Course Syllabus
HI/POL 451
History of Modern Hawaii
Chaminade University of Honolulu

Instructor:              

Terrence Monroe
2023 Coyne St.
Honolulu, HI  96826
808.941-7140
terrence.monroe@adjunct.chaminade.edu
profmonroe@yahoo.com
808.941-7140
Office hours: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Mon. - Fri. (not available weekends or holidays) 

Experienced as an instructor of in-class courses (since 1974) and online courses (since 2000) in various disciplines of world history and contemporary Asian civilizations for colleges and universities throughout the United States. Educational background: Master of Arts Degree in Asian Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1974; Bachelor of Arts Degree in Asian Studies, 1973.

Course Overview:	

This course examines the political, economic, and cultural forces that shaped modern Hawai'i and its people from first contact in 1778 to Hawaii's overthrow, annexation and through the present day. Cross-listed as POL 451. Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: any 100 or 200 level history or political science course.

Learning Outcomes:  
 
•	To understand today’s Hawaii in light of its past.
•	To understand the causes of the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom
•	To appreciate the formation of an American Hawaii with its unique local culture.

Text:

There is no text assigned for this course; reading will be comprised of the online lectures.

Course Requirements:

Successful completion of this course depends upon:

•	Completion of three essays assignments.

•	Participation in weekly discussion forums.

•	Completion of a proctored final exam (the third essays assignment).

*Please be sure to carefully read the Orientation Addendum for guidance on these assignments.

Grading Policy:
 
Discussion postings should be posted throughout the week and must be posted before the week closes each Sunday night. Discussion postings may not be made up once the weekly discussion forum closes; if you miss a particular week’s discussion forum, you may not go back in after the Sunday night deadline for that week and post. Still, you are expected to complete all assignments on time. Please bear in mind that an Incomplete is generally not an option, since there is no way to make up the discussion forum participation element of your grade once the course is finished (after all, the group will have moved on, and there wouldn’t be anyone to discuss anything with). Please bear in mind also that participation in the discussion forums is what makes an online course work. 
 
Your essays assignment, discussion forum, and final exam grades will be posted in the Gradebook within 7 days of their due dates. Each essays assignment will have a maximum value of 200 points (for a total of 600 points). Each week’s discussion forum will have a maximum value of 100 points (for a total of 1000 points). Total points for this course: 1600.

Grading Scale:                   
 
A:       90 - 100 (1440 - 1600 points)
B:       80 - 89 (1280 - 1439 points)
C:       70 - 79 (1120 - 1279 points)
D:       60 - 69 (960 - 1119 points)
F:       less than 60 (less than 960 points)

Assignment Schedule:
	 
Week 1 (Jan. 11 – Jan. 17): 	

Reading: Week 1 online lecture

Participate in Week 1 discussion forum

Week 2 (Jan. 18 – Jan. 24):	

Reading: Week 2 online lecture

Participate in Week 2 discussion forum
 
Week 3 (Jan. 25 – Jan. 31):	

Reading: Week 3 online lecture

Participate in Week 3 discussion forum
Submit essays assignment 1
 
Week 4 (Feb. 1 – Feb. 7):	

Reading: Week 4 online lecture

Participate in Week 4 discussion forum
		
Week 5 (Feb. 8 – Feb. 14):	

Reading: Week 5 online lecture

No discussion forum this week

Week 6 (Feb. 15 – Feb. 21): 	

Reading: Week 6 online lecture

Participate in Week 6 discussion forum
Submit essays assignment 2
 
Week 7 (Feb. 22 – Feb. 28):	

Reading: Week 7 online lecture

Participate in Week 7 discussion forum
 
Week 8 (Mar. 1 – Mar. 7):	

Reading: Week 8 online lecture

Participate in Week 8 discussion forum

Week 9 (Mar. 8 – Mar. 14):	

Reading: Week 9 online lecture

Participate in Week 9 discussion forum
 
Week 10 (Mar. 15 – Mar. 21):	

Participate in Week 10 discussion forum
Final exam: complete essays assignment 3 under proctor’s supervision (no notes or other references permitted); date, time, and locations to be announced

TO:  Military Students and DOD Employees

In an effort to service our students on the island of Oahu better we are offering a limited number of seats for finals off campus. Additional locations for the online finals will be available at Pearl Harbor, Tripler, and Schofield Barracks.  

***If you are a civilian and have a MWR student pass you can take your exam at the Main campus or Schofield. You must already have your pass; the Army will not make civilian passes for exam purposes only.  Civilians are not able to take exams at Pearl Harbor.

Instructions to reserve a seat at one of the military installations:

1.	Some instructors prefer students test at the main campus. Please discuss your testing options with your instructor prior to registering for a seat. 

2.	You must have access to the military base you will be attending.

3.	This reservation must be made no earlier than the 7th week of the course.  We do have a maximum seating, so reservations are first come first serve.

4.	You must email the following information to one site only:  Pearl Harbor - aup-pearl@chaminade.edu.,Tripler – aup-tripler@chaminade.edu, or Schofield Barracks – aup-schofield@chaminade.edu

•	Name, Social Security# (last 4 digits)
•	Contact phone #  & valid email address 
•	Type of access (Active duty, Military family member, DOD)
•	Time slot (1 per class) – 13:00 or 15:00
•	Course #, Course Title, & Instructor

5.	You will receive an email confirmation for the site requested, if you do not receive a confirmation email within 2 days, please contact the office you emailed or resend the reservation request. You must print out your confirmation and bring it with you to the exam (along with a valid picture ID).

6.	If you do not pre-register for a seat, no exam will be available for you at either of the sites.

Consultation: 
 
I’m always available via email, or you may call and leave a message at any time, day or night. My phone ringer is turned off, so don’t worry about calling in the middle of the night—it’s okay! I will try to return your call within 12-24 hours. For those of you who are outside Hawaii, calling Hawaii these days is cheap—free on most cell phone plans, several cents a minute with a prepaid phone card, 10-25 cents/minute with phone company long distance plans. If you just leave a quick message, you shouldn’t suffer much financially, and I’ll pay for the return call, of course. As far as email is concerned, I will try to respond to your message within 24-36 hours; however, please do not expect me to respond on weekends or holidays—I need to have a life of some kind!

Now, don’t forget to read the Orientation!

Orientation

If this is your first online course, don't be alarmed. I think you'll find it’s pretty straightforward. It may not, however, be what you expect. An online course is not a glorified correspondence course, nor is it a course in directed reading. You are not isolated and out there on your own. To the contrary, you’re likely to become more involved with your classmates than you ordinarily would be in a regular class. One of the nice things about an online course is that your classroom is open 24/7. Time of day (or night) and physical location is irrelevant—we’re living in a global village. For those of who are able to discipline yourselves academically, you’ll find that the freedom of working and studying online is sweet indeed. Another nice thing about learning online is that the discussion forums enable you to leisurely examine everything that everyone in your class has said to date about a particular discussion topic, pick and choose what to respond to, and think through your response before pecking it out on your keyboard. All that tends to make for a much more thoughtful and better quality discussion, and you may conclude, as I have, that it’s a better way to learn. What’s more, you’ll find that the online learning environment can introduce you to the galaxy of online resources including websites, online libraries, subject guides, and lots more.
I am assuming that you are reasonably well acquainted with the use of a computer and with our course management system, which is fairly intuitive and quite forgiving (as such things go), but if you ever have a question about getting around in that, let me know. I promise you immediate and cheerful assistance!
Now, as to course requirements: 
The first thing that makes up your course grade is a series of three essays assignments (the third of which will serve as your final exam). The topic for each of these essays assignments is the same, as follows:
In each of five (5) brief essays of approximately 200 - 300 words each (1,000 - 1,500 words total), identify a topic (you decide which one, as long as they it something to do with the material you've studied to date in this course) and reflect on its why it matters. You will need to write on a different  topic for each of your five brief essays. Do not write the usual student essay that just recites history (like the text does). Instead, I want you to explain why your topic matters. Does it explain things that are happening now? Or, how did it affect society back then? Or, how was it affected by society back then. Be creative and interpretative, but do not recite the historical record (since we already know what happened). No quotes, no citations, no footnotes—these essays must be 100% in your own words. Everything you write for these assignments must be entirely in your own words, however humble. Plagiarism may result in your eviction from this course. Do not cite or recite anything—I already know what happened in history, so what I want is your insight as to the implications of your topics. I want to see evidence that you’re thinking things through in these matters and wondering about what it all means. Any citation of material from any other sources will result in a mark-down of your grade.
You should be working on these essays assignments continuously, and your work should have the polished feel of being the result of a steady, daily progression of thought and reflection. You can never tell when insight will strike, so you should get into the habit (now) of taking notes as we go along of things like this that occur to you; carry a little notebook and pen around with you always (except in the shower)--it’s a habit that will serve you very well indeed for all kinds of purposes. Polish, embellish, and refine your insights as you go. Don’t even think about trying to sit down to compose these essays all at once—it’s a daunting, unproductive, and highly improbable prospect. If it appears that you have slapped together this assignment at the last minute, your grade will suffer for it. 
Everything you write for these assignments must be entirely in your own words, however humble. Plagiarism will result in your eviction from this course. Do not cite or recite anything—I already know what happened in history, so what I want is your insight as to the implications of your topics. I want to see evidence that you’re thinking things through in these matters and wondering about what it all means. Any citation of material from any other sources will result in a mark-down of your grade.
You must write on five (5) separate topics for each of these essays assignments. Your five essays for each assignment should be clearly segregated from each other--do not submit them run together into one big essay.
Here are three essays as an example:
•	The kapu system: Kapu were the Hawaiian way of regulating the social order--the difference being that in a "sacred society" such as ancient Hawaii, the emphasis was on regulating man's relationship with the gods and his environment. In Western society, the emphasis is on individual and especially property rights--which didn't exist (in the same sense that we understand them) in ancient Hawaii. Says something about values, doesn't it? Today, there's little sense of regulating man's relationship with our Island environment, and way too much concern with individual and property rights. It begs the question: does the ascendancy of individual and property rights have any place in the fragile and diminutive environment that we have here? Or is there a lesson for us in the ancient Hawaiian's custodial and communal concept of property? The prospect of continuing as we are means certain ruination of our natural environment and local way of life. Much as I admire certain things about the American way of life, the scale and much of the nature of it is ill-suited to a small island; these islands were never meant to accommodate urban sprawl, any more than our local lifestyle was meant to accommodate the ethic of Every Man for Himself and to Hell with Thee.
•	Tourism: Much as I admire certain things about the American way of life, the scale and much of its nature is ill-suited to a small island; these islands were never meant to accommodate mass tourism and urban sprawl. Some modification in our constitutional relationship with the United States is the only way I can imagine that would give us the right to control in-migration, and prevent being utterly ruined by overpopulation and overrun by tourists. To that end, I would favor a protectorate, which would grant the United States the use of military facilities here in return for leaving Hawaii alone to find its own way in the world... and to gain the self-esteem and other rewards that we could achieve by pursuing other prospects than scrubbing toilets and making beds for tourists. Hawaii, which should by rights become the center of professional expertise for the Pacific Rim economy, is increasingly bypassed in trans-Pacific shipping and air traffic--and that speaks volumes of how we've marginalized ourselves with our own small-mindedness here. Virtually everything, including food that we could easily produce ourselves, is imported--and that speaks to how we've turned our noses up at the lucrative prospects on offer with becoming a manufacturing and export economy ourselves. There is a galaxy of local products with a Hawaii flavor--food products, clothing, jewelry, perfumes, tropical hardwoods products, and much more--that the outside world would pay a pretty penny for… if only we marketed ourselves to the world as something other than a tourist destination.
•	Annexation: One wonders if Liliuokalani’s relinquishment of rule was merely a feint along the lines of Kamehameha III’s surrender of the kingdom to Lord George Paulet way back when. The king had depended on the British sense of fair play to restore his crown, and they did. Knowing that there was little support in Washington for annexation, did Liliuokalani likewise depend on the United States to do the right thing, believing that if she abdicated, Washington would call off the dogs and set things right--as the British had done with Kamehameha III? There were differences: the British did not want Hawaii, and did not want to antagonize the Americans with any bid for control of the Islands. The Americans did want Hawaii, thanks to Manifest Destiny having outgrown America’s borders; Americans had come to regard the Pacific as an American lake, and the longed-for China trade as its very own. The expansion of French and German interests in the Pacific made Americans uneasy, and Americans had come to understand that playing the Great Game in the Pacific required forward bases, of which Pearl Harbor was the jewel in the crown. But America’s acquisition of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines as the spoils of its victory in the Spanish-American War cemented Hawaii’s role in its vision of empire.
I will be sending you the following grade report on your essays assignments:
•	Quality of insight (50 percentage points): How well did you interpret the significance of your topic? How well did you consider the implications, in terms of how your topics reflect on comparable developments in the present, past, or even the future? How creative is your thinking in terms of drawing conclusions are where things come from and where they lead and why they're of special significance? To what extent does your writing reflect consistent, in-depth reflection, rather than a last-minute effort?
•	Familiarity with the facts (35 percentage points). You may be forgiven for wondering how you are going to demonstrate familiarity with the facts without reciting history. Let me put it this way: I am concerned that your essays do not reflect a complete ignorance of your subject matter. You need to acquaint yourself (using all kinds of sources, including your text, websites, books, articles, videos, your grandpa, whatever) with what you write about, so that your conclusions as to their significance are not completely at odds with the reality of the historical record. You may make whatever mention of those facts from the historical record that are needed (and only what is needed) to support your conclusions.
•	Quality of expression (15 percentage points): How clearly and articulately is your insight expressed? (I don't like sloppy composition, confused syntax, and bad spelling. Show pride in your facility with the English language--more than anything, this is your key to earning both respect from others and a prosperous future.)
•	Total percentage X total number of points possible = your grade.
Things that can work against you:
•	Five topics for each essays assignment are required; for each topic fewer than five submitted, there will be a reduction in your grade. A total of 1,000-1,500 words is recommended--if your effort is appreciably less or more (which is not necessarily better) than this, there may be a proportionate reduction in your grade.
•	Do not recite history for the sake of reciting history, in any sort of narrative form (as, for example, your textbook does)--I already know (more or less) what happened in history. Above all, are your essays entirely in your own words? Any whiff of plagiarism will result in your essay being submitted to Turnitin.com--and if plagiarism is indicated, your continued participation in this course would be at risk.
•	If your essays are not clearly segregated, there will be a reduction in your grade (in other words, do not submit your five essays as one big rambling essay); this is meant to be an exercise in thinking and writing succinctly.
If you would like to discuss your assignment and its grade, please do not expect me to respond in writing--I have too many students to permit me the time I would need to peck out a personalized response to each of you who may have questions and concerns. I ask instead that you email me and ask that I call you so that we can discuss things--that's a lot easier, a lot more productive, and a lot more enjoyable for both us, since I can bring your essay up on screen and roam through whatever points we need to consider, and provide you with guidance on how to improve your work. This way, I can provide you with as much personalized consultation as we feel you need, and hopefully lend a much-needed dimension of student-teacher contact to an otherwise somewhat impersonal medium of instruction. 
The second thing that makes up your course grade is your participation in the discussion forums. In each of these forums, you’ll find a number of topics that I’ve posted, and you’ll find them in the discussion forum for whichever week we’re in. In order to do well in this exercise, you should plan to log on several times throughout the week with a total of 5 responses--to your choice of the topics themselves and/or to your classmates’ postings. If you don’t feel that you’ve had enough exposure to deal with a particular topic, then by all means get on the Internet and look this stuff up so that you’ll be better informed (use some initiative here, and take control of your own learning—the text is by no means the Alpha and Omega of your education in history). 
*While you only need to respond to 5 topics and/or your classmates' postings, please try to at least read each of my own responses to these topics. This is also how I teach you, and I am trying to provide you with examples of how to think creatively about these topics, and to help get you into the habit of writing your Exam Essays assignments.
With any of these forums, there will be a number of topics to choose from; go with whichever ones arouse your interest. You do not need to respond to all of the discussion topics—just go with the ones (5 of them) that most interest you. Because of the enormous terrain that we’ll be covering in this course, the discussion topics that I’ve posted are nothing more than a sample, just enough to whet your taste buds for the fantastic variety of things that could constitute a history course of this sort. 
Your responses to these topics should be thoughtful and concise. Don’t ramble--try to make your points succinctly. Not too succinct, however--I’m looking for a lot more than just “Great idea! Wish I had thought of that!” Your postings should each be around 100 words--but that’s just a rough guideline, since I value quality of insight much more than quantity of words. I especially value postings that reflect something of the history that you may have learned thus far; uninformed personal opinion, frankly, is dime-a-dozen, while an opinion that is at least somewhat informed by history will rank very highly in my esteem. Be sure to post your responses in the discussion forum—do not email them to me. If you’re not sure how to post to the forum, just ask and I’ll walk you through it.
Discussion is what makes an online course work; otherwise, an online course is just a glorified correspondence course. Be sure to respond to your classmates! If your classmate posts a response to a topic that interests you, look it over and consider posting a different point of view if, in your opinion, it merits one. We’re trying to get an actual exchange of views going here, and the gods will surely smile upon whatever you can think to do to help that process along. I think you’ll be amazed at how much you’ll learn from each other in these forums.
There’s one last thing I need to say about these discussions: they’re meant to be provocative and, in many cases, relevant to the issues of today. They say that “history is”--not “history was”--and one of the paramount points of why we study history is to apply its lessons and implications in consideration of things that are happening in the here and now. To that end, I encourage my students to think creatively and philosophically about these things, and not just to soak up the historical record for the sake of spewing it out on their exams and then forgetting the whole business. If I can teach my students to wonder about the lessons of history and how they may shed light on the things that are happening in their lives, then hopefully it will become a habit that will flourish (and serve them well) throughout life.
Again, I do not accept late submissions of your discussion forum postings. Reason being, the discussion is a group project, and if you miss the deadline, the group will have moved on and you’ll have nobody to discuss anything with. I expect you to log on regularly; by that, I mean that you should log in at the start of the forum, again in the middle, and again towards the end. As with writing your Exam Essays assignments, your participation in the discussion forums needs to be continuous. If I see (from the time-stamp of your postings) that most of your postings were made at the last moment, your grade will suffer for it, since by posting at the last moment, you will have deprived your classmates of the opportunity to discuss anything with you.
As to extra credit assignments: there are none. Please do not ask for the opportunity to do extra credit work to make up for an assignment that you may have missed.
If you have any dispute over course requirements, policies, grades, or anything else that you haven’t gotten a satisfactory response from me on, you have my phone number: 808.941-7140. I am your court of first appeal, and as your teacher, I have both the right and the responsibility to resolve your concerns before they go anywhere else. Do not take any complaint or concern that you may have to the department chair, the dean, the president of the United States, the pope, or anyone else without giving me a reasonable chance to resolve it first. Granted, there are times when I am just too busy to respond as quickly as I’d like to, but that doesn’t mean that I’m ignoring you; so, please understand if you don’t hear back from me as soon as you think you should. I am well aware that poor responsiveness from an instructor is the single biggest source of student anxiety in a distance learning course (people—myself included--imagine all kinds of things when they don’t hear back). But rest assured: I will always make every effort to deal with you in good faith and in a timely manner, and I expect the same from you. I should add that I always try to be as generous as possible in grading, so the occasional few points that might be in dispute on a particular assignment should not affect your course grade adversely.
In closing, I’d like to think you’re here because you want to learn, rather than just meet a requirement, right? Right??? I would ask you to think about what a college education should really mean to you; the day will come, long after you’ve gone out and conquered the world (or been conquered by it), when you’ll realize that what really matters in life is learning, personal growth, and wisdom—take the word of a wise old hound on that for now. I expect your best effort, but more so, you should expect that from yourself. I’m not some guy sitting on the beach doing this to keep myself in mai tais and suntan lotion (I haven’t been to the beach in more years than I can remember); I take your education very seriously, and I trust that you will do the same. Once the course is finished, I must ask that you not lean on me about your grade, telling me that you really, really need an A (when in fact you’ve earned less), or that maintaining your 4.0 GPA is a matter of life or death, or that your financial aid is in danger if you don’t pass. I do not respond well to such overtures, and they tend to be counter-productive. The time to worry about such things is while you’re working your way through the course--not after it’s over and done with--and again, I think you’ll find that I’m quite generous with the grades as long as you do the required work and make your best effort.
With that said, go ahead and jump into your Week 1 stuff. And relax… despite all the stern-sounding rules and regs, I’m actually very easy to get along with. 
If you want to talk with me about things, send me an email asking that I call you; I’ll then call you back on my nickel. I don’t have time for telephone tag, so please specify in your message the best time(s) for me to reach you, and I’ll try to schedule the call accordingly. In your message, be sure to specify which college you’re in (I teach for more than one), and which course you’re taking; please do not assume that I should know you by name (even if we’ve talked a dozen times); I’m the original absent-minded professor, and I need all the help I can get (don’t we all, though).
Aloha…  Terrence Monroe