Week 5: The Nation State, Nationalism, and Imperialism

January 28-February 1

*Leading questions: What is the nation? What is the nation state? What is imperialism? What role did nationalism play in the unification movements of Italy and Germany? What kind of nation state emerged in unified Germany and why? What were the causes and effects of European imperialism in the late 19th century? What are some of the different interpretations that some historians offer for the rise of modern European imperialism?

**Readings: Sherman, "The National State, Nationalism, and Imperialism: 1850-1914," in Western Civilization, 171-188, Roberts, "The European World Order," and "The Gathering Clouds: New Nations and German Ascendancy," in A Short History of the World, 359-372 & 394-397, and Pomeranz/Topik, "Making Modern Markets," in The World that Trade Created, 205-207.

For further background readings:
2. See German History in Documents: Forging an Empire (1866-1890).
3. For a basic background, see: Schools History.org (UK): German Unification.

***Key Terms and Persons: Nation, Nation State, Nationalism, German and Italian unification, Ernest Renan, Otto von Bismarck, Realpolitik, State Socialism, Giuseppe Mazzini, "The Duties of Man," The "Black Shirts," Heinrich von Treitschke, "Militant Nationalism," Imperialism, Rudyard Kipling, "The White Man's Burden," "The Scramble for Africa," and The "Standard Treaty"

****Projects: IR/BR: Submit book review, final draft.

Day 1:

In-class: Reading quiz# 3

Secondary source: Read the introduction to Sherman, Chapter 13, pp. 171-172; introduce and discuss the question: What is the nation? 

Primary source: Begin to read and discuss excerpts from Ernest Renan's "What Is A Nation?" (in-class handout).

Homework:  

Primary source: Read Guiseppe Mazzini, "The Duties of Man," and Heinrich von Treitschke, "Militant Nationalism," in: Sherman, pp. 174-176; see also Roberts, "The Gathering Clouds: New Nations and German Ascendancy," in A Short History of the World, 394-397

Answer: prepare written responses to the accompanying questions as the basis for discussion (may be collected): What are the origins and potential appeals of Italian and German unification.

Day 2: 

In-class: Discuss the basis and appeal of Mazzini's nationalism; review the brief history of Italian and German unification; discuss the basis, appeal and potential of Treitschke's nationalism; introduce and discuss the question: What is the nation state? Introduce the history of German unification, Otto von Bismarck, the creation of the German social welfare state, and the problems of Polish unification.

Homework: 

Primary source: Read Otto von Bismarck, "Speeches on Pragmatism and State Socialism," in Sherman, pp. 172-174.

Visual source: Jacek Malczewski, "Melancholia," in: Sherman, p.179.

Secondary source: David Blackbourn, "German Unification," p. 185. 

Answer: prepare written responses to the accompanying questions as the basis for discussion (may be collected): What are the origins and justifications of Bismarck's conception of the "nation state" and Germany's socialist policies? What, according to Blackbourn, were the international conditions for Germany's unification?

Day 3:

In-class: Discuss the  "Question" of German unification; see also the problems of Polish unification; introduce imperialism and begin to discuss the origins and effects of late 19th-century European imperialism; see also the "Scramble for Africa".

Primary source: Rudyard Kipling, "The White Man's Burden," in: Sherman, pp. 177-178.

Visual sources:George Harcourt, "Imperialism Glorified," "American Imperialism in Asia: Independence Day 1899," and "Imperialism in Africa," in: Sherman, pp. 180-184;
Roberts, "The European World Order," in A Short History of the World, 359-372.

Homework: 

NOTE: students may turn in their book review drafts on Monday, February 4; contact instructor individually for extensions due to extenuating circumstances.

Primary sources: Friedrich Fabri,"Does Germany Need Colonies," and Royal Niger Company, "Controlling Africa: The Standard Treaty," in: Sherman, pp. 176-177 and 178.

Secondary sources: Eric J. Hobsbawn, "The Age of Empire," Carlton J. H. Hayes, "Imperialism as a Nationalistic Phenomenon," Daniel J. Headrick, "The Tools of Empire," and Margaret Strobel, "Gender and Empire," in: Sherman, pp. 186-188.

Answer: prepare written responses to the accompanying questions as the basis for discussion (may be collected): what are some of the different interpretations that historians have offered for the phenomena of modern imperialism, e.g., economics, nationalism and/or other cultural values and attitudes, technology and even gender? What do you think?

Day 4: Discuss the origins and effects of modern European imperialism; see also the rise of US and Japanese imperialism; review materials for reading quiz #4 on Friday, February 8. 

Homework: Book review reading and drafting process; book review drafts are due on Monday, February 4, and prepare for reading quiz on Friday, February 8. 

  

 

Week 4 - European Culture, Thought, and Society: 1850-1914

January 21-25 (4 days)

MLK Jr. day, 1/21; SAT Testing, 1/26
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday, please check out these links:
1. MLK, "I have a dream" speech, video from the March on Washington, August 28, 1963.
2. MLK, "Knock at midnight" speech, text and audio, 1967.
3. Sam Cooke, "A Change Is Gonna Come", an unofficial anthem of the civil rights movement.
4. Nina Simone, "Feeling Good". 

*Leading questions: Who were the new middle classes? How did they come to dominate European societies and cultures? What were some of the main elements of middle-class life? What were some of the dominant intellectual currents? What were some of the main challenges to middle-class ideas and institutions? What was communism? Who were the emerging working classes? What is antisemitism? Where does it come from? Who were the antisemites and how did they challenge the assumptions of liberal European societies?

**Readings: Sherman, "Culture, Thought, and Society: 1850-1914," in Western Civilization, 189-204, and excerpts from Michael Walser Smith, The Butcher's Tale.

***Key Terms and Persons: Charles Darwin, Darwinism, Herbert Spencer, Social Darwinism, John Stuart Mill, Our Sisters, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto, Anna Maier, Socialism, Emmeline Pankhurst, Female Suffrage, Houston Stewart Chamberlain, Racism, Richard Wagner, Anti-Semitism, and the Blood Libel (or accusations of ritual murder).

****Projects: IR/BR: Book review reading and drafting process.

Day 1:

In-class: Take a look at the visual sources listed below and discuss how they reflect 19th century European society and culture; then introduce sources on evolution, Social-Darwinism and antisemitism; read the introduction to the chapter together, ask each of the students to read one of the four primary sources individually, then make notes on the board about key points and passages for their peers, and discuss as a class.

Visual sources: Eastman Johnson, The Ages of Women, Kaethe Kollwitz, Leon Frederic, and Jacob Steinhardt, in: Sherman, pp. 198-201

Primary sources: Charles Darwin, Herbert Spencer, Houston Stewart Chamberlain, and Richard Wagner, in: Sherman, pp.189-191, and p. 198.

Homework: Secondary source: Smith, The Butcher's Tale (in-class handout; online handout TBA). Using the handout and the primary sources from class, please prepare a written answer to the question: Where does Antisemitism come from?

Day 2:

In class: Discuss: The Butcher's Tale, Antisemitism, and introduce sources on working class ideology, politics and culture. 

Musical sources: excerpts from Richard Wagner and Felix Mendelssohn.

Primary sources: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "The Communist Manifesto," Anna Maier, "Socialist Women: Becoming a Socialist," and Emmeline Pankhurst, "Why We Are Militant," in: Sherman, pp.193-196.  

Homework: Primary sources: John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, in: Sherman, pp. 191-192.
Secondary sources: F. H. Hinsley, "The Decline of Political Liberalism," Adam B. Ulam, "The Unfinished Revolution: Marxism Interpreted," C. A. Bayly, "Understanding Nineteenth-Century Industrialization and Urban Life," and Eleanor S. Rimer and John C. Fout, "European Women," in: Sherman, pp. 201-204.
 

Day 3: 

In-class: Discuss liberalism, communism industrialization and gender at the end of the 19th century.

Homework: Book review reading and drafting process; prepare for reading quiz on Monday, January 28. 

Independent Research Project Guide (1815 to the Present)

Research writing project calendar and due dates:

Week 1-2: Book selection process.

Week 3-4: Reading and drafting period; in-class time for reading.

Week 5: Book Review drafts due at end of week Friday, 2/1/2013; see instructor for extensions

Week 7: Independent Research Topic proposal due at end of week by Friday, 2/14/2013.

Week 8: First round of Capstone Project Proposals due by Friday, 2/22/2013.

Week 10: First Draft of Independent Research Paper, due by Friday, 3/8/2013.

               Final round of Capstone Project Proposals due by Friday, 3/8/2013.

Week 13: Final Draft of Independent Research Paper, due by Friday, 4/12/2013.

Week 16: Oral History Interview Projects due by Friday, 5/3/2013.

Week 18-19: Capstone Project Presentations and Exhibitions.

II. Assignment Descriptions:

Book Reviews: write a 2-3 page review of a book chosen specifically to begin the research process for your research topic. Hopefully, choose a book about a topic that is interesting, and think about what would make the book interesting and important for others to read in the future. Make sure to read the introduction and get to know the author's intentions in writing the book; focus then on reading an interesting and hopefully important chapter of the book. Take notes on what strikes you about the book, how it is written, what one can learn from it, if the author(s) successfully accomplished what they set out to do, and/or any questions, comments or criticism you might have. Begin to look through the book reviews featured online, especially the New York Review of Books (http://www.nyrb.com) to start. Outline and compose first draft for peer and teacher review and further revisions (See also Book Review Guide handout from class and online).

Research Topic Proposals: 1. write a one-page document that includes a 3-5 sentence paragraph, and proposes an initial topic and problem of interest, e.g., Modern Germany and the latest research on Nazism and the Holocaust, or Modern European fashion and the politics of design; 2. include a meaningful research question about your topic, and a comment on why you think your research is important to the study of world history in our class. 3. include a working bibliography (MLA format; see MLA style guide handout) with a list of the primary and secondary sources collected. In preparation for this proposal, begin to research primary and secondary source materials on your topic; use available resources in the library collection, as well as the library access to online resources, e.g., JSTOR and the Gale Reference Collection; see instructor, as well as talk to the librarians and other teachers who may be specialists in your area of interest for additional help.

Independent Research Papers: 1. For the rough draft, write at least five pages on your research topic. The draft should include an introduction that presents the topic to the reader (assume your reader knows nothing!), and your thesis, i.e., the argument you want to make based on your research (review dialectical argument, i.e., thesis, antithesis, synthesis). The second paragraph should provide an overview of the scholarship, i.e., what experts on your topic in the secondary sources have already done on this topic, i.e., what they have argued based on their research, then what might still need to be done on your topic, e.g., rebut an argument, offer a new interpretation of available materials on a given topic, synthesize available research to compile a more comprehensive understanding of your topic, offer a new interpretation of available primary sources, and/or make use of new primary sources to revise our understanding of your topic, and outline what you aim to demonstrate in the body paragraphs that follow (this should also provide the basis for your thesis, i.e., the argument you want to make. Body paragraphs should focus on key points you want to make in order to build your argument; these body paragraphs should have a clear topic sentence that makes a sharp point and should also make use of primary and secondary forms of evidence to support those points. Conclusion paragraphs should sum up your research and reiterate the significance of your findings in relationship to the scholarship.

Presentations: Prepare an 8-10 minute presentation based on your research for class. Presentations should include a discussion of how you developed your research, why you are interested in this topic, a summary assessment of the scholarship, i.e., an overview of the secondary sources, what has been done, what needs to be done, and what you aim to demonstrate through your research, and make effective use of at least one primary sources in support of your thesis. Consider use of handouts, materials objects, music, video, a brief PowerPoint presentation, etc. Choose a week to present and discuss with the instructor.

Oral History Interviews: Conduct an oral history interview with family members, friends or acquaintances on any topic that relates to the study of modern world history. As part of this process, students should research the general topic on which the interview will focus, as well as organize and prepare a 45-minute to one-hour interview. The final product should include a transcript of the interview questions and responses of the interview subject; additional products may include an audio-video recording of the the interview, but is not required.

Capstone Projects: Finally, in lieu of a final exam, students may help conceptualize, plan and organize a final set of exhibitions, based on the entire body of their course work and independent projects on modern world history at the end of the semester. The final look of these capstone projects will be determined by the students themselves in close coordination with the instructor, over a series of discussions starting at the beginning of the spring semester. Examples of capstone projects could include a Santa Fe Prep Human Rights Reader, Oral History collections, a primary and secondary resource collection for future student use, a student illustrated guide for the course, a performance based on student research, film, podcast, etc. Students may also opt to take a final exam instead, which would follow the same format as the final exam in the fall, i.e., covering all materials from the spring semester with objective, identification, short answer and essay sections. Worth twenty percent of the final grade. 

Oral History Interview Project Guidelines

This project is meant to connect students to modern world history through people they know, especially parents, other relatives, friends and acquaintances.

Students should first find an interview partner or partners, who would be willing to talk about how their lives relate to world history in some way, and who would be willing to share those stories in recorded interviews. Possible partners include, but are not limited to parents, relatives, neighbors and/or acquaintances.

Students should then do some background research on the history that their interview partner(s) want to share in preparation for the interview, and plan on a 30 minute to one hour interview with potential questions ready to ask. Initial questions about where the interview partner(s) grew up, what life was like at home, in their neighborhoods, schools, and communities, education, work and how things have changed are a good way to break the ice of the interview and learn more about the interview partners. Open-ended questions (instead of YES/NO questions) usually allow the interview subject to offer more interesting answers. Interview subjects should also keep follow up questions in mind and note questions to come back to later if possible.

Students are encouraged to record the interviews, but should make sure that they have their interview partner(s)' permission recorded before proceeding, and interview partners maintain the right to review final recordings and transcripts and rescind their offer to share their stories.

Final products MUST include a typed interview transcript that includes a title for the interview, the names of the interviewer and interview partners, and the date and place of the interview.

Final products are DUE Friday, May 3, 2013 by the end of the day.Please see instructor about extenuating circumstances. Email copies of the transcripts to the instructor and Chloe Strickland for the oral history archival project.

For more information, please check out one or more of the following links below:

 

1. The Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide:

This is one of the standard and most comprehensive guides for conducting oral history interviews in the US.

 

2. UC Berkeley Regional Oral History Tips:

This is a good compact set of tips for conducting oral history interviews.

3. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Oral History Interview Guidelines: 

This is a good guide for those who might conduct interviews with Holocaust survivors, or the survivors of other forms of trauma.

Week 3: The Industrial Revolution

Day 1: Monday, January 14

In-class: Discuss the handout by Yuval Levin, "Burke, Paine and the Great Law of Change," from The Point, Issue 3 (Fall 2010): pp. 121-127. Make sure to know the argument of the author, Levin, as well as who Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine were, what they thought about nature, human nature, society, politics and justice, and how these early debates about the French Revolution helped shape "a new kind of politics."

Read: Roberts, "The Great Acceleration," in A Short History of the World, p. 337-348, and look at the visual sources and maps in Sherman, Western Civilization, pp. 148-151. Consider how and why the world was changing.

Homework: Read the following primary and secondary sources in Sherman, Western Civilization,  and prepare written answers to the accompanying questions.
1. Introduction to Chapter 11, "Industrialization and Social Change," pp. 141-142.

Secondary source:
2. Robert L. Heilbronner, "The Making of Economic Society: England, the First to Industrialize," pp. 151-152.
Prepare a written answer to the Question: Why was England the first to industrialize?

Primary sources:
3. "Testimony for the Factory Act of 1833: Working Conditions in England," pp. 142-143,
4. Benjamin Disraeli, "Sybil, or Two Nations: Mining Towns," pp.143-144,
5. Friedrich Engels, "The Conditions of the Working Classes," pp. 144-145.
Prepare a written answer to the Question: How did industrialization affect England?

Day 2:
In-class: Discuss the causes and effects of industrialization in England.

Homework: Read Charles Mann, "Guano," in 1493, pp. 271-281 (paperback), or pp. 212-220 (hardback). 
Prepare a written answer to the Question: How did guano change the world?

Day 3:
In-class: Discuss how guano changed the world; read Pomeranz and Topik, "World Trade and Industrialization," in The World that Trade Created, pp. 226-237.

Homework: Read the following primary and secondary sources in Sherman, Western Civilization,  and consider whether or not the effects of early industrialization were positive, negative, or somewhere in between.

Primary sources:
1. Samuel Smiles, "Self-Help: Middle-Class Attitudes," p. 145,
2. Honore de Balzac, "Father Goriot: Money and the Middle Class," pp. 146-147,
3. Elizabeth Poole Sandford, "Woman in Her Social and Domestic Character," pp. 147-148,
4. Flora Tristan, "Women and the Working Class," p. 148.

Secondary sources:
1. Peter Stearns and Herrick Chapman, "Early Industrial Society: Progress or Decline?" pp. 153-154,
2. Michael Anderson, "The Family and Industrialization in Western Europe," pp. 154-155. 

Book Review Project Guide

Modern World History

Book Review Project Guide

Spring Semester

I. Book review project calendar and due dates:

         Week 1-2: Book selection process.

         Week 3-4: Reading and drafting period; in-class time for reading.

         Week 5: Book Review due at end of week Friday, 2/1/2013.

II. Instructions

1.    Begin to strategically read your book of choice

- Make sure you have chosen a book that you want to read, which is both interesting and potentially helpful for your research.

- Read the introduction to gain a sense of what the author(s) aims to do with his, her or their book project. Identify the key arguments they want to make, how they organize their book into chapters and which chapters or sections would be the most helpful for your research. FOCUS on those sections.

- Search the index, if included, for key terms to help guide your reading and follow the footnotes or endnotes for leads on more primary and secondary sources, which could be helpful for further research.

- Take notes on what strikes you about the book, how it is written, what one can learn from it, if the author(s) successfully accomplished what they set out to do, and/or any questions, comments or criticism you might have about the book.

- Research: Find out more about the history behind the story of the book you have selected; also find out more about the author, his or her background and expertise and what else they have written, all of which could provide useful background for your review and your readers.

2. For additional book review guidelines: please check out the following websites:

The UK Student Portal: Queen's University Book Review Guide 

The University of North Carolina Writing Center Book Review Guide 

 

3. For examples of book reviews, please follow the links to these two reviews:

The New York Review of Books, Jeffrey Gettleman, "Africa's Dirty Wars," March 8, 2012 

The New York Review of Books, Roger Cohen, "A Crass and Consequential Error," August 16, 2012 

OR to search further: please check out

The New York Review of Books

The Economist Book Reviews 

The Wall Street Journal Book Reviews 

4. Begin to outline your review of the book you have chosen to read.

5. Book reviews will be due on Friday, February 1. For those students with extenuating circumstances like the late arrival of your books on order at the library, PLEASE talk to your instructor.

Week 2: Reaction, Reform and Revolution

Day 1, Monday, January 7, 2013:
In-class: Discuss the last sections of Lynn Hunt's Inventing Human Rights,
and read Roberts, A Short History of the World, "Restoration after 1815," pp. 330-333.

Homework: Read the following primary and secondary sources from Sherman, Western Civilization:
Read:
The Introduction to Chapter 12, pp.157-158;

Primary sources:
1. Prince Klemens von Metternich, Secret Memorandum, pp. 158-159.
2. The Carlsbad Decrees, pp. 159-160

Secondary source:
1. Hajo Holborn, The Congress of Vienna, p. 168.

Prepare a comprehensive answer to the following question; make sure to make explicit use of both the primary and secondary sources:

Question: How did "conservative" (!) leaders react to the French Revolution and Napoleonic periods, and how effective were these conservative responses to the changes taking place?

Day 2:
In-class: Discuss the "conservative" reaction to the French Revolution and Napoleonic periods. 

Homework: Read the following primary and secondary sources from Sherman, Western Civilization:
Primary sources, and prepare the accompanying questions for discussion:
Primary sources:
1. Jeremy Bentham, "English Liberalism," pp. 160-161;  
Question: explain what Bentham means by the principle of "utility" and the proper role of government.
2. The Economist, "Liberalism: Progress and Optimism," p. 162;
Question: consider what liberals thought were the greatest improvements of the first half of the nineteenth century.

Secondary source:
1. E. K. Bramstead and K. J. Melhuish, "Western Liberalism," pp. 168-169;
Question: consider how liberal doctrines differed from conservativism of the period; why would liberalism be more appealing to the middle classes than to the aristocracy or the working class.

Day 3:
In-class: Discuss liberalism.

Homework: Read  the following primary and secondary sources from Sherman, Western Civilization:
Primary sources; look at the questions to consider and prepare for discussion:
Primary source:
1. The First Chartist Petition: Demand for Change in England," pp. 162-163.

Visual sources:
1. Eugene Delacroix, "Liberty Leading the People: Romanticism and Liberalism," p. 166,
2. Honore Daumier, "Working Class Disappointments: Rue Transnonain, April 15, 1834," p. 167.

Day 4:
In-class: Discuss the Chartist Movement and the "July" Revolution of 1830; review the week's materials for the quiz and then take the quiz.

Homework: Read the handout by Yuval Levin, "Burke, Paine and the Great Law of Change," from The Point, Issue 3 (Fall 2010): 121-127. Prepare for discussion on Monday, January 14;
Questions for discussion: make sure to know the argument of the author, who Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine were, what they thought about nature, human nature, society, politics and justice, and how these early debates about the French Revolution helped shape "a new kind of politics." 

Week 1 - The Birth of the Modern World, January 2-4

Prepare for discussion and the first reading quiz the following week:

*Leading questions: What were the consequences of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars? Why did the guarantee of political rights expand to include minority groups in France? What were the reasons given to oppose extending rights to these groups? How did different groups of people, e.g., religious minorities, colonial subjects and women respond to the declarations of rights emanating from the French Revolution?

**Readings: Lynn Hunt, "'There Will Be No End Of It.' The Consequences of Declaring," in Inventing Human Rights. A History, pp. 146-175.

*** Key Terms and Persons: Natural, civil, political, and human rights, "the logic of rights," Edict of Nantes, Edict of Toleration of 1787, The Friends of Blacks, Toussaint-Louverture, Condorcet, Olympe de Gouges, Mary Wollstonecraft. Constance Pipelet.

****Projects: Independent Research (IR)/Book Review (BR): Begin to look at possible book selections for the second review and basis of independent research.