Download Survey of American History Name： TIAN Xiansheng Nationality

Survey of American History
Name：
TIAN Xiansheng
Nationality：
United States
Academic Title：Professor
Home University Metropolitan State
（From）：
University of Denver
Email Address： [email protected]
Freshman,Sophomore,Junior,Senior
English
None
Lecturing in class
Lectures and discussions
(1) Attendance and participation 20%
(2) Midterm and final exams and mini-papers 80%
2 credits
Dr. Xiansheng Tian, Professor of History, jointed the Metro State University of
Denver in 1996, teaching American History, World History, East Asian History, Modern
China, Modern Japan, and US-China Relations. His book, Patrick J. Hurley and American
Policy in China, 1944-1945, was published in 2009, which details one of the pivotal
diplomatic missions of the twentieth century. He also co-edited three other books,
Evolution of Power: China’s Struggle, Survival, and Success, (2014), New
Historiography in the Contemporary West on Chinese History: 1987-2007 (2007) and
Taiwan in the Eyes of Chinese-American Scholars: Critical Analysis of Taiwanese
Society in the 21st Century (2004). He also contributed chapters to books like Ethnic
China: Identity, Assimilation, and Resistance (2015), Discovering History in
America (2008), Society, Modernity, and Cultural Identity in Taiwan: A Historical
Revisit (2001), Asia’s Crisis and New Paradigm (2000), Taiwan in Historical
Perspective: Post-War Economy, Politics, Culture, Education, and External Relations
(1999), and China and the United States: A New Cold War History (1999). His most
recently coedited book is Urbanization and Party Survival: People vs. Power (2016).
He has served on the Boards of Directors of the Chinese Historians in the United
States（CHUS）and the Association of Chinese Professors in Social Sciences（ACPSS）.
He is also on the Editorial Board of American Review of China Studies.
CHR(10)
This course, Survey of American History, will cover the span of American history
from pre-Columbus times to the present time (21st century). Through the studies of
the historical events, students will learn the origins of the making of the British
colonies in North America and the birth of the new country, as well as the development
of the new country into the super-power of the world. The class will also discuss
the origins of domestic and foreign policies of the United States through the last
two hundred years. By examining these developments, students will be able to better
understand the current events in this country and the relations between the United
States and the other nations. The course will be presented in the following four
units, each one covers certain time periods and evernt. (See Course Contents for
details)
Unit I: Early America
I-1.Pre-Columbus Americans;
I-2. European discovery, exploration, and colonization;
I-3. Inter-colonial wars; the American Revolution;
I-4. The creation of the United States and the War of 1812.
Unit II: Building of the New Country and the Road to Civil War
II-1.Industrial and transportation revolutions;
II-2. Jacksonian democracy; “Manifest Destiny”;
II-3. Sectionalism; Secession and Civil War;
II-4. The Reconstruction.
Mini-paper 1 due. Midterm Exam.
Unit III: Rise of a New Powerful Nation
III-1. End of Reconstruction and the Gilded Age;
III-2. The Industrial and Transportation Revolution, Society, and Progressivism;
III_3. American Imperialism and the First World War;
III-4. The "Roaring Twenties" and the Seeds of Disasters
Unit IV: The Rise of the Super-power and Challenges
IV-1. The Great Depression and the New Deal;
IV-2. The World War II and the Cold War;
IV-3. "The Society of Affluence," the 1960s and 1970s--the Vietnam War,
desegregation, dissent, and the retreat to conservatism;
IV-4. The "new world order" in the 1990s; Challenges to the nation in the new century.
Mini-paper 2 due; Final Exam.
Steven Gillon, American Promise: Vol I, To 1877 and
American Promise: Vol. II, Since 1865 (New York: Bedford, 2008 or newer version.
There is a combined edition too).
Printout of PPT files for all the lectures will be made available in the very
beginning of class.
Eric Foner, Voice of Freedom: A Documentary History, Vol. I and II (Fifth edition).
New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2016.