The Spanish Borderlands 

Austin College
Fall 2008
History 329a

TTh 9:30-10:50 am
Hopkins Center 211

Light T. Cummins
Office: Sherman Hall 124, 813-2359
lcummins@austincollege.edu

Course Requirements:

This course is a critical analysis of the Spanish experience in those geographic areas of colonial Spain which are now part of the United States. This course will examine the Hispanic colonial history of Florida, the Gulf Coast, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and the northern frontier of Mexico from the beginnings of European colonization to the nineteenth century. Special emphasis will be placed on the Hispanic heritage of these areas of the United States.

David J. Weber. The Hispanic Frontier of North America. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994. ISBN 0300059175. Paperback.
 

There will be three tests: two unit examinations and a final examination. As well, each student will engage in outside reading as noted below. Each student will also work through three exhibits dealing with the Borderlands in the Humanities Interactive site maintained by the Texas Humanities Resource Center. Students will vote in class regarding the examination format that will be used during the semester.

Use the bibliographies in the Weber book as your selection guide for titles.  For purposes of rough approximation, this total reflects the estimate that each book read will be some 300 pages or so in length. Of course, should students choose some books which are longer or shorter, the number of books read will vary from individual to individual. Students will assemble their own reading list based on a personal bibliographic search which reflects their interests. Students have complete freedom of choice in selecting their reading. You may, for example, read books all centered on one topic, or vary them widely to reflect all aspects of the course. All books chosen must be valid works of recognized historical scholarship.

The instructor must approve the reading list, which should be formally submitted by the end of the second week of class as noted on the schedule below. At that time, the student should submit a typed list which includes author, title, date and place of publication, publisher, number of pages, and Abell Library call number. It should be arranged alphabetically by author. Students will be tested on their outside reading in the following manner. One class period before each test, the student will turn in to the instructor during class a blank blue book which will be returned at test time. The exam will be taken in this blue book. On the inside front cover of this blue book, the student should have listed by author and title all of the books from their reading list which they have read during the period of the course covered by the examination. The instructor will select one, check it, and when the blue book is returned at test time, the student will write a critical evaluation of that book. This will count 25% of the examination grade. The critical evaluation, among other things, should address the following points: What are the major points covered by the book? What is the major theme or thesis advanced by the author? How does the book relate to other material presented in the course? Does the book have any noticeable academic prejudices regarding its subject? Is the author successful or not in achieving his or her purposes? It is important that students pace their outside reading in such a manner that approximately one third of it is done during each of the three testing periods. For that reason, the instructor expects to see listed at the time of each examination a total number of books reflecting one-third of the total outside reading assignment.
 

Each student will visit and examine thoroughly three online exhibits maintained by the Humanities Interactive project of the Texas Humanities Resource Center, a subdivision of the Texas Council for the Humanities. The Humanities Interactive Project makes available online for students especially created "museum-like" exhibits dealing with various aspects of the history and humanities of our cultural heritage. For a full list of such exhibits, click here. You will need a graphics intensive browser with Java capabilities in order to undertake this assignment. Such platforms are available in the Abell Library Center, along with many other locations on the Austin College campus. These papers are due via the  Turnitin program and must be turned in by midnight on the day that they are due. Late work will not be excepted. Each paper should be approximately 2000 words in length, each dealing with the matters noted in the explanatory materials dealing with each assignment.

In particular, students in this course will be visiting and writing papers on three online xhibits. They are:

For the purposes of this course, all assignments have been made on the first day of class. Therefore, under no circumstances whatsoever will late work be accepted for course credit without penalty. Only students with verifiable excuses will be allowed to take make-up examinations. In the case of the final, no student will be permitted to take the exam at another time without the instructor's consultation with the mentor and registrar's office.

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