Craig Matthews, A.A., B.A., M.A.

Welcome!

I am proud to say that I am a product of the community college and Cal State system. I graduated from Fullerton College with an AA in liberal studies (1990), I received my BA in history from Cal State Fullerton (1992), I earned my certification for teaching secondary education (1993) and finally, I earned my MA in political science (1998). I enjoy teaching US History and Political Science courses and I believe they compliment each other quite well.

I teach the following courses

• HIS 170: US History from exploration to reconstruction
• HIS 171: US History from reconstruction to the present
• PS 100: Introduction to US Government (both in-class and online courses)
• PS 275:  Public Law

Teaching Philosophy

I have been teaching in the social science department at Fullerton College since 2000 and Cypress College since 2006. I enjoy interacting with students and attempt to motivate, inspire and entertain students in class each day. I love to read the economist and the daily newspaper to learn about current events that I can apply to classroom material so that information being discussed in my political science and history courses are relevant and interesting!

POSC 100C Introduction to US Government

Introduction to United States Government is a basic overview of what led up to the creation of the US Constitution and how our government functions today. We will discuss current events and see how they apply to the struggle for power that exists among the different branches of government and how different groups attempt to influence the government’s decisions.

PS 100 Intro to US Politics

Course Information

This course provides an introduction to the basic government structures created by the US Constitution. Explore why the framers developed a system that provides checks and balances to prevent abuse of power and later added a Bill of Rights to ensure basic fundamental liberties are protected. Even though our system of representative government has survived over 225 years, learn how it has struggled to resist abuse of power by leaders, interest groups, and the wealthy elite. Learn how the government responded to 9/11 and how we struggle to balance national security with privacy concerns. Finally, we discuss recent democratic and electoral reforms in California and their true impact on California politics.

Virtual Classroom Information

This is an online class which will be taught using Cypress College Canvas. Our virtual classroom is located at Canvas. Please access the computer requirements and readiness quiz in the resources tab.

Course Requirements

The prerequisites for this course includes being eligible for ENGL 100C. We will be using the following texts for this course:

• Bardes, Shelly, and Schmidt, American Government and Politics Today: The Essentials (13-14 edition)
• Gerston, California Politics and Government: A Practical Approach (12th edition)

Course Resources

• DE computer requirements

• The Economist
• Foreign Affairs