Humanities 101-R
The South: What It Was, What It Is, What It Might Be
Fall 2014
Dr. Phillip Stone
MWF 2:00-2:50, Main 102
Office: Archives, Sandor Teszler Library
Phone: 864-597-4313
E-mail: stonerp@wofford.edu
Web page http://sites.wofford.edu/stonerp
Office Hours: I’ll be available from 11:00-11:45 and 3:00 to 3:30 Monday-Thursday in my office in the college archives, or by appointment. E-mail or call to check.
Course Description:
Humanities 101 is an interdisciplinary seminar in values and issues designed for first-year students. This section will focus on the history, literature, and culture of the American South since the Civil War.
Goals of the Course
In this course, the students will examine what, if anything makes the southern region of the United States distinct from that of the rest of the country. Students will become familiar with the themes of southern history, with changes that have happened in the region since World War II, and with current trends in the region. Each student will demonstrate that familiarity in discussion and in written assignments.
Students will be evaluated both on their participation in class and on their written work.
Course Format
The course will consist of a mixture of lectures, discussion of readings, and presentations by students.
Course Requirements
Your participation is vital for the success of the course. You’ll need to come to class each day prepared to discuss the reading assignments. You will occasionally have presentations to make to the class.
The written work will include several essays on assigned topics.
Course Policies:
Please silence cell phones in class, and please do not text in class.
Statement for Academic Integrity: The college’s honor code governs your work in this course.
http://www.wofford.edu/studentLife/honorCode.pdf
Attendance: It is hard to participate and learn if you don’t attend class. Missing more than 3 classes will negatively impact your final grade.
Late work: Assignments are due on the dates indicated. Turning in work late will result in a penalty of half a letter grade for each day the assignment is late.
Grading: Your grade will be determined by the following method.
Essays (4): 60%
Class Participation: 10%
Final Exam: 30%
Assigned texts:
Peter Applebome, Dixie Rising: How the South is Shaping American Values, Politics, and Culture
Tracy Thompson, The New Mind of the South
Elizabeth Cox, Night Talk
Cornbread and Sushi: A Journey through the Rural South
Other reading assignments are on Moodle.
Schedule of lectures, readings, and discussion assignments: (I reserve the right to make adjustments as necessary, with notice.)
Week 1
Sept. 1: Introduction: What is the South?
Sept. 3, 5
Reading and Discussion: Elizabeth Cox, Night Talk
500-word, typed, double-spaced essay due on Sept. 5 on the following topic:
On page 4 of Elizabeth Cox’s Night Talk, August says to Evie, “Don’t turn away. … Make your eyes hard.” In what ways does the novel ask you to do so?
Week 2
Sept. 8: Creating the South – the Civil War and Reconstruction
Edward Ayers – What Caused the Civil War, pp. 37-63 (Moodle)
Sept. 10: Discussion, The Lost Cause
Charles Reagan Wilson, Baptized in Blood, The Religion of the Lost Cause, pp. 1-17, 37-57. (Moodle)
Sept. 12: Images of the South (show and tell!)
Week 3
Sept. 15: The New South, 1877-1900: A Land in Opposition?
C. Vann Woodward, Burden of Southern History,
Idus Newby, The South, A History (Moodle)
Sept 17: James C. Cobb, The New South and the Old Cause, pp. 67-98 (Moodle)
Sept. 19: A Walking Tour will extend after class…
Week 4
Sept. 22: The South in the 1880s: Henry Grady’s New South
Sept. 24: Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily” (Moodle)
Paper Due Sept 26
Sept. 26: The 1890s
Week 5
Sept. 29: The South in the 1920s
October 1: The Great Depression and the South
Dewey Grantham, The South in Modern America (Moodle)
October 3: Library Visit
–More reading and discussion assignments to come!–
October 6: Report on Economic Conditions of the South (Moodle)
October 8: Peter Moody, To a Cotton Mill Worker (Moodle and handouts)
October 10 – NO CLASS
October 13: The South and World War II:
October 15 – Paper Due
October 17- FALL BREAK
October 20 – Politics and Civil Rights
Reading – Howard Odom, Race and Rumors of Race, “The Romance of the Eleanor Clubs.” Read quickly – this is a collection of stories and rumors.
Reading – V. O. Key, Southern Politics in State and Nation
All read: Introduction and South Carolina; groups read as follows:
Georgia – Bouknight, Graham, McKelvey, Middleton
Mississippi – Khouri, Monroe, Murdaugh, Richardson
Texas – Miller, Edge, S. Lee, Newland
Virginia – Brice, A. Lee, Hanna, Corpening
Oct. 22 Reading: David Goldfield, “A Season of Hope, 1945-54,” in Black, White, and Southern.
Oct. 24 Reading: Timothy Tyson, “Dynamite and the ‘Silent South’” in Jumping Jim Crow
Archives Day – looking at some of Wofford’s Civil Rights History
Oct. 27 Reading: Goldfield, “The Crusade Against Segregation” in Black, White, and Southern
Reading and discussion: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail
Oct. 29 Reading: Jack Bass, “The Emerging South,” in Transformation of Southern Politics
Oct. 31 – Walking Tour of downtown Spartanburg
November 3 – Wrapping up politics in the 1960s
November 5 – Paper Due
Nov. 7 Peter Applebome, Dixie Rising, Chapters 1-2
Nov. 10 Dixie Rising, Chapter 3
Nov. 12 Dixie Rising, Chapter 6
Nov. 14 – NO CLASS
Nov. 17 Dixie Rising, Chapter 7
Nov. 19 Cornbread and Sushi, Chapters 1-2
Nov. 21 Cornbread and Sushi, Chapter 4
Nov. 24 – Paper Due, Cornbread and Sushi, Chapters 5-6
Nov 26-28 – Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 1 Tracy Thompson, New Mind of the South
Dec. 3 New Mind of the South
Dec. 5 New Mind of the South
December 12: 2:00 PM – Final Exam Due