Core 191: Global History since 1914

Scarboro / Fall, 2013

“Resolutely support the Anti-Imperialist Struggles of the Peoples in Asia, Africa and Latin America”

 

Class Meetings

Section B: MWF 10:00 (HM 610)

Section C: MWF 1:00 (H-M 301)

Office

HM 306

Office Hours

MWF 9:00-10:00 / TTh 12:00-2:00

E-mail

cristoferscarboro@kings.edu

Phone

(570) 208-5900 ex. 5637

Moodle Site

http://kings.mrooms2.net/course/view.php?id=624
Course Site http://staff.kings.edu/cristoferscarboro/Core-191-Global-History-since-1914.html

 

 

I.  Course Description: 

This course is intended as an introduction to the major political, social and cultural developments of the 20th Century.  As a starting point we will investigate the Twentieth Century as a period of “high modernity,” when regimes throughout the world sought to create and perfect particular types of subject-citizens within competing universalizing ideological frameworks and visions of the future and the past: Liberal Democratic Capitalism, Nationalism, Communism, and Colonialism first among them. Our discussion of the last century will focus on the manner in which societies sought to order, control and transform the world, communities and individuals around them according to their own understanding of the correct relationship between people, the state and ideology. 

 

II. Purpose:

Among the objectives for the student is that he or she will become familiar with important, social, cultural, political and economic events and trends in world civilization in the last 100 years or so.  Importantly, in taking the class the student will become familiar with historical methodology and thinking.  Upon its completion the student should be able to locate, evaluate and interpret historical sources and place them in context.  The course’s paper will ask the student to critically engage and evaluate primary and secondary sources and present analyses of them in clear and persuasive writing.  These everyday tools of the historian will serve the student well in any field he or she chooses to enter. 

 

In addition to the more content-related objectives described above, this course has some general liberal-learning goals of developing academic skills. It is expected that successful completion of this course will help you improve your ability to: manage information, which involves sorting data, ranking data for significance, synthesizing facts, concepts and principles; to understand and use organizing principles or key concepts against which miscellaneous data can be evaluated; to frame questions so as to more clearly clarify a problem topic or issue; to compare and contrast the relative merits of opposing arguments and interpretations, moving between the main points of each position; to organize your thoughts and communicate them clearly and concisely in written form; to obtain practice in selecting and presenting information and arguments.

 

III. General Course Requirements:

A. Course Readings:

  

Buruma, Ian, Inventing Japan: 1853-1964, Modern Library Classics, 2004.

 

Césaire, Aimé, Discourse on Colonialism, Monthly Review Press, 2001.

 

Ferguson, Niall, War of the World: Twentieth Century Conflict and the Descent of the West, Penguin, 2008.

 

Fitzgerald, F. Scott, The Great Gatsby, Scribner, 2004.

 

Moshin, Hamid,  How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, Riverhead Press, 2013.

 

Kotkin, Steven, Uncivil Society: 1989 and the Implosion of the Communist Establishment, Modern Library Classics, 2009.

 

Lewis, Bernard, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror, Modern Library Classics, 2003.

 

Sacco, Joe, Footnotes in Gaza: A Graphic Novel, Metropolitan Books, 2010.

 

B.  Course Films:

The films for the course are an intrinsic part of the course--they will be the centerpiece of class discussion on the week they are shown, and viewing them is a requirement for the course.   The films will be available on reserve at the King's College Library. A subscription to Netflix <<www.netflix.com>> (shared or otherwise) is an inexpensive way to watch the films on your own time.  

 

Becker, Wolfgang, Good Bye Lenin, 2003.

 

Chaplin, Charlie, Modern Times, 1936.

 

Coppola, Francis Ford, Apocalypse Now, 1979.

 

C.  Course Readings, Primary Sources:

Each week you will also be expected to examine a series of primary sources consisting of texts, visual art and/or short video clips.  These sources will either be websites (links are provided in the syllabus) or files found on the course moodle site: 

 

Moodle Site: <<http://kings.mrooms2.net/course/view.php?id=624>> 

 

These primary sources are to supplement the readings in the textbook and place you in dialogue with another time and place.  The primary sources in the course sharepoint site will be filed under the "shared documents" folder. You will need to examine these sources as a historian.  What can they tell us about the past and the worldview of past cultures?  How do they help us understand the historical theme of the week and the class as a whole?  Further, these documents will be the source upon which you will base your microthemes and paper for the class. 

 

                   

D.  Written Assignment:

Your larger writing assignment of 8-10 pages is due in its final form on December 6th.  This paper is intended to familiarize you with the basic mechanics of historical scholarship and writing: locating and interpreting primary and secondary sources—placing them into conversation with one another in order to frame a historical problem.

 

Roughly speaking your paper should consist of two sections—the first (the historiographical section) reviewing the historical scholarship on your topic, and the second placing your own interpretation of the primary sources within this discussion. 

 

This paper is to take place in several stages to facilitate the development and integration of these two parts of your paper: 

 

1)      Chose a topic that you are interested in exploring and then begin thinking about the sources that you will need to utilize to answer these questions.  You will need to turn in a topic sentence on September 4th.  

 

2)      On September 18th you will turn in your first annotated bibliography investigating your topic within the secondary literature.  This bibliography should include at least 5 secondary sources on the topic and should not include internet sources.  Your annotations should include the major thesis of the works and indicate how you intend to use them in your paper. 

 

3)      On October 2nd you will turn in your second annotated bibliography outlining the primary sources you will be using in paper.  You will need at least 5 primary sources and your annotations of the sources will indicate how these sources will fit within the secondary literature and the argument that you are developing.  These sources will be the subject base for your paper and for the five microthemes that you will be writing over the course of the semester (see below).

 

4)      On November 8th you will turn in your thesis statement explaining the central argument of your paper.  This statement should not be a statement of fact but rather of historical interpretation—explaining how we should understand your topic in dialogue with your secondary and primary sources.

 

5)      On November 13th you will turn in a draft of your historiographical section of your paper (4-5 pages).  This will be the section of your paper where you review how other historians and scholars have understood your topic.  This assignment will be turned in through the appropriate turnitin link on the course moodle page and in paper form in class. 

 

6)      On December 2nd you will turn in your complete rough draft demonstrating a synthesis of your historiographical section with your own interpretation of a set of primary sources.  This draft will have to be accompanied by a stamp demonstrating that you have visited the King’s College Writing Center before turning it in.  This assignment will be turned in through the appropriate turnitin link on the course moodle page and in paper form in class. 

 

7)      The final draft of your paper (8-10 pages) is due on December 6th.  This assignment will be turned in through the appropriate turnitin link on the course moodle page and in paper form in class. 

 

E.  Microthemes:

Five times during this semester you will be responsible for writing a 1-2 page microtheme on the assigned primary source material that you have chosen for your larger paper (the sources outlined in your annotated bibliography of primary sources).  These microthemes are intended to allow you the opportunity to analyze and write about these sources historically and should consist of two parts: first, you should summarize the argument of the sources—you should ask and elucidate what the author, director or artist was trying to say.  Second, you should place the piece and argument within the larger context of the time and place.  Each microtheme should answer three questions: 1) what is the thesis of the work (what claims is the author making about how we should understand the world); 2) how is this claim reflect of the time and place in which it was created; and 3) how does this connect to the other primary and secondary sources you are incorporating into your paper.

 

You are responsible for the primary sources you will be using.  I will be happy to meet with you to talk through search strategies and starting points.  To begin with, you will want to follow up and trace down documents mentioned in your secondary sources readings (bibliographies and footnotes in these works are a good place to start). Another good place to start is Fordham University’s “Internet Modern History Sourcebook” <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook.asp>

These assignments will be turned in through the appropriate turnitin links on the course moodle page and in paper form in class.

   

Due dates for Microthemes:

 

First Microtheme

10/9/13

Second Microtheme

10/16/13

Third Microtheme

10/23/13

Fourth Microtheme

10/30/13

Fifth Microtheme

11/6/13

 

F. Exams:

There will be three exams in this class: two midterms on September 30th and November 4th  and a final given during finals week.  All exams will be taken on the course moodle site.  The exams will cover material from class lectures, readings and discussions. 

 

The exams will consist of two parts: 1) questions from the syllabus covered during the course of class meetings (these are listed on the syllabus and will be randomly chosen for the exam) 2) source interpretation—you will be asked to interpret (place in time and assign a historical meaning to) a source (written or visual) that we have discussed in class. 

 

G.  Class Discussion and Participation

As well as providing you with the methodological and analytical tools for engaging in historical thinking, this class will ask you to actively take part in a larger conversation of historical issues within the class.  I expect this class to allow us to delve deeply into the historical topics of each week’s readings.  To that end you need to make sure that you arrive to class on time ready to discuss the weekly readings, having carefully read and thought over the material.  You must take an active role in the class discussions.  Thus a portion of your grade will depend on your in-class performance and presence. 

 

In a class of this nature it goes without saying that a classroom environment in which everyone feels comfortable is essential.  You should treat your fellow classmates with respect, listen carefully to their comments and respond to them in a polite manner. 

 

H. Grading:

It is your responsibility to understand why you have achieved a certain grade, and what steps you can take to maintain or improve your grade.  You should consult with the instructor during office hours or by appointment before and after exams and written assignments.  Your final grade will be based on the following percentages

 

100-95

A

94-92

A-

91-85

B+

88-85

B

84-83

B-

82-80

C+

79-77

C

78-75

C-

74-70

D

69<

F

 

Your grade distribution for class assignments is as follows:

 

First Midterm

15%

Second Midterm

15%

Final Exam

15%

Microthemes

10%

First Bibliography

5%

Second Bibliography

5%

Thesis

5%

Historiography

5%

Rough Draft

5%

Final Paper

10%

Class Participation

10%

 

I. Academic Integrity:

The Department of History adheres to guidelines on academic integrity outlined in the Student Conduct Code in the Student Handbook: 

 

http://www.kings.edu/student_handbook/studentregulations_rights/conductcode.htm

 

Cheating and plagiarism will be penalized in accord with the penalties and procedures indicated in that source.  All students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the definition of these infractions of academic honesty. 

 

J. Absences:

I will regularly take attendance in this class. Absences due to college activities, emergency or extended illness may be excused by the appropriate college official. You should consult with the professor about making up missed work in advance or as soon as possible after your return.  Other absences are unexcused and will lower the class participation portion of your grade. After any absence, you are responsible for requesting hand-outs and already returned assignments from me or borrowing notes from other students. If you miss an exam, contact me as possible. You may take a missed exam only at the discretion of the instructor.

 

K.  Disabilities:

King’s College and I will make every effort to accommodate students with a bona-fide disability that impacts on their ability to learn the course material.  Please meet with me privately so that appropriate arrangements can be made to help in the learning process.

  

IV. Course Schedule

 

Introduction

Monday, August 26th

 

Modernism and Westernization:

Setting the Stage

Wednesday, August 28th

**Reading: Ferguson, “Introduction” (xxxiii-lxxi)

 

Lecture Question: What do we mean by modernity? What are its defining characteristics?  In what way is it related to westernization?

Reading Question: Ferguson introduces his work, War of the World, as an investigation of the “Lethal Century.”  What according to Ferguson, made the 20th century so bloody? How does this relate to the idea of modernity?

Reading the Historical Source (Primary)

Friday, August 30th

 

The Scramble for Africa: Race, Nation and Progress

Wednesday, September 4th

**Reading: Ferguson, “Empires and Races” (3-42)

***Topic Sentence***

Lecture Question: What were the European motivations for the Scramble for Africa?  What ideological work did colonialism do in the European imagination?  What did colonialism look like on the ground in Africa?

Reading Question: What does Ferguson mean by the “Great Train Crash”?  How was the “Glistering [pre-war] World” he describes ordered and maintained? How does this relate to the Scramble for Africa?

Imperialism and Westernization in Asia

Friday, September 6th

*Reading: Ferguson, “Orient Express,” 43-70

 

Lecture Question: How did the encroachments of European powers into Asia influence Asian understandings of Modernity?  How is the Japanese experience with modernization shift the paradigm?

Reading Question: How does Ferguson explain the victory of the Japanese in the Russo Japanese War?  How did it challenge the European language of race? 

World War I and the Death of the Modern (!)(?)

Monday, September 9th

*Reading: Ferguson, “Fault Lines” and “The Contagion of War” 71-140

Lecture Question: What accounts for the destruction of the First World War?  How does it challenge notions of progress and modernity?  What are its social consequences? How did it transform culture? Politics?

Reading Question: What does Ferguson mean by “fault lines?” How do they relate to the outbreak of war in 1914? How does he account for the contagion of war? What does he see as lost?

Post War Crisis and the Age of Nationalism

Wednesday, September 11th

Lecture Question: How did World War I complete the 19th Century process of creating European nation-states? How did the question of the nation play out in interwar Germany?  In the colonial world?  What is the “logic of the nation-state?”

Discussion: Great Gatsby and the Lost Generation

Friday, September 13th

**Reading: Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (entire)

Reading Question: How is Fitzgerald’s work a reflection of larger social anxieties of the post-war world?  What does it say about questions of capitalism and consumption? Class? Identity? How does it connect to Chaplin’s vision of the interwar years?

Russian Revolutions, Part I:

Crisis and Experimentation

Monday, September 16th 

**Reading: Ferguson, “Graves of Nations,” (141-186)

Lecture Question: What larger social, economic, and cultural problems was the Russian Revolution designed to solve? What programs did early Revolutionaries enact to meet them? What were the results of their efforts?

Reading Question: How does Ferguson understand the Russian Revolution?  How does it connect to the larger question of the “death of empires?”  What does Ferguson mean by the “Graves of Nations?”

Age of Anxiety

Wednesday, September 18th

**Annotated Bibliography (Secondary)***

Lecture Question: What is meant by the Age of Anxiety?  What are people anxious about?  How is this interwar anxiety reflected culturally? Politically?

Discussion: Modern Times

Friday, September 20th

**Film: Chaplin, Modern Times

Reading Question: How is Chaplin’s work a reflection of larger social anxieties of the post-war world?  What does it say about questions of capitalism and consumption? Class? Identity? How does it connect to Fitzgerald’s vision of the interwar years?

Discussion: Japanese Modern

Monday, September 23rd

**Reading: Buruma, Inventing Japan (entire)

 

Reading Question: What does Buruma mean by Inventing Japan? How does he understand Japan’s experiment with modernity?  How does it challenge notions of “westernization”?  How does it confirm them?

Russian Revolutions, Part II: High Stalinism

Wednesday, September 25th

**Reading: Ferguson, “The Plan,” (189-220)

Lecture Question: What larger social, economic, and cultural problems was the Russian Revolution designed to solve? What programs did Stalin Revolutionaries enact to meet them?  What were the results of these plans?

Reading Question: How does Ferguson contextualize Stalin with the framework of the interwar years? 

Degenerate Art

Friday, September 27th

**Reading: Ferguson, “Strange Folk,” (220-277)

Lecture Question: What accounts for the rise of Fascism in Europe?  What are its motivating principles?  How does fascism as an ideology seek to order society?  How is fascism’s relationship to art a metaphor for its larger programs?

Reading Question: How does Ferguson explain the rise of Fascism as an ideology?  How does he contextualize it within the framework of the interwar years?

Holocaust

Monday, September 30th

**Reading: Ferguson, “Incidental Empire,” (277-311) and Part III “Killing Space” (386-505)

***First Midterm Exam***

Lecture Question: How is the Holocaust a reflection of Nazi ideology?  How does it compare to other attempts to create order in Europe and in the colonial world?  How does the Holocaust help us come to terms with the modernist attempt to create subjects?

Reading Question: What does Ferguson mean by “incidental empire?” How does his understanding of the Japanese empire correspond to Buruma’s? How, for Ferguson, is World War II connected to the question of modernity?

Cold War, Part I: “Sovietization” and “Normalization” in Europe

Wednesday, October 2nd

*Reading: Ferguson, “Osmosis of War” and “Kaputt” (505-595)

***Annotated Bibliography (Primary)***

Lecture Question: What role did ideology play in the development of the Cold War?  How did the United States and the Soviet Union work to reorganize European societies?  How was the "good life" defined in each camp?

Reading Question: How does Ferguson complicate the idea of World War II as the “good war?”

Cold War, Part II: Atomic Civilization

Friday, October 4th

*Reading: Ferguson, “Osmosis of War” and “Kaputt” (505-595)

 

Lecture Question: How did each side in the Cold War approach the question of modernity?  How did they measure the relative success of their system?  What were the implications of these decisions?

Reading Question: What does Ferguson mean by the “war without end?” How does he understand the Cold War?

Cold War, Part III: Cold War, Hot War

Monday, October 7th 

Lecture Question: What is the “logic of the Cold War” in the Third World? What are the lessons of the Korean War as it relates to superpower conflict?

Chinese Revolutions

Wednesday, October 9th 

***First Microtheme***

Lecture Question: Whose revolution was the Chinese Revolution?  How did it seek to reorganize Chinese society?  What programs did it institute?  What were the results of these programs?

Inventing India

Monday, October 14th 

Lecture Question: How was India “invented?”  How was (is) its invention a commentary on the larger question of modernity and identity? What role does violence play?

Cold War, Part IV: Latin America: Cold War Dirty War

Wednesday, October 16th 

***Second Microtheme***

Lecture Question: How did the Cold War play out in Latin America? How did the interests of superpowers align with the interests of local actors? 

Discussion: Journey to Bananaland

Friday, October 18th

**Film: Journey to Bananaland

Reading Question: Where and what is Bananaland?  What ideological work does it engage in? How does it relate to the cold war and questions of colonialism?

Africa and Decolonialization

Monday, October 21st  

Lecture Question:  What is the “Curse of the Nation-State”?  What is a Vampire State? What were the challenges of the Independence movements in Africa?  How did they meet their goals?  What role did the cold war play in Africa in the mid to late 20th century?

Discussion: Discourse on Colonialism

Wednesday, October 23rd 

**Readings: Césaire, Discourse on Colonialism

***Third Microtheme***

Reading Question: How does Cesaire understand colonialism?  Modernity? What are his prescriptions for a new world order?

Discussion: Apocalypse Now (!) (?)

Friday, October 25th 

**Film: Coppola, Apocalypse Now!

Reading Question: How does Coppola understand colonialism? Modernity? Civilization? Who is the hero of the story?

Post-War Middle East

Monday, October 28th 

Lecture Question: How are the connections between modernity, nationalism, and religion demonstrated in the 20th century Middle East?

Discussion: Footnotes in Gaza

Wednesday, October 30th 

**Reading: Sacco, Footnotes in Gaza (entire)

***Fourth Microtheme***

 

Reading Question: What does Sacco mean by footnotes?  How does he understand the connection between modernity, nationalism, and religion in Gaza?  How does he understand the nature and role of history in the region?

1968

Friday, November 1st

**Readings: “Posters: Paris, 1968,” and “Graffiti: Paris 1968” (course moodle site)

Lecture Question: How are we to understand the demonstrations of 1968?  How do they relate to the question of the “good life” and modernity?

Stagnation

Monday, November 4th

**Reading: Ferguson, “Epilogue: Descent of the West” (595-647)

***Second Midterm Exam***

Lecture Question: What is meant by stagnation?  How do the 1970s represent both a crisis and a golden age of the good life as outlined in the post-war years?  What is a 1970s “good life?”

Reading Question: What does Ferguson mean by the descent of the west?  Is this a bad thing?

Vietnam and Afghanistan

Wednesday, November 6th

***Fifth Microtheme***

 

Lecture Question: How were the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan examples of forgetting the virtues of the Cold War logic of proxy wars?  How do they demonstrate the retention of the vices of those same proxy wars?  How do they demonstrate the limits of the superpowers’ ability to structure the world in their image? 

Discussion: Convergence?

Friday, November 8th

**Readings: Solzhenitsyn, Address at Harvard University, 1978 (course moodle site)

***Thesis***

Reading Question: What does Solzhenitsyn mean by a “world divided?”  Where is the division? What are the implications?

1979, Part I: Iranian Revolution

Monday, November 11th

 

Lecture Question: How is the Iranian Revolution a commentary on modernity? Westernization? Colonialism?

1979, Part II: Afghanistan, Mecca, and the Moral Majority

Wednesday, November 13th

***Historiographical Draft (4-5 pages)***

Lecture Question: How is 1979 a “hinge year” of the 20th century? How should we make sense of the larger social movements at play?  How are they a reaction to stagnation? 1968? Modernity?

Discussion: Islam and the Crisis of Modernity Friday, November 15th

**Reading: Lewis, Crisis in Islam (entire)

Reading Question: Why does Lewis claim that there is a “crisis in Islam?”  What are the causes? What does he see as its prospects?

1989 and 1991

Monday, November 18th

Lecture Question: What accounts for the collapse of socialist regimes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union?  Do the revolutions of 1989 and 1991 represent the triumph of liberal democratic capitalism?

Mandela and Mugabe

Wednesday, November 20th

Lecture Question: How do Mugabe and Mandela offer differing responses to the perils of post-colonialism?  What are the implications?

No Class ASEEES Conference

Friday, November 22nd

 

Discussion: Collapse

Monday, November 25th

**Readings: Kotkin, Uncivil Society (entire)

Reading Question: How does Kotkin explain the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union? 

Discussion: The End of History (!)(?)

Monday, December 2nd

**Reading: Fukuyama, “The End of History and the Last Man” (course moodle site)

***Synthesis Draft (6-8 pages)***

Reading Question: What does Fukuyama mean by the end of history?  Are we there? What remains of the modernist project to remake the world?  The four major modernist ideologies?  Where do we go from here?

Discussion: Good Bye Lenin (!)(?)

Wednesday, December 4th

**Film: Becker, Good Bye Lenin!

Reading Question: How does Becker understand the collapse of communism? The end of history? The future? 

Discussion: How to get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia

Friday, December 6th

**Reading: Moshin, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia (entire)

***Final Draft (8-10 pages)***

Reading Question: How does one get filthy rich in rising Asia?  How does Moshin’s understanding of capitalism in 2013 square with Fitzgerald’s vision of Gilded Age America?