Global History Since 1914
Core 191
Scarboro / Spring 2016
“Living Room – Corner for Relaxation” from the Domestic Encyclopedia:
Book
for Every Home and Every Day, Sofia, Bulgaria, 1977.
Section |
A: MWF 10:00 (Hafey-Marian 510)
B: MWF 11:00 (Hafey-Marian 510) |
Office |
Hafey-Marian 306 |
E-mail |
|
Website |
|
Phone |
(570) 208-5900 ext. 5637 |
Office Hours |
TTh 9:30-12:00 |
Moodle Site |
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 understandings of the “good society”:
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. Mission:
Courses in the Contemporary Global Studies (CGS) CART promote critical analysis
and engagement with the complex, wide-ranging global issues in the world today.
These issues, explored in meaningful ways through a variety of disciplines,
emphasize interdependent global systems (historical, economic, geographic, and
political) as well issues related to human rights and social justice, and the
impact of global business. Important goals in King's mission statement include
fostering social responsibility in our students and preparing them
intellectually to lead satisfying lives. King’s believes that these goals, when
recognized in a global context, enhance a students’ sense of identity,
community, and citizenship.
The Learning Outcomes in the Contemporary Global Studies CART align broadly with
the overarching King’s College CORE curriculum goal to make students aware of
global issues and to give them knowledge of foreign cultures.
Goal
1: Identify the interconnected nature of global systems. Students
completing a CGS course will develop a complex understanding of the relational
nature of global systems, which should include 1) an understanding of
contemporary globalization as a product of long-term historical processes and 2)
the ability to situate ongoing global interrelationships within both local and
worldwide frameworks and from the vantage point of different disciplinary
perspectives.
Goal
2: Recognize and understand cultural diversity in a global context. Students
completing a CGS course will gain the ability to engage and learn from
perspectives and experiences different from one’s own and to understand how
one’s place in the world both informs and limits one’s knowledge. This includes
the curiosity to learn respectfully about the cultural diversity of other people
and on an individual level to traverse cultural boundaries.
Goal
3: B. Apply
disciplinary knowledge and methodology to understand contemporary global issues.
Students completing a CGS course will identify and analyze significant global
challenges as they relate to the continuing issues of contemporary life using
disciplinary-specific knowledge and methodologies in various social sciences
(currently, history, geography, and international business).
This kind of learning prepares students to think creatively in one’s
capacity to articulate and employ existing ideas or expertise according to
social scientific disciplinary standards and practices.
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.
Coates, Ta-Nehisi, Between the World and
Me, Spiegel & Grau, 2015.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, The Great Gatsby, Scribner, 2004.
Hobsbawm, Eric, The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991,
Vintage Books, 1996.
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.
Ernst D. Schoedsack, King Kong, 1933
C. Written Assignment:
Your larger writing assignment of 8-10 pages is due in its final form on May
4th. 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 January
22nd.
2) On January 29th you will need to list three
historical questions associated with your topic that you are interested in
researching. Note these questions should be questions of historical
interpretation—detailing not what happened but rather how we
should interpret and understand what happened. These are questions that
historians and scholars disagree over. Your paper is designed to place your own
research within these historical conversations.
3) On February 15th you will turn in your first
annotated bibliography investigating your topic within the secondary
literature. This bibliography should include at least 4 secondary sources on
the topic. Of particular use will
be peer-reviewed sources accessed from on-line databases, i.e. JStor and EBSCO
Host. Your annotations should include the major thesis of each of the works and
indicate how they relate to your three historical questions. See the
online form for annotated bibliographies on the course moodle site
4) On February 29th you will turn in a draft of your
historiographical section of your paper (4-5 pages). You will flesh out your
annotated bibliography to outline the way in which each historian approaches
your historical questions. Where do they agree? Disagree? What sources do
they use to buttress their arguments? How are they speaking to one
another? Please remember this section is the first draft of your final paper
due at the end of the semester. This assignment will be turned in both
through the appropriate turnitin link on the course moodle page and in paper
form in class.
5) On March 18th 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). See the online form for annotated
bibliographies on the course moodle site
Microthemes and Primary Souces
Four 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). 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 it reflect the historical questions you
have outlined? See the online form for microthemes on the course moodle
site
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>
Due dates for Microthemes:
First Microtheme |
March 23rd |
Second Microtheme |
April 1st |
Third Microtheme |
April 8th |
Fourth Microtheme |
April 15th |
7) On April 18th
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.
8) On April 22nd 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 assignment will be turned
in through the appropriate turnitin link on the course moodle page and in paper
form in class.
9) The final draft of your paper (8-10 pages) is due
May 4th. This
assignment will be turned in through the appropriate turnitin link on the course
moodle page and in paper form in class.
D. Exams:
There will be three exams in this class: two midterms: the first due on February
26th at 11:59 p.m.; the
second due March 30th at 11:59 p.m.; 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 three parts: 1) questions from the syllabus dealing
with lectures covered during the course of class meetings (these are listed on
the syllabus and will be randomly chosen for the exam) 2) questions from the
syllabus dealing with readings covered during the course of class meetings
(these are listed on the syllabus and will be randomly chosen for the exam), and
3) 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.
F. 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.
G. 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- |
91-89 |
B+ |
88-85 |
B |
84-83 |
B- |
82-80 |
C+ |
79-77 |
C |
76-75 |
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% |
Synthesis Draft |
5% |
Final Paper |
10% |
Class Participation |
10% |
H. 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.
I. 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.
J. 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, January 18th
|
Modernism and Westernization: Setting the Stage
Wednesday, January 20th
**Readings: Hobsbawm, 1-17
Lecture Question: What
do we mean by modernity? What are its defining characteristics? In what
way is it related to westernization?
Reading Question: How
does Hobsbawm periodize [divide into historical periods] the short 20th
century? What are the elements of each period marking the move from one
period to another? What are some of the themes that thread through the
whole century? |
Reading the Historical Source (Primary)
Friday, January 22nd
**Readings on the course moodle site (“Primary Source Exercise”)
***Topic Due*** |
The Scramble for Africa: Race, Nation and Progress
Monday, January 25th
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? |
19th Century Nationalism
Wednesday, January 27th
Lecture Question:
What factors contributed to the emergence of 19th century
nationalism? What forms did
it take? What was its
impact on the traditional European state system?
What were the difficulties in defining the nation? |
Imperialism and Westernization in Asia
Friday, January 29th
Lecture Question: How did the encroachments of
European powers into Asia influence Asian understandings of
Modernity? In India? In
China? How is the Japanese
experience with modernization shift the paradigm?
***Historical Questions Due*** |
World War I and the Death of the Modern (!)(?)
Monday, February 1st
**Reading: Hobsbawm, 21-53
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: How
does Hobsbawm understand the transformations of the “Age of Total
War”? What were the basic principles of the Treaty of Versailles? |
Russian Revolutions, Part I: Crisis and Experimentation
Wednesday, February 3rd
**Reading: Hobsbawm, 54-84
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: For
Hobsbawm, how is the Russian Revolution a challenge to the established
order of the 19th Century? What transformations did it
bring? |
Post War Crisis and the Age of Nationalism
Friday, February 5th
**Reading: Hobsbawm, 85-141
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?”
Reading Question: According
to Hobsbawm, what are the immediate consequences of the “Great
Slump”? What does he mean by the “fall of liberalism”? |
Discussion: Great Gatsby and the Lost Generation
Monday, February 8th
**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? |
Age of Anxiety
Wednesday, February 10th
Lecture Question: What
is meant by the Age of Anxiety? What are people anxious about? How is
this interwar anxiety reflected culturally? Politically?
Reading Question:
How does Hobsbawm understand the arts of the interwar period? What does
he mean when he claims that “scandal was their cohesion”? |
Discussion: Modern Times
Friday, February 12th
**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? |
Nationalism and “Double Consciousness”
Monday, February 15th
Lecture Question: What
is "double consciousness? How is it a reflection of modernity?
How do Garvey and Dubois understand the issue?
***Annotated Bibliography of Secondary Sources Due*** |
Age of Anxiety Revisited: King Kong
Wednesday, February 17th
**Film: Shoedsack, King Kong
Reading Question:
Question: How does King Kong reflect the general theme of anxiety?
What are people anxious about? |
No Class—From “Stalinism to Pepsi Cola Workshop”: Wende Museum in Los
Angeles
Friday, February 19th |
Discussion: Japanese Modern
Monday, February 22nd
**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, February 24th
Lecture Question: What
larger social, economic, and cultural problems was the Russian
Revolution designed to solve? What programs did Stalin enact to meet
them? What were the results of these plans? |
Degenerate Art
Friday, February 26th
**Reading: Hobsbawm, 109-178
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 does it relate to the question of modernity?
How is fascism’s relationship to art a metaphor for its larger programs?
Reading Question: How
does Hobsbawm understand the combined struggle against fascism? How is
it an international civil war? What are the fault lines?
***First Midterm Due—11:59 p.m.*** |
Holocaust
Monday, February 29th
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?
***Historiographical Essay Due (turnitin link on the course moodle
site)*** |
Cold War, Part I: “Sovietization” and “Normalization” in Europe
Wednesday, March 2nd
**Reading: Hobsbawm, 225-257
Lecture Question: What
role did ideology play in the development of the Cold War? How did
the Soviet Union and the United State each approach the question of
modernity? How did the
United States and the Soviet Union work to reorganize European
societies?
Reading Question: Where
does Hobsbawm find the roots of the Cold War? How does he periodize
it? |
Cold War, Part II: Atomic Civilization
Friday, March 4th
**Reading: Hobsbawm, 257-286
Lecture Question: What
are the consequences (geo-politically) of Atomic Civilization?
How does it shape the Cold War? How does it influence the manner
in which the Soviet Union and the United States measured the relative
success of their systems? What were the implications of these
decisions?
Reading Question:
Where does Hobsbawm find the roots of the Golden Age?
|
Cold War, Part III: Cold War, Hot War
Monday, March 14th
Lecture Question: What
is the “logic of the Cold War” in the Third World? What are its
implications there? What
are the lessons of the Korean War as it relates to superpower conflict? |
Chinese Revolutions
Wednesday, March 16th
Lecture Question: Whose
revolution was the Chinese Revolution? How did it seek to
reorganize Chinese society? What programs did it institute? How do
we get from Mao to Deng?
What were the results of their programs? |
Inventing India
Friday, March 18th
**Reading: Hobsbawm, 199-222
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?
Reading Question: What
does Hobsbawm mean when he claims that “the greater part of the world’s
history in the short twentieth century are derived, not original”
(200)? What, for him, are the consequences of this dynamic?
***Annotated Bibliography of Primary Sources Due*** |
Cold War, Part IV: Latin America: Cold War Dirty War
Monday, March 21st
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
Wednesday, March 23rd
**Film: Journey to Bananaland (course moodle site)
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?
***First Microtheme Due*** |
Africa and Decolonialization
Wednesday, March 30th
**Reading: Hobsbawm, 344-371
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?
Reading Question:
How does Hobsbawm understand the relationship between the state and
individual in the post-colonial world? How does this relate to
Césaire’s understanding?
***Second Midterm Due—11:59 p.m.*** |
Discussion: Discourse on Colonialism
Friday, April 1st
**Readings: Césaire, Discourse on Colonialism (entire)
Reading Question: How
does Césaire understand colonialism? Modernity? What are his
prescriptions for a new world order?
***Second Microtheme Due*** |
Discussion: Apocalypse Now (!) (?)
Monday, April 4th
**Film: Coppola, Apocalypse Now!
Reading Question: How
does Coppola understand colonialism? Modernity? Civilization? Who is the
hero of the story? |
Post-War Middle East
Wednesday, April 6th
Lecture Question: How
are the connections between modernity, nationalism, and religion
demonstrated in the 20th century Middle East? |
1968
Friday, April 8th
**Readings: Hobsbawm, 287-343 and “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?
Reading Question:
How does Hobsbawm understand the social revolution of the post-war years
(particularly in Europe and the United States)? How does this relate to
the “Golden Age”? The “Landslide”?
***Third Microtheme Due*** |
Stagnation
Monday, April 11th
**Reading: Hobsbawm, 371-400
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: How
does Hobsbawm understand the “Real Existing Socialism” in Eastern Europe
and the Soviet Union? What accounts for its successes? Why did it
collapse? |
Vietnam and Afghanistan
Wednesday, April 13th
**Reading: Hobsbawm, 403-433
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?
Reading Question: What
were the historical conditions leading to the "crisis decades" (and,
ultimately, to "the landslide")? What were the immediate consequences
(see particularly section V in chapter 14) |
Bob Marley and the Post-Colonial
Friday, April 15th
**Reading: Hobsbawm, 433-460 and Bob Marley Lyrics from
the Course Moodle Site
Reading Question: How
does the music of Bob Marley help us understand the perils and
possibilities of living in the colonial and post-colonial era? How does
this correspond to Hobsbawm’s understanding of the period?
***Fourth Microtheme Due*** |
Discussion: Convergence?
Monday, April 18th
**Readings: Solzhenitsyn, Address at Harvard University, 1978 (course
moodle site)
Reading Question: What
does Solzhenitsyn mean by a “world divided?” Where is the division?
What are the implications?
***Thesis Due*** |
The Bulgarian Late Socialist Good Life
Wednesday, April 20th
**Readings from the Course Moodle Site
Reading Question:
How are we to read Bulgarian Late Socialist Good Life?
How are they modern? How are they communist?
How are they fulfilled?
What are the implications? |
1979, Part I: Iranian Revolution
Friday, April 22nd
Lecture Question: How
is the Iranian Revolution a commentary on modernity? Westernization?
Colonialism?
***Synthesis Due*** |
1979, Part II: Afghanistan, Mecca, and the Moral Majority
Monday, April 25th
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? |
1989 and 1991
Wednesday, April 27th
**Reading: Hobsbawm, 461-499
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?
Reading Question: How
does Hobsbawm explain the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and
the Soviet Union? Its continuation in China? |
Discussion: The End of History (!)(?)
Friday, April 29th
**Reading: Fukuyama, “The End of History and the Last Man” (course
moodle site)
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(?)(!)
Monday, May 2nd
**Film: Becker, Good Bye Lenin!
Reading Question: How
does Becker understand the collapse of communism? The end of history?
The future? |
Between the World and Me
Wednesday, May 4th
**Reading: Coates, Between the
World and Me
Reading Question:
How does Coates understand the uses of history?
The creation of modern identities?
The End of History?
The nature of the good society?
***Final Draft (8-10 pages)*** |