Last Wednesday, Dr. Davis welcomed new students to the start of the spring semester History 1301 class. He explained his narration of American history may not be the one many know, and the class can expect an eye opening account of genocide, slavery, and civil war. Through the semester, Dr Davis will unveil clues from America's past, which will help students understand how many troubling events of today came to fruition. As a class we will seek to understand, through gaining an understanding of U.S. history, such things as why so few Americans vote, why the U.S. has one of the largest incarceration percentages in the world, and why the U.S took five days to reach its own impacted citizens in New Orleans following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Dr. Davis gave some direction on how to obtain a passing grade:
- Attend class at the scheduled time.
- Listen actively in class and take notes. Some of the exam questions will come directly from in-class lectures and may not be found in the text book.
- To be prepared for class, read the text book and follow the chapter schedule listed in the syllabus.
- Pursue extra credit. Extra credit opportunities will be discussed in class, as they arise, and can be found through this blog.
During this class we took part in a lively and interesting debate into the question of "What is America?" We will be discussing numerous topics in the future, which students will have different views upon, so Dr Davis gives these guidelines to help us all get the most out of these intellectual debates:
- Discuss respectfully.
- Summarize the point of view you to which you are responding.
- Offer your point of view.
- project your voice to the whole classroom so everyone can hear what you have to say.
I also discussed the Supplemental Instruction (S.I.) program,which I will be leading for this semester. We will have sessions twice weekly (times and dates will be confirmed next week). S.I. is free, fun, and improve students' grades. All History 1301 students are welcome to join us.
