At many institutions, the standard United States history surveys are considered "introductory" courses in history, for history majors and minors, pre-service teachers, and in the suite of courses that satisfy General Education requirements. There may not be a more critical course in the collegiate history curriculum than the U.S. introductory course. In an era of declining history enrollments nationwide, it is a course that many consider essential to recruiting new majors. Pre-service teachers must master the content of the course in order to teach the survey to future students. Students must take it to satisfy major requirements in history and other fields, or to meet graduation requirements. In recent years, the American Historical Association's Teaching Division has demonstrated great interest in the teaching and learning of history. Rethinking the introductory history course is a logical outcome of the Tuning process, a faculty-led project to articulate the disciplinary core of historical study and to define what a student should understand and be able to do at the completion of a history degree program. This essay outlines the methods through which Nancy Quam-Wickham and her colleagues at Long Beach State (CA) developed a new introductory course, in response to her active participation in the Tuning initiative.