Fall 2005/ 3 credit hours
M/W
IUPUI/Cavanaugh Hall 221
Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Belley by Anne-Louis Girodet (1797)
Instructor:
Dan Clasby
Office: Cavanaugh Hall 313, Cubicle G
Office Hours: M/W
E-mail: dclasby@indiana.edu
Phone: 317-274-0570
COURSE
DESCRIPTION:
In this course,
we will trace historical events, ideas, and trends as they unfolded from the
end of the eighteenth century, the point in which a political revolution in
France and an economic one in Great Britain ushered in new, more modern ways of
organizing western society, to the present day, a moment very much shaped by
the historical forces that preceded it.
Specifically we will explore the transformation of western society as it changed from a
pre-industrial world of peasants and aristocrats to a consumer-class-structured
world of modern industrial technology.
We will observe the successes of the West in claiming human liberty and
equality and its failures in guaranteeing and maintaining those rights with
peace and social harmony. This course is
thus an effort at self-understanding. We
are confronted daily with the legacy of “western civilization.” In as much as we will survey the major
developments that drive our western society, we will discover the environment
in which we were born and in which we live.
For history is not merely the study of the dead but an examination of
the living.
REQUIRED
TEXTS FOR PURCHASE:
*All required texts for purchase may be checked out for a short loan term from the main library’s reserve desk.
Additional
/ Supplementary
Additional
readings will be available either through Oncourse (the old version) or
distributed in class by me. All students
should have access to Oncourse as long as they are registered for the
class. Oncourse readings can be found
under the heading, “Schedule,” where either the actual document or a hyperlink
to an online source will be available.
Due to a lack of space, Oncourse readings will not be available
indefinitely. You should therefore print
all materials in a timely fashion.
SYLLABUS:
The syllabus is
subject to small changes dependent on circumstance. I will update the version available on
Oncourse under the heading, “Syllabus,” as necessary.
INSTRUCTIONAL
GOALS:
Regarding the
content of the course,
I have organized
this course to help you build your historian skills.
CLASS
FORMAT:
The class periods
will combine several different formats.
For instance, a typical class session will feature a bit of lecture,
maybe some music or video, group work (groups have been organized by me and
will stay the same the entire semester) and discussion. This approach aims to create an environment
in which you learn from each other as well as from me. As an instructor I am a facilitator and
guide who does not have all the answers. I hope to learn as much from you as you do
from me.
MY
RESPONSIBILITIES/YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES:
We are all
responsible for the success of this course.
While it is my
responsibility to guide you in learning the objectives of the course,
to give clear presentations and encourage your participation, to explain
assignments and grade them appropriately, to return assignments in a timely
fashion and to make myself available to you, this class cannot depend on me
alone.
It is your
responsibility to read the material, reflect on it and be prepared to
ask critical questions.
I require that we respect each other
and our differences while in the classroom.
This class is an open forum, a place where every member of the class has
the opportunity and should feel comfortable raising questions, voicing
opinions, and engaging in the historical debate. Disrespect will not be tolerated.
CLASS POLICIES:
In general, late
work will only be accepted in cases of illness and then only if
supported by a note from the student health services or a physician. But please consult with me if
you should be sick, have a car accident, family emergency, etc. I am always willing to listen and will make
the appropriate considerations regarding grade penalties and absences as long
as you have made an effort, preferably as soon as possible, to contact me and
let me know what has happened.
Unexcused, late papers or exams will be docked one third (1/3) of a
letter grade per day i.e., an A grade would become an A-, and so forth.
Attendance is absolutely mandatory and
simply expected. Unexcused absences will result in a
substantially lowered grade! Active
participation is 10% of your overall grade; if you are not present in class,
you will not earn any participation points for that day. If you are not present to hand in your weekly
assignments, your assignment will not be graded for points. Please also arrive on time out of respect for
your classmates and myself. Chronic
late-comers will begin to be marked absent and thus lose participation
points. Again, regular attendance will
greatly enhance your chances for success here!
Inform yourself of the university’s policy
on plagiarism in the
undergraduate catalog or on the web.
Plagiarism is a serious academic offence: anyone caught plagiarizing
will be subject to the university’s procedures regarding such an offense. Address all questions concerning the exercises
and plagiarism to me before they are due.
Go to the following web address for more information:
http://www.hoosiers.iupui.edu/handbk/handbook.htm.
You should also inform yourself of the university’s
withdrawal policies. It is your
responsibility to withdraw from class. I
cannot administratively drop you.
And to give a nod to the world in which we live, please turn
off all cell phones and pagers before class.
1.
Participation, assignments and attendance-40% of the final grade
In order to receive the full 40% you need to actively
participate in class (10%) and submit your weekly assignments (30%).
Active Participation-
§
In
general, active participation means staying interested and involved in the
class. So, you can actively
participate in several ways: by speaking up in class, by working
enthusiastically with your group members, by asking for points of clarification
(if you need them) during my lectures, by asking me and the other students
questions or making critical comments about readings and lecture, by completing
all assignments and submitting them in a timely fashion, etc. Stay involved by doing at least a few of
these suggestions and your participation grade will be great!
Weekly Assignments-
§
There
are fifteen (15) weekly assignments for this class. You will be responsible for doing only ten
(10) of these assignments. Each assignment
will be worth 3 points, for a total of 30 points. If you choose to do more than 10 assignments,
I will count each additional assignment you complete for 1 point of extra
credit. Given the nature of the
assignments, I will except late work only for the most compelling reasons and
generally will give extensions of no more than one week. Assignments turned in late (without my
approval) will not be accepted for a grade.
Each
week one short assignment will be posted on Oncourse or distributed in class
and will be due on the date given on the syllabus. The assignments are designed to stimulate
your active participation in class by “forcing” you to keep abreast of the
readings. If done with diligence, the
assignments will allow you to accumulate 30% of your grade easily and give you
a ready-at-hand sense of where you stand in class.
When I
produce the assignment, I will design questions or exercises that build upon a
greater understanding of the supplemental reading material. The first series of assignments will focus on
reading documents in the context in which they were written. As the semester moves along assignments will
change focus and begin to ask you to more fully explore an author’s point of
view by comparing one work with another or with broader themes that we’ve
discussed in the course. Some
assignments will be written to help you study for your exams or to read the
novels more closely so that you can write good papers about them.
Attendance-
§
Attendance
is mandatory and unexcused absences can result in a substantially lowered
grade. For each unexcused absence from
class I will deduct 1 point from the 40% allotted for participation and
assignments. This calculation will be
made at the end of the semester.
2. Two
Papers-15% of the final grade each
Twice
during the semester you will be presented with a formal essay question
concerning what we have been studying, particularly in reference to the novels
we will read. After the question is
released, you will have two weeks to compose a typed, 3-4 page, 12-point
font/Times New Roman, double-spaced paper in response to the question
and you should support your position with what we have read, discussed and
written in the weeks before.
Specifically, the weekly writing assignments will be structured to
provide the appropriate proficiency necessary for each paper assignment.
3.
Two Take-Home
Exams-15% of the final grade each
Twice
during the semester you will be given a take-home exam (once in the middle of
the semester and once the last day of regular class) to be returned by the next
class period or by the allotted finals exam date and time, respectively. For each exam you will be asked to evaluate a
primary source document based on certain assessment criteria that I will
develop with you in class. The testing
documents will not be documents you have seen before. I will, however, choose documents from
authors or themes you have encountered in class. The tests will therefore encompass material
with which you are familiar but will also present new challenges for which you
can employ the tools and skills you develop over the course of the semester.
Week One: Why
Western Civilization?
Wednesday,
August 24:
§
Introductions;
discussion of the syllabus; defining western civilization
Week Two: The
Old Order and the Collapse of Certainty
Monday, August 29: The Old Regime:
Culture, Politics and Society
§
Read
Hunt, et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 610-615, 695-698
§
Read
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man (Oncourse)
§
Weekly
Assignment 1 due in class
Wednesday,
August 31: The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
§
Read
Hunt, et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 650-652, 708-720
§
Read
Isaac Newton, The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy
(Oncourse)
§
Read
Antoine Nicholas de Condorcet, The Progress of the Human Mind
(distributed in class)
The word “revolution” can have
several meanings. Governments and other
political institutions can be overthrown in revolutions. Metaphorically speaking, a revolution can
mean a profound and substantial transformation of one’s material circumstances
or deep changes in the way one thinks or acts.
Moreover, revolutions can alter the world in backward moving ways,
reinstating old ways of doing things when new ways have failed or seem to
disrupt comfortable worldviews too much.
As such, this section will examine the political revolutions in
Week Three: An
Age of Revolution, 1789-1848
Monday,
September 5: The French Revolution, 1789-1814
§
Read
Hunt, et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 747-770
§
Read Constitution
of the Year I,
§
Read
Olympe de Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen,
1791 (Oncourse)
Wednesday,
September 7: The First Industrial Revolution, 1750-1848
§
Read
Hunt, et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 829-840
§
Read
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,
Of the Division of Labour (distributed in class)
§
Read
Samuel Smiles, Self Help (Oncourse)
§
First
paper assignment distributed in class, to be completed in two weeks time
§
Weekly
Assignment 2 due in class
Week Four:
Restoration and Lament, 1814-1848
Monday,
September 12: Romantic Discontent
§
Read
Hunt, et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 788-793, 805-809, 840-847
§
Finish
Reading Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Wednesday,
September 14: Frankenstein; or, The Modern
Prometheus
§
Discuss
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in class
§
Weekly
Assignment 3 done in class
Week Five: A
New Political Order and Another Revolution
Monday,
September 19: Liberalism and the Doctrine of Utility
§
Read
Hunt, et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 812-813
§
Read
John Stuart Mill, Essay on Utilitarianism (distributed in class)
§
Read
Mary Wollstonecraft, The Vindication of the Rights of Woman (distributed
in class)
§
Weekly
Assignment 4 done in class
Wednesday,
September 21: Revolutions of 1848
§
Read
Hunt, et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 858-869
§
Read
Alexis de Tocqueville, Recollections (distributed in class)
§
Paper
1 due in class
Week Six: The
Ferment of Ideologies and the Culture of Social Order
Monday,
September 26: Nationalism, a Theory
§
Read
Hunt, et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 849-853, 862-863, 905-906
§
Read
Joseph Mazzini, Mazzini’s Conversion to Nationalism and On the Duties
of Man (distributed in class)
§
Read
Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Speeches to the German Nation (distributed in
class)
§
Read
Charles Darwin, selections from On the Origin of Species and the Descent of
Man (Oncourse)
Wednesday,
September 28:
§
Read
Hunt, et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 881-891, 979-985
§
Read
Heinrich von Treitschke, selections from the History of Germany in the
Nineteenth Century and Historical and Political Writings (Oncourse)
§
Read
Theodor Herzl, selections from The Jews’ State (Oncourse)
§
Weekly
Assignment 5 due in class
Week Seven:
Rumble from Below-Marx and the Rise of the Working Class
Monday,
October 3: Socialism and the Early Labor Movement
§
Read
Hunt, et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 854-857
§
Read
selections from The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels (Oncourse)
Wednesday,
October 5: Working Class Discontent
§
Read
Hunt, et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 906-911, 933-950
§
Weekly
Assignment 6 due in class
This section of the course will
highlight the ways in which people began to see events in their lives as truly
global in scale. The world became discernible
by “isms” like imperialism, nationalism, socialism, capitalism, and the
like. The world was increasingly
interconnected and the systems that helped produce this interconnectedness were
mainly European/western in nature. European/western dominance and influence
around the globe found both embracive partners and vehement opponents. While the European/western systems model
brought only a privileged few real opportunities for success, it exploited
most, threatening cultural autonomy and diversity. Permanent subordination to European/western
values and philosophies became commonplace, sparking political and cultural
resistance. Moreover, two world wars,
fought largely because of European/western conflicts, would bring the rest of
the world to the brink of disaster.
Week Eight:
Anxiety and Ennui, 1873-1914
Monday,
October 10: “Swarming
in Third-Republic
§
Read
Hunt, et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 891-905, 915-924
§
Read
Charles Baudelaire, selections from Paris
Spleen (distributed in class)
Wednesday,
October 12: Fin-de-Siècle
§
Read
Hunt, et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 959-970
§
Read
Sigmund Freud, “The Dissection of the Psychical Personality” (distributed in
class)
§
First/Midterm
exam distributed in class, to be completed at home and due the following class
period
§
Weekly
Assignment 7 due in class
Week Nine: The
New Imperialism and the Road to War, 1869-1914
Monday,
October 17: The Scramble for
§
Read
Hunt, et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 924-933, 985-997
§
Finish
reading Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
§
First/Midterm
Exam due in class
Wednesday,
October 19: Heart of Darkness
§
Discuss
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
§
Weekly
Assignment 8 done in class
Week Ten: “The
Wolf Speaks”- Collapse into Carnage and Mayhem
Monday,
October 24: The Great War, 1914-1918
§
Read
Hunt et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 1003-1020
§
Read
Paul Klee, “The Wolf Speaks” and “Poem” (distributed in class)
§
Read
Ernst Junger, selection from Storm of
Steel (distributed in class)
§
Finish
reading Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet
on the Western Front
Wednesday,
October 26: All Quiet on the Western
Front
§
Discuss
Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the
Western Front
§
Weekly
Assignment 9 done in class
Week Eleven: From
the Ashes-Reconstruction and the Communist Utopia
Monday,
October 31: The Russian Revolution of 1917
§
Read
Hunt et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 1020-1031, 1039-1041, 1055-1060
§
Read
selections from “What is to Be Done?” by Lenin (Oncourse)
§
Finish
reading George Orwell, Animal Farm
Wednesday, November 2: Animal Farm
§
Discuss
George Orwell’s Animal Farm
§
Weekly
Assignment 10 due in class
Week Twelve:
“The Center Cannot Hold:” the Interwar Years
Monday,
November 7: Modernity and its Discontents
§
Read
Hunt et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 1034-1039, 1041-1045, 1049-1055
§
Read
T.S. Eliot, “The
§
Weekly
Assignment 11 due in class
Wednesday,
November 9: The Difficult Life of the Weimar Republic, 1922-1933
§
Read
Ernst Simmel, “War Neuroses and ‘Psychic Trauma’” (distributed in class)
§
Read
Paul von Hindenburg, Testimony on the “Stab in the Back” (distributed in class)
§
Read
Friedrich Kroner, “Overwrought Nerves” (distributed in class)
§
Read
Hugo Bettauer, “The Erotic Revolution” (distributed in class)
§
Read
Joseph Goebbels, “Around the Gedachtniskirche” (distributed in class)
§
Weekly
Assignment 12 done in class
Week Thirteen:
The Architecture of Doom: Totalitarian Principles and
Practices
Monday,
November 14: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
§
Read
Hunt et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 1060-1064, 1075-1093
§
Finish
reading Art Spiegelman, Maus, A Survivor’s Tale: Book I, My Father Bleeds
History
Wednesday,
November 16: The Zero Point of History or “Here there is no why:”
The
Shoah through Maus, A Survivor’s Tale: Book I, My
Father Bleeds History
§
Discuss
Art Spiegelman’s Maus, A Survivor’s Tale: Book I, My Father Bleeds History
§
Second
paper assignment distributed in class, to be completed in two weeks time
§
Weekly
Assignment 13 due in class
The last part of the course can be
divided into three time periods: 1945-1968, 1968-1991, and 1991 to the
Present. 1945-1968 is the period in
which the challenges of the Cold War, decolonization, and postcolonial
nation-building helped unleash massive global economic, political, and social
change. The period 1968-1991 is when
those changes came to the forefront around the world, bringing stagnation to
the West after years of rapid change.
The period also marks the moment of world realignment, when the
Week Fourteen:
Thanksgiving
Monday,
November 21: Thanksgiving, No Class
Wednesday,
November 23: Thanksgiving, No Class
Week Fifteen:
Remaking the World in the Shadow of Looming Catastrophe
Monday,
November 28: New Lines Drawn: The Cold War and State Socialism
§
Read
Hunt et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 1097-1107, 1130-1135, 1155-1158
§
Read
Nikita Krushchev, “Secret Speech,” 1956 (Oncourse)
§
Read
Václav Havel, selections from “The Power of the Powerless” (distributed in
class)
Wednesday,
November 30: Decolonization
§
Read
Hunt et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 1118-1125
§
Read
Frantz Fanon, selection from “On Violence,” The
Wretched of the Earth (distributed
in class)
§
Paper
2 due in class
§
Weekly
Assignment 14 done in class
Week Sixteen:
Crisis, Reckoning, and the Dawn of the Post-Cold War
World,
1968-1991
Monday, December 5: 1968, Dealing
with the Nazi Past
§
Read
Hunt et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 1108-1118, 1125-1130, 1163-1166
§
Weekly
Assignment 15 done in class
Wednesday,
December 7: 1989, A New Hope
§
Read
Hunt et.al., The Making of the West, pp. 1173-1181, 1185-1193
§
Read
Tony Judt, “Nineteen Eighty-Nine: The
End of Which European Era?” (Oncourse)
§
Read
Anna Akhmatova, selections from “Requiem” (distributed in class)
Monday, December 12:
§
Final
exam distributed in class, to be completed at home and due at the scheduled
exam time
Wednesday, December 14: Final
Exam due in class by