HSTY2656: Semester 1, 2020

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Units HSTY2656 Semester 1 2020 [Normal day]

Unit of study_

HSTY2656: A House Divided: The American Civil War

Semester 1, 2020 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

The Civil War had momentous consequences for America - realigning the nation's political culture, ending slavery and forever transforming millions of lives. This unit analyses the social, cultural and political history of the Civil War and Reconstruction. We begin by looking at combat experience, civilian mobilization and state formation, the war's effects on gender and race relations and the causes for Reconstruction's failure, and we end by focusing on how and why this war continues to resonate in American culture.

Unit details and rules

Unit code	HSTY2656
Academic unit	History
Credit points	6
Prohibitions ?	None
Prerequisites ?	12 credit points at 1000 level in History or 12 credit points at 1000 level in American Studies
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Frances M Clarke, frances.clarke@sydney.edu.au
Tutor(s)	Bradley Fitzmaurice, brad.fitzmaurice@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Final exam	Exam	35%	Formal exam period	2 hours
Outcomes assessed:
Participation	Participation	15%	Multiple weeks	n/a
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Essay proposal	10%	Week 06	500 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Research essay	40%	Week 09	2000 words
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100
Distinction	75 - 84
Credit	65 - 74
Pass	50 - 64
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see sydney.edu.au/students/guide-to-grades.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	1.Introduction; 2. Slavery and the American Republic	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 02	3. Territorial Expansion and Political Realignment; 4. Free Labor Ideology & Northern Motivations for War	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 02	Creating the emotional context for war	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 03	5. Coming Apart: Sectionalism in the 1850s 6: Southern Secession	Lecture (2 hr)
	Lincoln/Douglas debates	Tutorial (1 hr)
	Victorian soldiers	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 04	7. Wartime Mobilization 8. Stalemate	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 05	9. The War for Foreign Support 10. Situating the Civil War in a Global Context	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 05	Proposal workshop	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 06	11. Turning Points 12. The Birth of Modern War?	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 06	The hard hand of war	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 07	13. Emancipation and the Second American Revolution 14. Confronting the Dead	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 07	An expanded state and a transformed nation	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 08	15. Growing Dissent in the North 16. The Limits of Confederate Nationalism	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 08	Civil liberties in the Confederacy	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 09	17. Guerilla War 18. Experimenting with Racial Boundaries	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 09	The slaves' war	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 10	19. War’s Aftermath 20. The Radicalism of Reconstruction	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 10	Testing the boundaries of freedom	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 11	21. Counter-Revolutionary Violence 22. Veterans and Sectional Reconciliation	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 11	Late nineteenth-century revisionism	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 12	Film: Free State of Jones	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 12	Challenging the lost cause	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 13	23. The Lost Cause Myth 24. The Transformation of Civil War Memory	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 13	Re-fighting the Civil War	Tutorial (1 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: According to Faculty Board Resolutions, students in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences are expected to attend 90% of their classes. If you attend less than 50% of classes, regardless of the reasons, you may be referred to the Examiner’s Board. The Examiner’s Board will decide whether you should pass or fail the unit of study if your attendance falls below this threshold.
Lecture recording: Most lectures (in recording-equipped venues) will be recorded and may be made available to students on the LMS. However, you should not rely on lecture recording to substitute your classroom learning experience.
Preparation: Students should commit to spend approximately three hours’ preparation time (reading, studying, homework, essays, etc.) for every hour of scheduled instruction.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. demonstrate an understanding of the period between the American Civil War and Reconstruction, together with an understanding of how scholars and the American public have remembered and memorialised this era
LO2. think creatively, independently, and analytically about the process of writing and researching history
LO3. learn independently
LO4. examine the past from multiple angles and perspectives
LO5. express what you have learned in both written and verbal form.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

changes to reading, assessment tasks, lecture content, and tutorial organization

Additional information

Site visit guidelines

If you are undertaking professional experience/field education placement as part of your enrolment in this unit of study, please assess your specific needs and requirements for the safe and successful completion of an external placement within a host organization. You will be given the opportunity to disclose any health issues that have a work health and safety significance before arranging a placement so that your safety, and the safety of others, can be properly assessed. The Professional Experience Coordinator/Field Education Manager will work to ensure that the workplace assignment to you is appropriate for your needs and requirements. If you are experiencing disability, and require reasonable adjustments to be arranged, please contact Disability Services as early as possible prior to commencing the internship. Please note, in all cases, and for the purpose of organizing reasonable adjustments, only the impact and not the nature, of your disability will be disclosed to the host organisation.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Site visit guidelines

Disclaimer

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