Remote & Hybrid Time & Date: Tuesday & Thursday 3:30-5:20PM
ZOOM link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/98580321246
Instructor: Nathan E. Roberts
Email: ner3@uw.edu
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 9-10AM and by appointment
ZOOM Office Hours: https://washington.zoom.us/j/96819291149
Course Design and Goals
This course explores the history of the Pacific Northwest from the mid-eighteenth century until recent times. It focuses especially on Washington, Oregon, and Idaho though it also includes close attention to Alaska, British Columbia, and western Montana. While the course is mainly attuned to the social and environmental histories of the region, it also illuminates connections with the rest of the United States and across the Pacific Rim.
This study of the Pacific Northwest will come through understanding the lectures, reading both primary and secondary sources, participating in discussion, and writing. By completing the course requirements, students will learn 1) how to think historically about the Pacific Northwest, 2) how to analyze both primary and secondary sources as core elements of historical study, 3) some of the research methods and investigative techniques used by historians and social scientists, and 4) how to write a strong argumentative essay.
Class Organization
Because we are still in remote conditions due to COVID-19, the course includes both synchronous and asynchronous elements. I am acutely aware the too much screen time is a feature of the pandemic realities. To try and mitigate some of that, most of the course’s lectures will be asynchronous lectures that you can access through the course’s Canvas webpage.
After Week 1 of class, synchronous classes will mostly be held during the Thursday meeting times unless some exception is necessary. The course’s Tuesday meeting times will be substituted with asynchronous lectures. On Thursdays, the class’s synchronous sessions will include discussion, assignments, and brief instructional tutorials on some course elements such as historical essay writing and primary source analysis. We will take a short break halfway through each synchronous class.
Required Reading – You will be asked to read approximately 150 pages per week.
Mourning Dove, Mourning Dove: A Salishan Autobiography (1990)
Monica Sone, Nisei Daughter (1953)
Richard White, The Organic Machine: The Remaking of the Columbia River (1995)
*Additional required readings will be available on the course’s Canvas website and designated on the class schedule by “C.” Not all readings are currently listed; some will be announced and added later.
Recommended Reading
Good, clear writing is an essential part of history. I recommend that all students, regardless of previous writing experience, consult Michael Harvey, The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing (2003), especially chapters 1 & 2 on “Concision” and “Clarity.” I have placed these two chapters on the course’s Canvas’s website under the “files” tab.
Assignments & Grading
ZOOM & Canvas Participation 20%
Reading Questions for Three Required Readings 30% (10% each)
Writing Assignment (2 options; see below) 30%
Final Exam20%
Participation
Even though the course is online, it will still contain a discussion and participation component. The discussions will be live on ZOOM during our Thursday meetings, and online with the Canvas discussion boards. Please be well-prepared for the Thursday discussions. We will use ZOOM’s breakout rooms for small-scale discussions and we will also have large class discussions.
Reading Questions for Three Required Readings
The three required readings will be used both for class discussion and for reading questions that ask you to investigate certain aspects of the readings. The three questions per book will call for answers of about 250 words each. These answers should be written in college-level prose, use citations, and provide evidence from the readings.
Writing Assignment Options
Option 1 - The course offers you the opportunity to conduct original historical research and write a research paper on a topic of your choosing. The final research paper must be 10-12 pages in length and based upon original primary source research that pertains to this course. I will aid you in finding and identifying sources during current COVID restrictions. Though much of your research will be through online archives, the UW Libraries are open for book checkout as well. In addition, I will be regularly available to chat about your progress and to make recommendations and offer critique.
“W” Credit with Option 1 ONLY
This “W” credit paper carries a required rough draft of your research paper. The rough draft should be a minimum of five double-spaced pages. It should also be supported by a minimum of four distinct primary sources and a minimum of two secondary sources. The rough draft is due during the seventh week of the quarter.
Option 2 - Literature Review of academic work on the Pacific Northwest from a list of monographs and journal articles that I will provide. This option asks you to read a minimum of four secondary sources (at least two of which must be historical monographs) and then write an essay of 6-8 pages that provides original observations and critiques on the selected works. This is not a book review or a combination of book reviews. It is an academic critique of scholarship, so your observations and critiques must be thoughtful, relevant to the course themes, and carefully presented. In addition, I will be regularly available to chat about your progress and to make recommendations and offer critique.
Late Papers
Late papers will be assessed a penalty of 0.5 grade points per day.
Final Exam
The final exam will contain two parts. The first part will include multiple choice, fill in the blank, and matching-type questions as well as short answers. These will constitute a comprehensive review of the course. The second part will be a take-home essay. I will provide a study guide for the final exam as well as the choices of essay prompts about one week in advance of the final exam.
Suggestions on how to succeed in this course:
1. Take notes during lecture, study them with classmates to fill gaps and clarify any confusion. Ask for clarity from the instructor in class! The whole class will benefit from your inquiries.
2. Take notes when you read. Search for main ideas. Do not highlight entire paragraphs. Remember: if you highlight an entire paragraph, then nothing in it is highlighted.
3. Keep up with the reading. Set a reading schedule for yourself and enjoy. These are good books!
4. Start early on paper assignments. Meet with me to discuss ideas and bring drafts to me for comments.
5. Come to every class prepared to engage the material and the other students.
Sundry Policies:
Plagiarism
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a form of academic misconduct, and ultimately it devalues both the person who engages in it and the broader learning environment in this course and the university. True intellectual work requires the free, open, and honest exchange of ideas.
The Committee on Academic Conduct in the College of Arts and Sciences has defined plagiarism in the
following way:
• Using another writer's words without proper citation.
• Using another writer's ideas without proper citation.
• Citing your source but reproducing the exact words of a printed source without quotation marks; or, borrowing the structure of another author's phrases or sentences without crediting the author from whom it came.
• Borrowing all or part of another student's paper or using someone else's outline to write your own paper.
• Using a paper writing "service" or having a friend write the paper for you.
The obligation to properly cite the work of others applies to internet, oral, and written sources.
The key to avoiding plagiarism is to show clearly where your own thinking ends and someone else’s
begins. For additional resources on avoiding plagiarism and appropriately citing various types of sources, please see the link on the course website.
It is my sincere hope that no one in this course will be tempted to plagiarize any portion of their paper assignment. To avoid the possibility of that temptation, you are urged to choose a topic that truly interests you; begin your assignment early; ask questions about anything you are unsure of; ask for any kind of help that you need.
If plagiarism is discovered, it will be treated very seriously. A paper in which significant portions have been plagiarized will be forwarded to the Dean’s representative on Academic Misconduct. If plagiarism is confirmed, the student will receive a 0 for the assignment, and may also receive a failing grade in the course.
Class Schedule: Dates of Instruction March 30-June 2; Final Exam June 10
Week 1: March 29 – April 2 The Pacific Northwest as a Region
READ:
- Carlos Schwantes, “A Sense of Place: The Essential Pacific Northwest”
- DUE Thurs Apr 1
Tues March 30: (synchronous)
Introductions
Thurs April 1: (synchronous)
Discussion of the Schwantes piece
Lecture 1: Overview of the Pacific Northwest
Readings for Week 2:
- Document Collection #1 on Canvas as pdfs
- Due Thursday Apr 8
Week 2: Apr 5 – 9 Northwest Encounters
Tues Apr 6: (asynchronous) - Recorded lectures posted to Canvas under the “files” tab
Lecture 2: Northwest’s Original Inhabitants
Lecture 3: Encounters with Europeans and Americans
Thurs Apr 8: (synchronous) - Discussion of readings and lectures due this week.
Readings for Week 3:
- Document Collection #2 on Canvas as pdfs
- Richard White, The Organic Machine, chapter 1 (pp.3-29)
- DUE Thurs Apr 15
Week 3: Apr 12 – 16 The Colonial Periphery
Tues Apr 13: (asynchronous) - Recorded lectures posted to Canvas under the “files” tab
Lecture 4: Furs, Missionaries, and the HBC
Lecture 5: A Region in Conflict
Thurs Apr 15: (synchronous) - Discussion of readings and lectures due this week.
FRI Apr 16 - Reading Questions #1 Due
Readings for Week 4:
- Mourning Dove, Introduction and Part 1:chapters 1-7 (pp.xi-96)
- DUE Thurs Apr 22
Week 4: Apr 19 – 23 Settlement to 1900
Tues Apr 20: (asynchronous) - Recorded lectures posted to Canvas under the “files” tab
Lecture 6: Settlers in Oregon
Lecture 7: Drawing Boundaries
Thurs Apr 22: (synchronous) - Discussion of readings and lectures due this week.
Readings for Week 5:
- Mourning Dove, Parts 2 & 3: chapters 8–16 (pp. 99-187)
- DUE Thurs Apr 29
Week 5: Apr 26 – 30 U.S. Indian Policy and Reservations
Tues Apr 27 - Recorded lectures posted to Canvas under the “files” tab
Lecture 8: Overview of U.S. Indian Policy
Lecture 9: Reservations Systems and Locales
Thurs Apr 29 - (synch) Discussion of readings due this week, as well as lecture material.
Readings for Week 6:
- Richard White, The Organic Machine, chapter 2 (pp.30-58)
- Document Collection #3
- DUE Thurs May 13
Week 6: May 3 – 7 Rise of Cities and Resource Extraction
Mon May 3 - Reading Questions for Mourning Dove DUE
Tues May 4 - Recorded lectures posted to Canvas under the “files” tab
Lecture 10 - Transportation and the Rise of Urban Space
Lecture 11 - Rural Resource Extraction
Thurs May 6 - Discussion of readings due this week, as well as lecture material.
Readings for Week 7:
- Monica Sone, Nisei Daughter, Introduction - chapter 5(pp. vii-108)
- DUE Thurs May 13
Week 7: May 10 – 14 Progressive Northwest: Labor, Race, and Politics
Tues May 11 - Recorded lectures posted to Canvas under the “files” tab
Lecture 12 - Northwestern Reactions to Industrialism
Lecture 13 - Race and Gender in the Progressive Era
Thurs May 13 - Discussion of readings due this week, as well as lecture material.
Readings for Week 8:
- Monica Sone, Nisei Daughter, chapter 6-12 (pp.109-238)
- DUE Thurs May 20
Week 8: May 17 – 21 Depression & WWII
Tues May 18 - Recorded lectures posted to Canvas under the “files” tab
Lecture 12 - The Great Depression
Lecture 13 - Transformations of WWII
Thurs May 20 - (synch) Discussion of readings due this week, as well as lecture material.
Readings for Week 9:
- Richard White, The Organic Machine, chapter 3 (pp. 59-88)
- Documents Collection #4
- Due Thurs May 27
Week 9: May 24 – 28 The Cold War
Mon May 24 - Reading Questions for Nisei Daughter Due
Tues May 25 - Recorded lectures posted to Canvas under the “files” tab
Lecture 14 - Impact of the Cold War
Thurs May 27 - Discussion of readings due this week, as well as lecture material.
Readings for Week 10:
- Richard White, The Organic Machine, chapter 4 (pp. 89-113) and “Are you an Environmentalist, or Do You Work for A Living?”
- DUE Thursday June 3
Week 10: May 31 - June 4 Environmental Northwest
Monday May 31 Final Paper Projects Due
Tues June 1 - Recorded lectures posted to Canvas under the “files” tab
Lecture 15 - Dams, Salmon, and Forests
Thurs June 3 - Discussion of readings due this week, as well as lecture material.
Also, Final Exam Review
Final Exam Thursday June 10 on Canvas. 6AM - 10PM