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Villanova University HIS
1050: Themes in Modern World History Fall
2009, MWF 9:30-10:20 am, Bartley Hall, Room 036 |
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Dr.
Paul Steege STAUG
428 x9-6963 |
Office
hours: M
10:30-11:30 am; F 1-2 pm and
by appointment |
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Course Objectives: |
With
its theme of revolutionary violence, this course will introduce you to
history from a global perspective. But world history does not restrict
our approach only to big processes and grand events. Rather we will
explore the interconnectedness of micro and macro perspectives—global
explanations also rest on the practices of everyday life. This
course also emphasizes the vital role history plays in helping us to
comprehend the present. It takes the “themes” approach quite seriously
and makes no effort to “cover” world history. Thus it will not offer a
single narrative and makes no apology for omitting “key” events from
the modern period we will be exploring. Exploring
the writing of history from diverse perspectives, I aim to offer
students in this class: ∙
the opportunity to hear a variety of historical voices; ∙
the necessary critical analysis tools in order to effectively engage
the material; but ∙ I
also expect that they will actively work to explore the connections
between these critical/analytical approaches and the “real” world that
is the subject of our historical study. |
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Required Materials: |
There
are no books required for purchase. Readings will be made available
on-line or via electronic reserve. For reference purposes, the
following textbooks will be placed on reserve in Falvey Library. Bentley,
Jerry H. and Herbert F. Ziegler, Traditions
and Encounters: A Global Perspective on the past, Vol. 2:
From 1500 to the present. 3rd ed. Boston: McGraw
Hill, 2005. Tignor,
Robert, et al. Worlds Together, Worlds Apart:
A History of the Modern World from the Mongol Empire to the Present.
New York: W. W. Norton, 2002. Each
week, I will provide page listings from these texts for those students
in search of additional background material. Additionally, I will post
questions to help guide your reading each week. Click here. |
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Course Organization: |
This
course will focus on a series of locations at particular moments in
time. Each week we will spend one day delving in some detail into that
particular case. We will use the other days to build on this
exploration to try to make connections across time and space and to
build larger historical arguments. One
film will be screened on Tuesday evening, November
10. Please plan to fit this event into your schedule. The
film will comprise an important portion of the second midterm exam. During
the course, I will at times distribute critical information via e-mail
using your official Villanova e-mail address. You are responsible for
checking that account regularly. If you use an outside e-mail address,
be sure to set the preferences on your Villanova account to
automatically forward messages to your preferred address. The online
syllabus will be updated from time to time. Check it regularly. |
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Assignments: |
EXAMS:
All in-class exams are open book/open note. You may not, however,
access your materials electronically during the exam. Two
in-class midterm exams (October 2 and November 20) The two
midterms will ask you to approach history in a variety of different
ways. Midterm 1: This
exam will present several sources for you to discuss and analyze. I
will provide questions to help guide your responses. The sources will
be drawn from the textual and visual materials we have studied to this
point in the semester. Midterm
2:
This exam will ask you to provide essays of varying length in response
to a choice of questions. At least one of the questions will address
the film, Battle of Algiers. One
in-class final exam (Saturday, December 13) The final will be
cumulative. You will be asked to answer two broad questions that test
your ability to integrate the various elements of the course. Note:
Any student who misses an exam without making prior arrangements will
receive a failing grade (zero) for that exam. Students should alert me
to any conflicts with a scheduled exam as soon as possible to make
arrangements to take the exam before the scheduled date (I reserve the
right to determine whether the conflict is reasonable). Should an
emergency require you to miss an exam, you must contact me before the class period in which the exam
is to be given. Location
Essay (due Tuesday, December 8) This
3-4 page essay will analyze a moment in history (a temporal and
physical “location”), similar to those we explore each week during the
semester. You should choose your subject in consultation with the
instructor and use at least one book, one scholarly article, and one
primary source to support your claims. I
will provide questions (online) to help guide your analysis. Remember.
Style and coherence counts. I encourage you to write drafts and revise
your essay. PLEASE NOTE: Should
some emergency require an extension on any assignment, you must contact
me before the scheduled due date. Attendance and
participation: Attending class and
completing assigned readings are quite simply the best ways to succeed
in this class. Regular, engaged participation in class discussion will
have a positive influence on your final grade. In assessing your
participation, I do not expect you always to have the answer. In many
ways, asking good questions most effectively demonstrates your ongoing
engagement with course material. For continuous, outstanding
contributions to class (measured not just in quantity but in quality),
students will have their final grade raised by one letter increment
(from B to B+, from B+ to A-, etc.). Please
note: For first year
students, the university attendance requirements apply. Thus, a
first-year student will receive a grade of "Y" (failure) if he/she
misses more than 6 classes without
valid excuse. |
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Final Grade:
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1st midterm exam
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20% 25 35 20 |
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TOTAL
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100% |
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Academic Integrity
and Grading: |
Academic
integrity rests at the foundation of intellectual life in a university.
Plagiarism or cheating on any
coursework will not be tolerated. Any
case of academic fraud (copying of another student’s work, illicit use
of notes on an exam, undocumented use of an outside source, etc.) will
automatically result in a failing grade for
the course and the submission of an academic integrity report
to the university. If you have any questions about documenting sources
or what constitutes academic fraud, please speak to me or consult the student
handbook. I will discuss this in detail during the first week
of the course. Grades
will adhere to the criteria stated in the undergraduate catalog. As a
reminder, an "A" is defined as: “the
highest academic grade possible; an honor grade which is not
automatically given to a student who ranks highest in the course, but
is reserved for accomplishment that is truly distinctive and
demonstrably outstanding. It represents a superior mastery of course
material and is a grade that demands a very high degree of
understanding as well as originality or creativity as appropriate to
the nature of the course. The grade indicates that the student works
independently with unusual effectiveness and often takes the initiative
in seeking new knowledge outside the formal confines of the course.” |
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Disabilities: |
Students
with disabilities who may need academic accommodations are encouraged
to discuss options with us after class or during my office hours during
the first two weeks of class. More information about documenting or
addressing learning disabilities is available from Nancy Mott, Director
of the Office of Learning Services (tel. x9-5636 or e-mail
nancy.mott@villanova.edu) or from that office’s web
site. |
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Campus Services: |
Villanova
Writing Center in
Old Falvey: 610.519.4604 Consultations
should be arranged by appointment. |
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Villanova
Counseling Center in
Corr Hall: 610.519.4050 The
Counseling Center can help you make an adjustment in your study habits,
deal with a crisis, or address an ongoing matter. |
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Lecture/Reading
Schedule |
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Read
all assignments before the class
for which they are scheduled. Most readings are available via web links
from the online syllabus. Please note: I will occasionally adjust the
readings on this schedule. These changes will be announced in class and
posted on the online version of the syllabus. For questions to guide your reading as well as suggested background material from the textbooks on reserve in the library, click here. |
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Mon.,
Aug. 24 |
Introduction:
Looking back and trying to picture history |
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Prologue:
Baghdad, 1258 |
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Wed.,
Aug. 26 |
Reading:
Ian
Frazier, “Invaders,” The New Yorker
(25 April 2005) |
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Fri.,
Aug., 28 |
Conquest
and Empire |
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Saint
Domingue, 1791 |
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Mon.,
Aug. 31 |
Reading:
Slavery
and the French Revolution |
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Wed.,
Sept. 2 |
Imperialism
and the Slave Economy Reading:
Bartoleme
de Las Casas, Excerpts from Brief Account of
the Devastation of the Indies (1542) |
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Fri.,
Sept. 4 |
The
Sugar Economy and Protoindustrialization Reading:
Kit Simms Taylor, “The
Economics of Sugar and Slavery in Northeastern Brazil” |
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Mon.,
Sept. 7 |
LABOR
DAY—NO CLASS |
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Vienna,
1848 |
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Wed.,
Sept. 9 |
Reading:
1848
Chronology |
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Fri.,
Sept. 11 |
Revolutionary
trajectory Reading:
The
Levée en Masse (1793) |
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Nanjing,
1864 |
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Mon.,
Sept. 14 |
Reading:
Excerpt from the confession of Li Xiucheng (1864) [electronic reserve] |
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Wed.,
Sept. 16 |
Reading:
“The Taiping Rebellion: 1850-1864” [electronic reserve] |
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Fri.,
Sept. 18 |
China
in a world of Imperialists |
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Saint
Petersburg, 1881 |
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Mon.,
Sept. 21 |
Reading:
“How
the Murder was Done,” NYT (14 March
1881) |
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Wed.,
Sept. 23 |
Populists,
Anarchists, Terrorists |
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Fri.,
Sept. 25 |
From
violence to revolution? Reading:
Vladimir
I. Lenin, “What is to be Done” (1902) |
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Chicago,
1886 |
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Mon.,
Sept. 28 |
Reading:
Excerpts from the Haymarket
Affair Digital Collection (Chicago Historical Society): |
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Wed.,
Sept. 30 |
Industrialization
and violence Reading:
Hamlin
Garland, “Homestead and its Perilous Trades” |
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Fri.,
Oct. 2 |
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Louvain,
1914 |
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Mon.,
Oct. 5 |
Reading:
R.
H. Davis, “The Burning of Louvain,” New York
Tribune (31 August 1914). |
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Wed.,
Oct. 7 |
War
in a Global Context Reading:
W.
E. B. DuBois, “The African Roots of War” |
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Fri.,
Oct. 9 |
No
Class—Compensation for Film Viewing |
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October
12-16 |
FALL
BREAK |
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Guernica,
1937 |
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Mon.,
Oct. 19 |
Reading:
David Clay Large, “Death in the Afternoon” [electronic reserve] |
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Wed.,
Oct. 21 |
1937
and the coming of War |
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Fri.,
Oct. 23 |
An
Age of Anxiety? Reading:
Oswald Spengler, Excerpts from The
Decline of the West |
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Berlin,
1945 |
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Mon.,
Oct. 26 |
Reading:
Anonymyous, Excerpts from A Woman in Berlin
[electronic reserve] |
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Wed.,
Oct. 28 |
War,
air war, war crimes Reading:
Ursula von Kardoff, Excerpts from Berlin Notes
[electronic reserve] |
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Fri.,
Oct. 30 |
War
and Crime after Auschwitz Reading:
Tadeusz Borowski, Excerpts from This Way for
the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen [electronic reserve] |
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India/Pakistan,
1947 |
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Mon.,
Nov. 2 |
Reading:
Samarendra
Sengupta, “Riots: Partition, 1947” |
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Wed.,
Nov. 4 |
Reading:
Mohandas K. Gandhi, Excerpts from Hind Swaraj
(1938) |
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Fri.,
Nov. 6 |
Reading:
Statute
of Westminster (1931) |
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Algiers,
1957 |
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Mon.,
Nov. 9 |
Reading:
Proclamation
of the Algerian National Front, Libertation Front, (FLN) November 1954 |
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Tuesday,
Nov. 10 |
Film
screening: The Battle of Algiers
(1966) 7:30 pm, Driscoll Hall, Room 246 |
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Wed.,
Nov. 11 |
Film
Discussion: The Battle of Algiers |
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Fri.,
Nov. 13 |
Decolonization
and Violence Reading:
Frantz
Fanon, Conclusion from The Wretched of the
Earth |
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Saigon,
1968 |
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Mon.,
Nov. 16 |
Reading:
CIA
Memorandum (26 February 1968) |
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Wed.,
Nov. 18 |
The
ethics and efficacy of war Reading:
Robert
Jay Lifton, “The American as blind giant unable to see what it kills,” NYT (14 June 1970) |
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Fri.,
Nov. 20 |
Second
Midterm Exam |
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Beirut,
1982 |
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Mon.,
Nov. 23 |
Reading:
Thomas
Friedman, “The Beirut Massacre: The Four Days” |
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November
24-27 |
Thanksgiving
Break |
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New
York, 2001 |
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Mon.,
Nov. 30 |
Reading:
Tom
Junod, “Falling Man” (image here) |
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Wed.,
Dec. 2 |
A
post-Cold War war on terror? Reading:
Zbigniew
Brzezinski, “Terrorized by a ‘War on Terror’” |
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Fri.
Dec. 4 |
Clash
of civilizations? Reading:
Amartya
Sen, “What Clash of Civilizations?” DUE:
Location Paper |
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Epilogue |
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Mon.,
Dec. 8 |
Location
and History Reading:
TBD |
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Tue.,
Dec. 8 |
NO CLASS (Extra Office Hours Today) |
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Wed.,
Dec. 9 |
Last
thoughts/Review for Final Exam |
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Sat.,
Dec. 12 |
Final
Exam: 10:45 am-1:15 pm |