational literacy i.e. know when there is a need for information, and to be able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively use that information for the issue or problem at hand (GE2, GE4, PG1, PG4)
Express themselves in formal writing, by authoring an analysis of historical newspapers and a research paper that offer a clear and supported position on a complex historical subject or event related to the American Civil Rights Movement (GE1, GE2, GE4, PG1, PG2, PG4, PG5)
Think critically, from analyzing the successes and failures of the past, and explaining and predicting how people with values and mindsets different from our own handle similar circumstances (GE2, GE6, GE7, PG1, PG2, PG3, PG4)
Make historical connections by recognizing contemporary behaviors, actions, and policies that demonstrate how people fail to learn lessons from those past successes and failures (GE2, GE7, PG1)
Identify and expand their world perspective by taking into account various, often divergent points of view as well as humanity s commonalities and differences (GE6, GE7, PG2, PG3)