Question for Discussion: Where is the "American
West" and what role does it play in shaping our
larger national "American" culture?
Reading: Jefferson, "Sewall Common Reading:
Notes on the State of Virginia" ; Hamilton, "Report on Manufacturers" (Web);
Borkat, "A Liberating Curriculum " ; Boehret, "Creating Documents for All to Read "
Adobe Acrobat Reader download link.
The password for the "pdf readings" is "westsap".
Download PDF Editor for PCs: You can use this program to use a yellow highlighter to highlight your PDF documents after you download and save them to your computer . Download PdfPen for Mac .
Film: West as Myth
Maps of the Old West
- U.S.
Territorial Growth, 1775 (in-class)
- U.S.
Territorial Growth, 1810 (in-class)
- U.S.
Territorial Growth, 1820 (in-class)
- U.S.
Territorial Growth, 1830 (in-class)
- Republic
of Texas, 1836
- U.S.
Territorial Growth, 1840 (in-class)
- U.S.
Territorial Growth, 1850 (in-class)
- U.S.
Territorial Growth, 1870 (in-class)
- Boundaries
of the Contiguous U.S.
- American Indian Tribes, 1600 (in-class)
- Native
American Indian Tribes, 1783
- European
Possessions Bordering the U.S., 1783
Maps of the New West
- National Atlas MapMaker
- World
Map, 1997
- Topographic Map of North America (in-class)
- Topgraphic Map of the United States (in-class)
- Topographic Map of the American East (in-class)
- Topographic Map of the American West (in-class)
- State Map of the 20th Century American West
(in-class)
- Population per Square Mile in the West
- The West from Space at Night (in-class)
- Map of Indian Reservations today (in-class)
- Percentage per state of Western Land
owned by the Government (in-class)
- Government Agency Land in the West
- Annual Rainfall in the West (in-class)
Satellite Maps of the U.S.
- American West from Space (in-class)
- MSN Live Search (in-class)
- Google Earth (in-class)
- Google Maps Mania
- Globe Explorer.com
- National Atlas.gov
Visions of the Frontier
- Jefferson's Mythic Geography of the West
- American Progress by John Gast (1872)
- University
of Oregon American Progress image
- Explanatory Text
used to Market American Progress
- Modern
version of American Progress
- American Manifest Destiny
- Manifest
Destiny Exhibit
- Turner, "The Significance of the Frontier (1893)
Lewis' Rules of Classroom Order
Borkat, "A Liberating Curriculum "
Writing Guidelines for Sewall Classes
Boehret, "Creating Documents for
All to Read "Adobe Acrobat Reader download link. The password for the "pdf readings" is "westsap".
Download PDF Editor for PCs: You can use this program to use a yellow highlighter to highlight your PDF documents after you download and save them to your computer . Download PdfPen for Mac .
Cheap PDF editors
"Angry as one may be at what heedless men have done and still do to a noble habitat, it is hard to be pessimistic about the West. This is the native home of hope. When it fully learns that cooperation, not rugged individualism, is the pattern that most characterizes and preserves it, then it will have achieved itself and outlived its origins. Then it has a chance to create a society to match its scenery"
.................Wallace Stegner, "The Sound of Mountain Water"
(p. 313)
- Jefferson's Agrarian Ideal (in-class)
- Hamilton, "Report on Manufacturers" (in-class)
- Maps of the New West
- Satellite Photos of the American West
- Map of the 20th Century American West
- Geographical Definitions of the American West
- What is the West?
- Why Study the American West?
What is the West?
The West as the Home of Indian Peoples
The West as unsettled Wilderness
The West as Spain
The West as Mexico
The West as the United States
The West as a "Garden of the World"
The West as the "Great American Desert"
The West as Frontier
The West as "Safety Valve"
The West as "the Wild West"
The West as Freedom from Society and the Past
The West as "Free Land"
The West as under-Developed Region
The West as a "proces " of Frontier Settlement
The West a a Place to make your Fortune.
The West as vast, empty Wasteland
The West as Property of the Federal Government
The West as "Borderlands" for diverse peoples
The West as a distinct region in the United States
The West as wide-open Spaces
The West as a Pristine Environment
The West as untapped Natural Resources
The West as Tourist and Nature Preserve
The West as a Place that represents America
The West as crowded, Urban Centers
The West as vast Rural Wasteland
The West as Small Towns and Communities
The West of Farmers, Ranchers, Miners, and Loggers
The West as a Nuclear and Military
Waste Dump
The West as California
The West as Arid Land
The West as our Home for the future
Why Study the American West?
- Certificate
Program in Western American Studies
- To understand the West as Home
- To understand the past, present, and future
history of the United States
- To understand the Myths of American History
- To understand the people, culture, and society
of the American West
- Because we want to live-in and protect the West
- Because the West is our home.
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Disruptive Classroom Behavior :
This is a college classroom. I will deduct points from your final class grade for behavior that is disruptive to the classroom learning environment. Disruptive behavior includes sleeping, using your cell phone, surfing the web on your computer, playing computer games, checking your e-mail, checking your Facebook, sending and receiving text messages, listening to your MP3 player, watching DVDs or Netflix movies, reading newspapers, working on another class in this class, planning your day with your daytimer or Blackberry, etc. If after the student is warned the disruptive behavior persists, I will ask them to leave the classroom that day.
