History 123
CRN# 32576 SM-121 Tuesdays/Thursday 5:15-6:40 pm Porterville College Spring 2010
Professor Jay Hargis SM-113E 791-2247 jhargis@portervillecollege.edu
Introduction
Welcome to Mexican History! This is my favorite class to teach and my wish is for you to become as interested in Mexican History as I am.
Class Description
A study of the social, political, and cultural history of the people of Mexico from the pre-Columbian civilizations, through the Spanish conquest, and colonial settlement, three centuries of colonialism, the war for independence, the eras of Santa Anna, Juarez, and Diaz, 19th century neocolonialism, the Mexican Revolution and its aftermath, to NAFTA, the Zapatistas of Chiapas, devaluation, the persistence of drug money and corruption, the flowering of political change since the 2000 presidential election, and other present-day problems and challenges of the Mexico of President Calderon. Special emphasis is placed on understanding Mexico and its culture and people today and Mexico’s complex and still evolving relationship with the United States in the light of historical roots and experiences.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Learning history is a lot more than just names and dates. These are the History skills that you will be learning and demonstrating as we apply and analyze the historical information covered in this class.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
1. Identify cause-and-effect relationships between significant Mexican historical events, ideas, movements,
and peoples;
2. Analyze historical information from primary and secondary sources in terms of significance, intent,
reliability and point of view;
3. Research and write short historical essays that support each thesis with a well-organized presentation of
historical facts;
4. Demonstrate understanding of historical viewpoints, analyses, and the impact of events on the peoples of
Mexico;
5. Apply an understanding of Mexican historical developments to contemporary issues and events.
Class Learning Objectives:
This is the content of the course that you will be responsible for understanding and recalling.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to discuss the causes and effects of the following:
1. The Castilian conquest of ancient Mesoamerica
2. The development of colonial political, economic, and social institutions and hierarchies in New Spain
3. Mexican independence in 1821
4. The impact of 19th century ideas of liberalism, conservativism, progresss, and nationhood
6. The Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920
7. Mexico’s 70 years as a one-party state (PRI)
8. Mexico’s unequal relationship with the US
Books
| Meyer, Sherman & Deeds, The Course of Mexican History (8th ed) Oxford University Press, New York, 2006 |
 |
This narrative, a secondary source (the authors’ summary, interpretation, and retelling of history) presented in chronological order, is our main text, and make sure you have ONLY the 8th edition. |
| Jaffary, Osowski, & Porter, Mexican History: A Primary Source Reader, Westview Press, Philadelphia, PA, 2010. |
 |
This book gives us primary sources to understand the views/experiences/voices of the Mexicans who were involved in the historical events they present over the whole course of their history. |
Expectations
Mexican Map Exam: Students must recall the names of the states of Mexico on a blank outline map (refer to either text to study). Multiple tries are possible if not initially successful. The map will be worth up to 25 points.
Midterms: There will be two brief open-note midterm exams. Each exam will be worth up to 50 points and will (in theory) test your understanding of all material presented in lecture, videos, and assigned readings up to each exam date.
Mexican History Research Questions: Utilizing both the texts and other sources, students will assess source materials and draw conclusions on three assigned research questions/topics from different periods of Mexican history. Each assigned question is worth up to 50 points.
Mexican Current Events: A minimum of 10 (substantial - that is, not postage stamp size, not sports, not business notices, nor just photo captions) current news articles about about events in Mexico, also is worth up to 5 points each – a possible 50 points. A maximum of 15 may be turned in (25 extra credit points available). Each article must be brought in during the week it was published and will be mounted on a piece of paper with bibliographic information and a brief paragraph summary of the article. All students will briefly discuss their articles in class, especially in the light of Mexican History.
Participation: Student participation in class is expected and will be worth up to 25 points for the semester. Students participate through questions/answers/discussions/completion of brief periodic reading-check quizzes.
Extra Credit: Besides the current events there will be several opportunities for extra credit over the course of the semester. This will include participation in the class pot luck, the college’s multicultural food day, a possible field trip to Los Angeles, attendance at selected on-campus presentations, and possibly others. Please note: that extra credit will only be counted if you have completed all the assigned tasks in the class. Thus, it is extra and cannot substitute for missing assignments.
Final: The final exam on Thursday, May 13th (5:30-7:30 pm) will include short-answer topics and a several short essays to write (note: two mandatory assigned essays will be on films/videos presented in class, and on evaluating the readings from the book Mexican History (again, another reason to take good notes). Overall, the final will focus on recalling and applying themes utilizing historical evidence presented throughout the course and will be worth up to 150 points.
Course grades will be assigned as follows:
A: 450-500 Points - Superior class performance
B: 400-449 Points - Above average class performance
C: 350-399 Points - Satisfactory class performance
D: 300-349 Points - Minimal class performance
F: Below 300 Points - Unsuccessful class performance
Academic dishonesty will result in a course grade of F.
For Students With Disabilities
If you need special accommodations for a disability, please let me know as soon as possible (at 791-2247, via email, or at my office) or contact the campus Disability Resource Center (in AC-115 or call 791-2215) so that we may help you.
How to Be Successful
Do you want a good grade? The formula for student success in this course is very simple and straightforward:
Don’t miss any classes.
Do all the assigned readings & tasks. A basic “given” is that you are keeping current with the assigned readings and assignments. You will find out the hard way that the semester is much too short to procrastinate and unexcused late work/make ups will not be permitted.
Take notes. You need to be able to remember the details of what we have read and studied/covered in class previously and put it all together for assignments, tasks, and exams. You will be able to use your notes on the midterms and the final.
Ask questions in class if you don't understand. This is a normal learning process and you will be building participation points when you do so. Your question helps others who also may have had questions about readings, lectures, or assignments and are not confident enough to ask.
Think about what you are learning. Being successful in history requires that you “do something” with the information you receive through lecture, reading, video, or discussion. Simple (short-term) memorization of dates, facts, and figures may not be enough to get you through an exam or this course and, in reality, is a poor substitute for learning. The “something” you need to do is think about the information. This means organizing it, analyzing it, and coming to some conclusion about it. This is what historians (and beginning history students need to) do. From this process comes questions and comments in class, which are very welcome. So open your mind and learn.
Additionally, consult your syllabus or the class website at least once a week to check/confirm reading assignments and due dates for class tasks (be organized).
And always (at least) try to do any extra-credit questions or assignments. Extra credit is only applied when completed to those students who have completed every assigned regular class task. It will not substitute for any missing work.
Use all available class resources. Check out Mr. Hargis's History Writing page. It gives you approaches to successfully reading, writing, and understanding what it is we're doing here. Our class project/essay rubric is on the instructor's college webpage. You are really wasting much of your time and effort in this class if you don't utilize these resources available to you.
Finally, if you feel that you are having problems being successful, please seek out the instructor for help as soon as possible for help. My office hours are posted on the instructor's college webpage. You also may contact me with questions or for setting up a face-to-face conference by the phone number and/or the email address given above. Don't wait until it is too late.
Schedule of Units, Readings, Lectures, & Assignments
Mesoamerica
Read: Meyer, Sherman, & Deeds Unit 1; Mexican History Part 1
January 19: Course Expectations; Doing History; Mexico Today; Pre-Columbian Beginnings
January 21: Classic Civilizations: the Maya & Teotihuacan
January 26: Post-Classic Cultures: Toltecs & the Mexica
January 28: Mesoamerican Civilizations in Perspective; Mexican State Map Quiz
Castilianos
Read: Meyer, Sherman, & Deeds Unit 2; Mexican History Part 2 (10-14)
February 2: Roots of the Spanish Presence in the New World
February 4: La Conquista
Nueva España
Read: Meyer, Sherman, & Deeds Unit 3; Mexican History Parts 2 (15-18), 3, & 4 (28-31)
February 9: Colonial New Spain: Political, and Economic Foundations; First Research Question Due
February 11: Colonial New Spain: Colonial Peoples
February 16: Colonial New Spain: Spiritual & Cultural Flowering
February 18: Colonial New Spain: The Bourbon Reforms; First Midterm
Independencia
Read: Meyer, Sherman, & Deeds Unit 4; Mexican History Part 4 (32-35)
February 23: The Insurgentes
February 25: The Reality of Independence Achieved
Nation Building
Read: Meyer, Sherman, & Deeds Unit 5; Mexican History Part 5
March 2: What Kind of Nation?
March 4: The Age of Santa Anna
March 9: Tejas & the Clash of Eagles
March 11: Mexico Sundered
The Age of Juarez
Read: Meyer, Sherman, & Deeds Unit 6; Mexican History Part 6 (42 & 43)
March 16: La Reforma; Second Research Question Due
March 18: The French Intervention
March 23: Juarez & Maximiliano
March 25: The Restored Republic: Second Midterm
March 30 & April 1: SPRING BREAK HOLIDAYS
The Porfiriato
Read: Meyer, Sherman, & Deeds Unit 7; Mexican History Part 7 (44-51)
April 6: Don Porfirio Diaz
April 8: Order & Progress
Revolution
Read: Meyer, Sherman, & Deeds Unit 8; Mexican History Part 7 (52-55)
April 13: Roots & Beginnings
April 15: The Tragedy of Madero
April 20: Constitutionalists
April 22: Civil War, Interventions, & Obregon’s Victory
Modern Mexico
Read: Meyer, Sherman, & Deeds Units 9 & 10; Mexican History Parts 7 (56-61), 8 & 9
April 27: Obregon, Calles & the Cristeros
April 29: Cardenas & the Revolution
May 4: The PRI ‘s Mexico Since 1940; Third Research Question Due
May 6: Challenges to the System
May 13: FINAL EXAM