Upper-division Writing Requirement Review Form(5/4/09)
I. General Education Review – Upper-division Writing Requirement
Dept/ProgramSubject / History / Course # (i.e. ANTH 455)or sequence / HSTA 462
Course(s) Title / Regionalism and the Rocky Mountain West
Description of the requirement if it is not a single course
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office.
Please type / print name / Signature / Date
Instructor / William Farr
Phone / Email / 243-7700/
Program Chair / Richard Drake
III Overview of the Course Purpose/ Description
To define, describe and evaluate regionalism as a meaningful interpretive methodology or approach to analyzing contemporary western problems and issues.
IV Learning Outcomes:Explain how each of the following learning outcomes will be achieved.
Student learning outcomes :
Identify and pursue more sophisticated questions for academic inquiry / By crafting a substantial research paper, using multiple sources
Find, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize information effectively from diverse sources (see / By crafting a substantial research paper, using multiple sources
Manage multiple perspectives as appropriate / Incorporating diverse disciplinary lenses
Recognize the purposes and needs of discipline-specific audiences and adopt the academic voice necessary for the chosen discipline / Crafting a substantial and historical research paper
Use multiple drafts, revision, and editing in conducting inquiry and preparing written work / Crafting a substantial research paper
Follow the conventions of citation, documentation, and formal presentation appropriate to that discipline / Crafting a substantial research paper
Develop competence in information technology and digital literacy (link) / Through use of digital resources
V. Writing Course Requirements Check list
Is enrollment capped at 25 students?
If not, list maximum course enrollment. Explain how outcomes will be adequately met for this number of students. Justify the request for variance. / Yes No
Are outcomes listed in the course syllabus? If not, how will students be informed of course expectations? / Yes No
Are detailed requirements for all written assignments including criteria for evaluation in the course syllabus? If not how and when will students be informed of written assignments? Please attach one example of instructions for written assignment. / Yes No
These will be communicated to students throughout the semester as topics are chosen
Briefly explain how students are provided with tools and strategies for effective writing and editing in the major. / Discussion of historical and literary sources, strategies with scholarly examples
Which written assignments include revision in response to instructor’s feedback? / Proposals and rough drafts
Are expectations for Information Literacy listed in the course syllabus? If not, how will students be informed of course expectations? / Yes No
VI. Writing Assignments: Please describe course assignments. Students should be required to individually compose at least 20 pages of writing for assessment. At least 50% of the course grade should be based on students’ performance on writing assignments. Clear expression, quality, and accuracy of content are considered an integral part of the grade on any writing assignment.
Formal Graded Assignments / Students are required to complete three written quizzes which will provide underpinning for the completion of final research paper of 25 pages. See syllabus.
Informal Ungraded Assignments / Discussion of common readings, including questions raised by such readings—analytical, conceptual, comparative, methodological or historical. Instructor provides oral feedback.
VII. Syllabus:Paste syllabus below or attach and send digital copy with form. The syllabus should clearly describe how the above criteria are satisfied. For assistance on syllabus preparation see:
Paste syllabus here.
Center for the Rocky Mountain West's
Regionalism and the Rocky Mountain West
History 401/Geography 401 — Spring 2009
Wednesdays, 3:10-5:00 p.m.
GBB 119
Pat Williams ~ William E. Farr ~ Jeffrey Gritzner
TA – Laura Cahill
Course Requirements:
Essays:A principal requirement of this class will be an interpretive essay. The topic of this exercise is to define, describe and evaluate “regionalism” as a meaningful interpretative methodology or approach to analyzing contemporary western problems and issues.
Research for the essay should draw upon classroom presentations, relevant assigned readings, and other appropriate sources.
The essay will be presented first as a preliminary draft (1,000 words), due April 8. The essay will be commented upon and returned for a re-write. This extended second effort needs to be at least 24 pages in length—double-spaced, 12-point type, one-inch margin—and is to be handed in by May 11 as the final examination. This assignment will constitute 60% of the course grade. The second 40% will depend upon attendance and written quizzes.
The essays should conform to Kate L. Turabian's Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007).
Quizzes:Quizzes will be given after the lectures of Professors Gritzner, Farr and Williams.
Final:See essay above.
Note:This is a lecture class and you need to be present in order to pass. Attendance is required and will not only be taken, but will be considered in determining your final grade.
Additional readings — Available on ERes:
Many Wests, David M. Wrobel/Michael C. Steiner, editors
pp. 94-113; Chapter 5 (pp. 114-135); Chapter 8 (pp. 177-203); Chapter 14
(pp. 342-365)
Who Own the West?, William Kittredge, Prologue and Epilogue
Living in the Runaway West, compiled by the Editors of High Country News
pp. 3-4; 20-21; 52-53; 78-82; 124-134; 175-180; 204-206
The Montana Face, Leslie Fiedler, Montana Opinion (June, 1956), pp. 12-19
Atlas of the New West. Portrait of a Changing Region, William E. Riebsame, editor, Chapter 1: “A Region Defined,” pp. 46-67
Syllabus:
Jan. 28William E. Farr, Jeffrey Gritzner and Pat Williams
Introduction: “Regionalism — Definitions and its Future”
Feb. 4Rick Graetz“Images of Montana and the Northern Rockies”
Feb. 11Jim SearsGeology vs Destiny
Jeffrey GritznerPhysical Geography and Pre-history
Readings:ERes:Walter Nugent, "Where is the American West? Report on a Survey," Montana.
The Magazine of Western History 42 (Summer 1992): 13.
Ty Cashion, “What’s the Matter With Texas? The Great Enigma of the Lone StarState inthe American West” in Montana. The Magazine of Western History (Winter, 2005) pp. 2-15
Charles Wilkinson, “Paradise Revised,” in Atlas of the New West. Portrait of a ChangingRegion (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1997), pp. 15-46
Feb. 13Last Day to Drop/Add by Cyber Bear
Feb. 18Joseph Mussulman “Regionalism and Lewis and Clark”
William E. Farr“The Blackfeet and How Indians and Treaties Helpto Shape the Rocky Mountain West”
Readings:ERes:Treaty with the Flatheads, etc. 1855 (The Hellgate Treaty)
Treaty with the Blackfeet, 1855
Treaty with the Blackfeet, 1895
Feb. 25Michael PunkeLast Stand. George Bird Grinnell’s Battle to Save the Buffalo and the Birth of the New West.
Dan Flores“Three Rocky Mountain Cultures”
Mar. 4Jim PosewitzHow the West Found Its Conservation Ethic.
Harry FritzMontana Statehood and Beyond
Readings:ERes:Harry W. Fritz, “The Origins of Twenty-first-Century Montana,” Montana. The
Magazine of Western History, 42 (Winter 1992), 77-81.
Mar. 9Last Day to Drop/Add - No Refund
Last Day to Change Grade Option or Graduate Credit
Mar. 11Sarah HalversonWater and the West
Jack Ward Thomas (Tentative)
Mar. 18(3:10 p.m.) Bob BrownMontana Constitution
(4:00 p.m.) TBA
Mar. 25Pat Williams“Wilderness…Policy and Politics”
Readings:ERes:Pat Williams, "Congressional Politics in the Management of the National
Forests," The Rocky Mountain West's Changing Landscape, 1:1, 9-15.
Mar. 30-Apr. 3 Spring Break
Apr. 8Williams
Jerry Williams (tentative)“The Politics of Fire”
Apr. 15Larry Swanson“Changing Economies”
Apr. 22Steve Woodruff, Jonathan Weber (tentative), Shellie Nelson
Apr. 29Ken TooleTransmission Lines and Alternative Energy
Dan BelcourtIndian Water
May 1Last day to withdraw from the University (drop all courses)
May 6Len Broberg “Montana – Canada Connections”
Steve Running“The Changing Climate of the Rocky Mountain West”
May 113:20-5:20 p.m.Final Exam
Electronic Reserve Web Site:
Course Password:Regionalism (case sensitive)
Any item on electronic reserve normally also has one copy on regular (folder) reserve.