Affiliate Programs
The Gateway Writing Project is an affiliate of the National Writing Project.
The Missouri Association of the Teachers of English
American Studies
1999-2000
Course Overview
1. Course name: American Studies
2. Teachers:
Gary Ryan, Department of Language Arts, Christian Brothers College High School
James Dohle, Department of Social Studies, Christian Brothers College High School
3. Textbook: The American Experience, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1991.
Vocabulary for the College Bound
Outside readings on topics pertinent to the subject matter will be assigned from books and periodicals available in the library.
4. General Course Description:
This two-semester course is the perfect meld of U.S. history and U. S. literature. For school year 1999-2000 four modules have been selected to be "team-taught." These modules reflect four specific epochs: Puritanism, Transcendentalism, the Civil War, and the Harlem Renaissance. In these time periods students will explore themes such as The Individual, the American Dream, Violence, and Pluralism. This interdisciplinary exploration of themes will be set in a chronological framework.
5. Prerequisites: Junior Standing
6. General Course Objectives:
A. To provide an interdisciplinary framework for the study of history and culture of the United States.
B. To promote individual inquiry and small and large group interaction in meeting the course objectives
C. To nurture critical thinking skills
D. To approach the American experience thematically
E. To focus on the analysis of events, movements, groups, and individuals who have shaped and continue to shape American culture and history.
Student Objectives:
Students in the American Studies course will be able:
A. To interpret historical data
B. To use maps, charts and data tables as an aid to historical study.
C. To evaluate the "cause and effect" relationship between historical events.
D. To defend a personal interpretation of historical data in classroom discussion./
E. To identify the major periods and associated persons in the development of United States culture and history
F. To demonstrate a mastery of effective oral, written and visual communication of ideas related to American culture.
G. To explore through inquiry and research, the interdisciplinary nature of a topic, as well as make a critical response to that inquiry
7. Methods of Presentation
A. Lecture
B. Homework Assignments (nightly)
C. Role-playing
D. Class discussion
E. Simulations (Computer)
F. Field Trips (E.G. History Museum, Scott Joplin House)
G. Audio-Visual Presentation
H. Internet use.
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