Michael S. Lynch

FYOS 1001: First Year Odyssey
How a Bill Becomes a Historical Law:
Passing the 1964 Civil Rights Act
Fall 2015

Class Meeting: Wednesday 2:30pm to 3:20pm, Park Hall 61
Office Hours: Wednesday 9:00-11:00 or by appointment, Baldwin 409

Course Syllabus

  • Syllabus.


    Course Calendar

  • August 19 - Introductions/Syllabus
  • August 26 - How a Bill Becomes a Law
  • September 2 - Passing and Killing Legislation
  • September 9 - Introduction to the Civil Rights Movement

    READING ASSIGNMENT
    Read the Intro and Chapter 1 of Bill of the Century

    SHORT WRITING ASSIGNMENT
    Short Assignment #2
  • September 16 - Political Movements and Collective Action

    READING ASSIGNMENT
    Read Chapter 2 of Bill of the Century

  • September 23 - Writing a Bill

    READING ASSIGNMENT
    Read Chapter 3 of Bill of the Century

    SHORT WRITING ASSIGNMENT
    Short Assignment #3
  • September 30 - Writing a Bill Continued

    READING ASSIGNMENT
    Read Chapter 4 of Bill of the Century

  • October 14 - Johnson Takes Over

    READING ASSIGNMENT
    Read Chapter 5 of Bill of the Century

    SHORT WRITING ASSIGNMENT
    Short Assignment #4
  • Future Weeks TBA


    Short Assignments

  • Short Assignment #1 (first day questionnairre)
  • Short Assignment #2 (Due Sept 9)
    Find a bill that has been proposed in the 114th (current) House or Senate (see http://thomas.loc.gov). Write a short memo (half page or less) that does the following:

    1. Summarize what the bill is intended to do. (The CRS Summary of the bill will be helpful here)

    2. Assess the bill's chances of success. Will the House and Senate pass the bill? Will the president veto it?

    3. Do you believe the member thinks the bill will pass? If not, why do you think the member introduced the bill?
  • Short Assignment #3 (Due Sept 23)
    Think of a protest group currently operating in the U.S. or abroad. Write a short memo (half to full page) that discusses how the group overcomes the collective action problem.
  • Short Assignment #4 (Due Oct 14) Choose a person mentioned in the book and write a short biography for that person. Be sure to discuss how your subject's background prior to 1964 led to their participation in the fight over civil rights. Your bio should be somewhere around 1 page.


    Legislation Proposal

    Assignment details will be announced later in the semester.


    Additional Resources

    We will make use of a variety of resources and related research projects throughout the semester. Here are a few:
  • The University of Georgia Amendments Project conducts research on legislative process in the U.S. Congress. An integrated team of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students, led by Professors Lynch and Madonna have collected and analyzed data on a variety of historic legislation, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
  • The University of Georgia's Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies is a great resource for information and data on U.S. politics. We will make use of their extensive archives later in the semester.
  • During the 50th anniversary of desegregation at the University of Georgia, the university developed this webpage which gives an excellent view of the Civil Rights movement and how it changed the university.