LCC - Welcome to Fall Term HST195 Vietnam War History Class

Hello students,

My name is Joe Escobar and I am your instructor for HST195 History of the Vietnam War at Lane Community College. The class will begin just one week from today. You are receiving this email because you are enrolled in the course and you have wisely included your email address in your MyLane account information. I wanted to contact you in advance of the start of the term with some information relevant to this particular course.

A brief class overview can be found online at:

http://media.lanecc.edu/users/escobarj/lcc/HST_195.html

HST195 is a fully online class, and as such, it will require a significant amount of writing. Besides the objective-format examinations, how else can you assure the instructor that you are learning the material? While there is no official writing course prerequisite, if you have not successfully passed WR121, WR122, and WR123, or if your writing skills are not already at a college level, I would highly recommend against your taking this class.

As a fully online class, you must be able to access and print course materials from the internet. I strongly suggest that you complete the following tasks BEFORE the term begins next Monday.

#1 - open/download/read a web-based document (your syllabus)

#2 - watch a short sample internet video clip (War Letters)

#3 - look over student evaluations of the class from previous terms

All of these tasks can be accomplished at the class website at:

http://classes.lanecc.edu

Login with your L# and passphrase. By providing this information to you now, I'm hoping to avoid any technical issues over the next 11 weeks.

READ THE COURSE SYLLABUS

I've posted the course syllabus online in Moodle and you can read it right now. If any of this information causes you concern, please drop this class promptly, as I have a wait list and many other students are still in need of classes. Pay particular attention to the parts about no late work, getting the DVDs in the LCC library or watching them on YouTube, and the fact that you will have to physically come to campus (or an approved testing center) to take your two exams. If you think this class might be a good fit for you, I'll “see” you “online” next week.

READ PAST INSTRUCTOR AND CLASS EVALUATIONS

Think about this. You are spending approximately $400 in tuition to take this course, and many of you know nothing about this "Instructor Joe Escobar" listed on the schedule of classes. To help you decide if you are spending your money wisely, I have posted all of my evaluations, completed by my former students over the last several years. All comments, good and bad, have been included. Nothing has been censored. I would strongly advise that you take a look and see if you like what you discover about your instructor. You will see the link in the class website on Moodle.

THE TEXTBOOKS

I wanted to let you know about the course textbook options. The LCC Bookstore has the Herring textbook but a used 4th edition can be purchased used (and shipped) for about $10 from Amazon.com. The LCC Bookstore has the Appy textbook for $20 new and $15 used. It can be purchased used (and shipped) for about $8 from Amazon.com. You may also be able to find them locally at Smith Family Bookstore in Eugene. The books can also be rented and there are even Kindle editions for those of you who like electronic versions of textbooks.

The Week 1 assignments are now visible in Moodle.  Some of you may choose to start reading the assigned chapters in the textbooks (Herring - Preface and Chapter 1, Appy - PART 1) and watching Episode 1 of the DVD before the term begins next Monday. That would be a very good idea.

Well, that's all of the news I have for you now. Feel free to Moodle message me anytime with any questions you may have about the class. (See the help video if you've never used Moodle messaging before.)

I look forward to working with you during the term.


Joe Escobar
History Instructor
Lane Community College