MY PROMISE TO YOU
As your professor, I (Dr. Spiro) promise to do the BEST job I am capable of doing:
- I will come to class every day and I will always be on time.
- I will be thoroughly prepared and make my courses as edifying as possible.
- I will devise meaningful assignments that reflect and further the learning done in the classroom. I will grade and return your assignments at the next class meeting so you can constantly grow and improve as a student.
- I will encourage you—and give you an equal opportunity—to participate in class discussions.
- I will take you seriously. I will respect your ideas. If your opinions are not based on evidence, I will teach you how to perform research to find the relevant evidence.
- I will make it clear when I am expressing an opinion; I will not impose on you my views on controversial issues.
- I will meet with you outside of class to provide assistance, offer suggestions, and engage in the one-on-one discussions that contribute to making college such a profound, stimulating, and enjoyable experience.
- If you are a member of a student group (e.g. team, choir, drama, etc.) I will attend at least one of your events this semester.
- I will do my utmost to advise you on how to succeed as a History major and to prepare you for your post-graduate career.
YOUR PROMISE TO YOURSELF
As your student, I promise to do the BEST job I am capable of doing:
- I will do my utmost to come to class every day and to always be on time.
- I will work with my Study Team in a cooperative and supportive manner to ensure that we all excel in this course.
- I will take copious notes in class; in the event that I miss a class, I will obtain the notes from one of my teammates.
- I will actively participate in class by listening to my peers, asking questions, and contributing to class discussions. (But I will monitor my participation so as to allow for the participation of others.)
- I will respect the ideas and opinions of others and I will not scorn or ridicule people with whom I disagree.
- I will read the assigned material every week and fill out the Study Guides.
- I will strive to earn an ‘A’ on every assignment. If I am confused, dissatisfied, or feel the need for clarification or extra help, I will go to Office Hours for assistance.
- I will go to the Academic Support Center if I need extra help to succeed in college.
- I will always endeavor to act ethically, honorably, and responsibly, and never to disappoint my family, my friends, or myself.
Lecture Courses
History 1210: Survey of U.S. History
“History teaches everything—including the future.”
History 1210 provides a comprehensive overview of the social, cultural, political, economic, and diplomatic history of the United States from the arrival of the Native Americans through the present. The course emphasizes seven themes that characterize American history: the expansion of democratic rights; the conflicts engendered by sectionalism; the debate over the size and role of the federal government; the omnipotence of race in American society; the effects of industrialization; the emergence of the U.S. as an imperialist power; and the power of individuals—via civic engagement—to alter the course of history.
“History teaches everything—including the future.”
History 1210 provides a comprehensive overview of the social, cultural, political, economic, and diplomatic history of the United States from the arrival of the Native Americans through the present. The course emphasizes seven themes that characterize American history: the expansion of democratic rights; the conflicts engendered by sectionalism; the debate over the size and role of the federal government; the omnipotence of race in American society; the effects of industrialization; the emergence of the U.S. as an imperialist power; and the power of individuals—via civic engagement—to alter the course of history.
History 2201: E Pluribus Unum (The U.S. from 1607-1815)
“I think I can see the whole destiny of America contained in the first Puritan who landed on these shores.”
This course traces the metamorphosis of the United States from thirteen fledgling and disparate colonies into one strong and unified nation. Among the topics explored during this fascinating period are the influence of the Puritans, the French & Indian War, the origins of slavery, the American Revolution, the framing of the Constitution, the emergence of parties, Jeffersonian democracy, and the War of 1812.
“I think I can see the whole destiny of America contained in the first Puritan who landed on these shores.”
This course traces the metamorphosis of the United States from thirteen fledgling and disparate colonies into one strong and unified nation. Among the topics explored during this fascinating period are the influence of the Puritans, the French & Indian War, the origins of slavery, the American Revolution, the framing of the Constitution, the emergence of parties, Jeffersonian democracy, and the War of 1812.
History 2202: The Union Torn Asunder (The U.S. from 1815-1877)
“I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.”
This course traces the history of the United States during the momentous years from the "era of good feelings" through Reconstruction. A number of crucial phenomena will be examined, including urbanization, industrialization, modernization, class formation, slavery, Jacksonian democracy, manifest destiny, the trail of tears, sectionalism, abolitionism, feminism, utopianism, religion, the Mexican-American War, the road to secession, and the Civil War.
“I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.”
This course traces the history of the United States during the momentous years from the "era of good feelings" through Reconstruction. A number of crucial phenomena will be examined, including urbanization, industrialization, modernization, class formation, slavery, Jacksonian democracy, manifest destiny, the trail of tears, sectionalism, abolitionism, feminism, utopianism, religion, the Mexican-American War, the road to secession, and the Civil War.
History 2203: Reaction & Reform (The U.S. from 1877-1939)
“Nothing is more true than that excess of every kind is followed by reaction; a fact which should be pondered by reformer and reactionary alike.”
This course provides an overview of the history of the United States from the Gilded Age through the New Deal, a turbulent era that witnessed—among other things— the Wild West, unionization, the Populists, Teddy Roosevelt, the Spanish-American War, progressivism, feminism, the Great War, the Roaring Twenties, eugenics, the Great Depression, and FDR. The course emphasizes such themes as the emergence of the U.S. as a world power, the increased role of the federal government, and, above all, the ebb and flow of reform and reaction.
“Nothing is more true than that excess of every kind is followed by reaction; a fact which should be pondered by reformer and reactionary alike.”
This course provides an overview of the history of the United States from the Gilded Age through the New Deal, a turbulent era that witnessed—among other things— the Wild West, unionization, the Populists, Teddy Roosevelt, the Spanish-American War, progressivism, feminism, the Great War, the Roaring Twenties, eugenics, the Great Depression, and FDR. The course emphasizes such themes as the emergence of the U.S. as a world power, the increased role of the federal government, and, above all, the ebb and flow of reform and reaction.
History 2204: The Superpower (The U.S. from WWII-today)
“We must make up our minds that, whether we like it or not, we are a great people and must play a great part in the world.”
This course provides an overview of the history of the United States during the tumultuous years from the outbreak of World War II to the present, emphasizing the role of the U.S. abroad in the Cold War and the ongoing struggles by the American people at home for social justice. Some of the topics that we will cover are WWII, McCarthyism, the Korean War, the Fifties, Camelot, the Great Society, the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Sixties, Women’s Liberation, Watergate, the New Right, the impeachment of President Clinton, the Bush years, and the rise and fall of liberalism.
“We must make up our minds that, whether we like it or not, we are a great people and must play a great part in the world.”
This course provides an overview of the history of the United States during the tumultuous years from the outbreak of World War II to the present, emphasizing the role of the U.S. abroad in the Cold War and the ongoing struggles by the American people at home for social justice. Some of the topics that we will cover are WWII, McCarthyism, the Korean War, the Fifties, Camelot, the Great Society, the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Sixties, Women’s Liberation, Watergate, the New Right, the impeachment of President Clinton, the Bush years, and the rise and fall of liberalism.
Seminar Courses
History 3015: Race, Sex, and Power: Intermarriage in America
“Thou shalt not let they cattle breed with another kind, thou shalt not sow they field with mixed seed.”
This course explores the historical evolution of intermarriage and sexual relations among the various racial and ethnic groups comprising the population of the United States, and the myriad ways in which “miscegenation” has affected our national culture from colonial times to the present (and on into the future).
We will focus on four distinct periods of U.S. history: the colonial period, the nineteenth century, the progressive era, and modern America. As we do so, Gary Nash’s Forbidden Love will serve as our primary textbook. But we will pause after each period to (a) read a best-selling popular book on intermarriage (Love on Trial, The Color of Water, Life on the Color Line, and Mixed) and (b) view four popular and influential films that deal with miscegenation (Birth of a Nation, West Side Story, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and Bulworth). After pondering the issues raised in the readings, the films, and in our discussions, students will produce an original research paperthat explores the topic of intermarriage in the United States.
“Thou shalt not let they cattle breed with another kind, thou shalt not sow they field with mixed seed.”
This course explores the historical evolution of intermarriage and sexual relations among the various racial and ethnic groups comprising the population of the United States, and the myriad ways in which “miscegenation” has affected our national culture from colonial times to the present (and on into the future).
We will focus on four distinct periods of U.S. history: the colonial period, the nineteenth century, the progressive era, and modern America. As we do so, Gary Nash’s Forbidden Love will serve as our primary textbook. But we will pause after each period to (a) read a best-selling popular book on intermarriage (Love on Trial, The Color of Water, Life on the Color Line, and Mixed) and (b) view four popular and influential films that deal with miscegenation (Birth of a Nation, West Side Story, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and Bulworth). After pondering the issues raised in the readings, the films, and in our discussions, students will produce an original research paperthat explores the topic of intermarriage in the United States.
History 3055: From Sambo to Nat Turner: The Nature of Slavery
“Many a mother as she presses her darling infant to her bosom, will shudder at the recollection of Nat Turner.”
Most slaves in antebellum America were illiterate, so historians have had a very difficult time reconstructing what their lives were like. We have had to rely on such sources as the diaries of slave owners, travel accounts of visitors from the North, memoirs of runaway slaves, interviews conducted with very old ex-slaves in the 1930s (when the New Deal provided funding for such an endeavor), and the lyrics of songs that have survived from the antebellum period. Because of the sparseness and unreliability of the evidence, different historians have put forth very different interpretations of the "peculiar institution," and as a result few subjects have produced so varied an historical literature—or so lively a scholarly debate—as the nature of American slavery.
This course will examine a number of famous works on slavery, in an effort to show that the “truth” about any historical phenomenon is often contingent on who is writing the history and when they are writing it. Indeed, from one era to the next, academic books about slavery seem to reflect prevailing popular attitudes about race as much as they describe the actual reality of slavery. The argument over slavery thus illustrates the extent to which historians are influenced by the times in which they write, and reveals that in the social sciences the accepted dogma of the present often becomes the refuted fallacy of the future.
“Many a mother as she presses her darling infant to her bosom, will shudder at the recollection of Nat Turner.”
Most slaves in antebellum America were illiterate, so historians have had a very difficult time reconstructing what their lives were like. We have had to rely on such sources as the diaries of slave owners, travel accounts of visitors from the North, memoirs of runaway slaves, interviews conducted with very old ex-slaves in the 1930s (when the New Deal provided funding for such an endeavor), and the lyrics of songs that have survived from the antebellum period. Because of the sparseness and unreliability of the evidence, different historians have put forth very different interpretations of the "peculiar institution," and as a result few subjects have produced so varied an historical literature—or so lively a scholarly debate—as the nature of American slavery.
This course will examine a number of famous works on slavery, in an effort to show that the “truth” about any historical phenomenon is often contingent on who is writing the history and when they are writing it. Indeed, from one era to the next, academic books about slavery seem to reflect prevailing popular attitudes about race as much as they describe the actual reality of slavery. The argument over slavery thus illustrates the extent to which historians are influenced by the times in which they write, and reveals that in the social sciences the accepted dogma of the present often becomes the refuted fallacy of the future.
History 3065: History of the Nature-Nurture Debate
“It is the theory that decides what we can observe.”
At the dawn of the twentieth century, the prevailing assumption in the United States was that heredity (also called "nature") was the crucial factor determining human behavior and personality (and that the blond-haired, blue-eyed "Nordic race" was therefore the "master race," as it was blessed with inherently superior intellectual capacities). By the middle of the century, the pendulum had swung to the other extreme: the belief that environment (a.k.a. "nurture") was the key determinant of human behavior (and that all people and races were therefore potentially equal, as long as they were raised in similar conditions). But here at the beginning of the twenty-first century we are rapidly returning to the idea that heredity is preponderant (in the past five years alone geneticists claim to have discovered the genetic origins of such traits as shyness, insomnia, obesity, aggression, creativity, addiction, optimism, fear, disgust, homosexuality, and I.Q.).
So, which is more important: heredity or environment? Beats me. But it sure is interesting to observe how the pendulum of public opinion swings back and forth between the two. The aim of this course, therefore, is to trace the mercurial history of the nature-nurture debate in the U.S. in order to reveal its effect on public policy and its influence on the way you and I today think about such matters as race, intelligence, poverty, gender, sexuality, and child-rearing.
“It is the theory that decides what we can observe.”
At the dawn of the twentieth century, the prevailing assumption in the United States was that heredity (also called "nature") was the crucial factor determining human behavior and personality (and that the blond-haired, blue-eyed "Nordic race" was therefore the "master race," as it was blessed with inherently superior intellectual capacities). By the middle of the century, the pendulum had swung to the other extreme: the belief that environment (a.k.a. "nurture") was the key determinant of human behavior (and that all people and races were therefore potentially equal, as long as they were raised in similar conditions). But here at the beginning of the twenty-first century we are rapidly returning to the idea that heredity is preponderant (in the past five years alone geneticists claim to have discovered the genetic origins of such traits as shyness, insomnia, obesity, aggression, creativity, addiction, optimism, fear, disgust, homosexuality, and I.Q.).
So, which is more important: heredity or environment? Beats me. But it sure is interesting to observe how the pendulum of public opinion swings back and forth between the two. The aim of this course, therefore, is to trace the mercurial history of the nature-nurture debate in the U.S. in order to reveal its effect on public policy and its influence on the way you and I today think about such matters as race, intelligence, poverty, gender, sexuality, and child-rearing.
History 3170: History of the Conservation Movement
“We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Employing the premise that we can learn a great deal about both history and the environment by studying the two together, this course explores the shifting attitudes toward nature held by Americans as the United States expanded across the continent. We will become familiar with the seminal works and activities of the nation's leading conservationists, and thereby trace the history of the movement as it evolved through the stages of conservationism, preservationism, and environmentalism.
“We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Employing the premise that we can learn a great deal about both history and the environment by studying the two together, this course explores the shifting attitudes toward nature held by Americans as the United States expanded across the continent. We will become familiar with the seminal works and activities of the nation's leading conservationists, and thereby trace the history of the movement as it evolved through the stages of conservationism, preservationism, and environmentalism.
History 3730: The Evolution of Whiteness
“The first English word that all immigrants learn as soon as they land in America is ‘Nigger’.”
Modern American society employs a pentagonal classification system (white / black / brown / yellow / red) when categorizing individuals on the basis of race. But this has not always been the case. In the early twentieth century, for example, most people assumed that there were dozens (if not hundreds) of races, and it was generally felt that peripheral groups like the Irish, the Jews, and the Italians did not belong to the "white" race. The aim of this course is to explore the historical evolution—and social construction—of the white race in the United States, and to trace the process by which various ethnic groups were granted—or demanded—entry into that privileged caste.
“The first English word that all immigrants learn as soon as they land in America is ‘Nigger’.”
Modern American society employs a pentagonal classification system (white / black / brown / yellow / red) when categorizing individuals on the basis of race. But this has not always been the case. In the early twentieth century, for example, most people assumed that there were dozens (if not hundreds) of races, and it was generally felt that peripheral groups like the Irish, the Jews, and the Italians did not belong to the "white" race. The aim of this course is to explore the historical evolution—and social construction—of the white race in the United States, and to trace the process by which various ethnic groups were granted—or demanded—entry into that privileged caste.
Team-Taught Courses
INT 2012: The Collapse of a Civilization: The Environment, History, and Science of the Maya
“The human race will eventually die of civilization.”
This course, which is team-taught by professors of Physics, Ecology, and History, examines the rise and fall of Maya civilization of Central America. We will meet once a week during the semester to learn about the environment, history, and science of the Maya. Then during Spring Break (in April) we will fly to the highlands of Belize to explore ancient ruins and study the forests where the Maya once thrived. Upon our return we will process what we have learned with an eye towards understanding contemporary sustainability issues.
“The human race will eventually die of civilization.”
This course, which is team-taught by professors of Physics, Ecology, and History, examines the rise and fall of Maya civilization of Central America. We will meet once a week during the semester to learn about the environment, history, and science of the Maya. Then during Spring Break (in April) we will fly to the highlands of Belize to explore ancient ruins and study the forests where the Maya once thrived. Upon our return we will process what we have learned with an eye towards understanding contemporary sustainability issues.
History-English 1710: American Renaissances
“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness."
In this course, students combine methods and insights from History and Literature to explore three “renaissances” in American culture:
-the Transcendentalists of the 1840s,
-the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s,
-and the Beats of the 1950s.
Students investigate the historical context and read the seminal literary works of each era while examining the interpenetrations of science, religion, economics, politics, medicine, and culture.
“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness."
In this course, students combine methods and insights from History and Literature to explore three “renaissances” in American culture:
-the Transcendentalists of the 1840s,
-the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s,
-and the Beats of the 1950s.
Students investigate the historical context and read the seminal literary works of each era while examining the interpenetrations of science, religion, economics, politics, medicine, and culture.
Capstone Courses
History 4601: History Research Seminar
“To know the truth of history is to realize its ultimate myth and its inevitable ambiguity.”
This course is open to any student interested in knowing how historians and social scientists have tried to discover the meaning of past human events. The course is divided into three parts:
(1) You will spend the first five weeks of the semester interrogating the critical role that theory plays in historical research and interpretation, and you will ponder the extent to which historians and social scientists can be objective.
(2) You will devote the next eight weeks to an analysis of some of the different types of sources that scholars utilize in writing history (and you will learn how to cite those sources).
(3) With this background, you will then devote the latter part of the course to devising the topic of your Senior Thesis (which you will produce in the spring semester for History 4602: History Thesis Seminar).
“To know the truth of history is to realize its ultimate myth and its inevitable ambiguity.”
This course is open to any student interested in knowing how historians and social scientists have tried to discover the meaning of past human events. The course is divided into three parts:
(1) You will spend the first five weeks of the semester interrogating the critical role that theory plays in historical research and interpretation, and you will ponder the extent to which historians and social scientists can be objective.
(2) You will devote the next eight weeks to an analysis of some of the different types of sources that scholars utilize in writing history (and you will learn how to cite those sources).
(3) With this background, you will then devote the latter part of the course to devising the topic of your Senior Thesis (which you will produce in the spring semester for History 4602: History Thesis Seminar).
History 4602: History Thesis Seminar
“If you steal from one author, it’s plagiarism; if you steal from many, it’s research.”
This is the capstone course for History and Social Studies majors at Castleton University. As such, it builds upon and extends the theories, methodologies, and interpretations explored in all previous courses in history. The course has three foci:
(1) developing expertise in locating, evaluating, citing, and interpreting the significance of primary and secondary sources in history;
(2) working collegially with the professor and the other students in the class to create a cooperative learning environment; and
(3) producing an original research paper—the Senior Thesis—which is the culminating endeavor required of all History and Social Studies majors. The thesis must be (a) 30- to 50-pages in length, (b) based on both primary and secondary sources, (c) properly documented, and (d) presented orally to the campus community at the end of the semester.
“If you steal from one author, it’s plagiarism; if you steal from many, it’s research.”
This is the capstone course for History and Social Studies majors at Castleton University. As such, it builds upon and extends the theories, methodologies, and interpretations explored in all previous courses in history. The course has three foci:
(1) developing expertise in locating, evaluating, citing, and interpreting the significance of primary and secondary sources in history;
(2) working collegially with the professor and the other students in the class to create a cooperative learning environment; and
(3) producing an original research paper—the Senior Thesis—which is the culminating endeavor required of all History and Social Studies majors. The thesis must be (a) 30- to 50-pages in length, (b) based on both primary and secondary sources, (c) properly documented, and (d) presented orally to the campus community at the end of the semester.
