Category Archives: Announcements

Welcome, Visitor!

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This course website offers a glimpse of a course I’ve proposed as a Kilachand Honors Seminar. My proposal draws its structure from a Rhetoric 102: Research and Writing course I used to teach at CGS, calling on students to take the lead in teaching themselves and one another about 1960s America through independent research projects, collectively forming a scholarly community / research group.

The website you are viewing is a modified version of the site I developed for that earlier Rhetoric 102 course, and still contains content added by students in the course of their research.

  • Fragments of the Past are primary sources that struck students as worthy of further attention and discussion.
  • Research Findings are major assignments from Units 1 and 2, categorized by topic.
  • Sixties Ficitons catalogs work completed for the final, text-in-context unit.

1960s America: topics list

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In this first phase, we will collectively develop a basic understanding of the Sixties. One student from each section will assume responsibility for researching one of the following aspects of the era, each a different “slice of history.” Working in collaboration with students from the other sections, you will (1) dig up quality secondary sources, (2) collaborate in writing a report, and (3) publish an annotated bibliography of recommended sources on your topic. In addition, working individually, you will (4) create and deliver an oral report. Continue reading →

Roadmap for the Semester

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Rhetoric 102 provides the research skills and analytical tools required for advanced undergraduate studies. This semester you will do college-level research on several topics, present your findings to the class, and write three essays. We will broaden our focus from writing to cover powerpoint presentations, the research process, and bibliographic skills. Because research benefits from deep immersion, the whole semester will center on the same overarching field of study: 1960s America. But these projects will approach the era from very different angles. Continue reading →

Course Philosophy

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This course is founded on several fundamental principles:

  1. When it comes to the topical focus of our course (1960s America), the students are the primary teachers. Each of you is responsible for researching the topics you choose, and then for teaching that material to your fellow classmates. This is emphatically NOT a lecture course.  90% of material presented in the classroom should come from you, and only 10% from me. Continue reading →

Why 1960s America?

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In the sixties, tensions that had been kept under wraps in the prior decade erupted dramatically onto the public stage, tearing the social fabric in ways that still resonate today. The struggle for Civil Rights could no longer be contained to just the South, forcing whites in other parts of the country to come to grips with their own legacy of racism. Feminists found a voice in the writings of Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem and by the end of the decade had organized a national movement. Student radicals organized around all manner of causes, but most powerfully against the war in Vietnam and the Military Industrial Complex which was seen as sponsoring it. Rock music, emblematic of youth culture, voiced a generation’s idealism, proclaiming “Love Is All You Need” and “3 Days of Peace & Music.” Continue reading →

Semester Grading

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Your grade will be calculated based on the following factors, with the grade weight shown in parenthesis:

  • Unit 1: Master a Topic (work as group)
    • Written Report (2)
    • Oral Presentation (2)
    • Annotated Bibliography (2)
  • Unit 2: the Search for Identity in America
    • Joint HU-RH Essay (4)
  • Unit 3: Historical Essay
    • Research Paper (4)
  • Unit 4, Literary Text-in-Context Essay:
    • Research Paper (4)
    • Oral Presentation (2)
  • Miscellaneous:
    • Homework (1)
    • Class Participation (1)
    • Peer Responses (1)
    • ePortfolio (1)

In addition, a grade penalty will be assessed for unexcused absences beyond 3.