In Module 7 you interviewed someone with knowledge of the social and cultural changes of the 1960s and 1970s for a discussion. In this module we will turn the focus to you, as an individual with personal experience of recent American history. You are not just a person consuming and studying history, you are also an agent of history. Your life is part of the story.
In this final assignment for the term, you will be asked to consider your own history and use it to think about some of the larger patterns in modern American history that you read about this week.
This assignment will address the following outcomes:
Describe the major social, political, and economic changes from 1980 to the present (CO#1, CO#4, CO#5/Gen. Ed. Outcome 4.2, CO#6/History Program Outcome 1)
Contextualize your own history within the larger patterns of the recent American past (CO#5/Gen. Ed. Outcome 4.2, CO#6/History Program Outcome 1)
In an essay of approximately 3 pages (about 750 words), excluding title page and references, consider the following:
What was life like for people like you (you can think about this however you want — i.e. people of the same age, race, religion gender, culture, socioeconomic background, in the same regional location, etc.) in the late 20th century and/or early 21st century (1980s-2000s)?
How does your story fit within the larger patterns of social, cultural, political, or economic history of the US in this era?
Consider at least one of the following topics in your analysis:
The end of the Cold War
Discrimination in this era (due to race, sex, gender, sexuality, etc.)
Social movements in this era
Globalization
Changes in technology/the internet age
September 11, 2001
The Great Recession
As far as possible, your paper should make use of the ideas, sources, and themes that you covered in this course. Any sources used should be cited and referenced in either APA or Chicago/Turabian format.
You must include at least one outside primary or secondary source beyond the course readings. It can be either a scholarly secondary source from the Excelsior College Library or a primary source from the Excelsior College Library or from this list of pre-approved primary source websites in US History. You should NOT use non-scholarly websites such as Wikipedia. If you have questions about finding appropriate sources, please contact your instructor. You should save your paper as a Word file and submit it through the Module 8 dropbox. Your paper is due at the end of Module 8.
Your Module 8 Assignment should include:
An introduction paragraph with a clear thesis statement outlining your overall argument
Body paragraphs with specific evidence from primary and secondary sources from the course as well as any necessary outside research to support your points
In-text citations and references in APA or Chicago/Turabian style
A conclusion paragraph that synthesizes the information you present and summarizes your main points
