HIS 3555: Modern World History
Section 001
Fall 2004
MWF 10:00-10:50, Coleman 2741
Dr.
Sace Elder, Instructor
2542
Coleman Hall
Tel:
581-8509
Email:
cfsee@eiu.edu
Office
Hours: MWF 11:00-12:00 and Mondays 3-4
Course
Description:
This
course explores the major political, economic, social, and cultural
developments of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Students will examine the rise of
industrialization and the international division of labor that served as the
basis for vast global empires in the nineteenth century. They will explore the
nationalist movements that brought down those empires, the challenges of
nation-building in the post-colonial world, and the competing modern ideologies
that inspired and shaped those nation-building projects. Nationalism, both
productive and destructive, will be contrasted with the internationalism
arising from the ashes of the two world wars in the form of new institutions such
as the UN and the European Union. At the end of the course will be George Bush,
Sr.’s “new world order” and the challenges to Western dominance presented by
the Muslim world and China as students consider globalization at the beginning
of the twentieth century.
Course
Goals:
This
course is designed to:
1)
provide the opportunity to examine modern world history through a variety of
sources, both primary and secondary;
2)
encourage the student to think critically about the development of the modern
world by engaging in a variety of analytical tasks;
3)
promote the development of verbal communication skills through written and oral
assignments.
Course
Texts:
The
following textbooks are available through textbook rental. In addition to
these, there are also listed on the course syllabus online readings (indicated
with a WEB) and reserve readings (paper reserves are indicated with R and
electronic reserves are indicated with E).
Palmer,
Colton, and Kramer (Palmer and Colton), A History of the Modern World Since
1815, 9th ed.
Peter
Maass, Love Thy Neighbor: A Story of War
Frantz
Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth
Adam
Hochschild, King Leopold’s Ghost
Course
Requirements:
Book Review: (15%) You will
be asked to write a scholarly review of the Hochschild book. Instructions will
be given in class.
Source Analyses (10%) You will write 2-3 -page analyses of
the Fanon and the Maass books. Specific instructions will be given in class.
News Analysis Project (15%):
Instructions for this assignment will be given on a separate page.
Short writing assignments
(10%) you will be asked to write short (1-2 page) reactions to 7 of the
assigned short readings (excluding the Hochschild, Maass, and Fanon books).
Mid-Term (15%) This will be
an essay/identification exam.
Final Exam (20%) Also essay/identification. This exam will be
comprehensive, covering material from the first week of class to the last.
Participation (15%): You are
expected to participate regularly in class discussion. Your participation will
be evaluated according to the following criteria:
14-15: Contributions to class
discussion are frequent, informed, and relevant to the class discussion.
12-13: Contributions to class
discussion are occasional, informed, and relevant to the course material
9-11: Contributions are informed
but not relevant to the course material.
5-8: Contributions are neither
relevant nor informed
0-4:
No noteworthy contributions made whatsoever.
Course
Policies:
Paper formats: All papers
will be typed (computer-processed) using 12 pt. standard fonts and 1 inch
margins. Citations (when used) will be endnote or footnote in format (to be
discussed in class). Papers will be submitted in printed version (no electronic
submissions unless previously arranged with the instructor and then only at the
instructor’s discretion). Failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in a
lowering of the assignment grade.
Late papers: All assignments
are expected to be handed in on time. You are expected to attend class the day
an assignment is due. Each assignment will be docked half a letter grade for
each calendar day late (for example, a B paper will be a C+). A paper is a day
late if handed in after the scheduled class meeting for which it is assigned or
if the student fails to attend class the day the paper is due. It is a day late if you do not attend class
the day the paper is due unless with prior arrangement with the professor. The
instructor may excuse a late paper under extreme circumstances and if proper
documentation of the circumstance is provided; if you anticipate having to turn
in a paper late, speak to the instructor beforehand, not after the deadline.
Absences: Any unexcused
absence after the second will detract three points from the class participation
grade. Excuses include extreme cases, such as death in the family or personal
illness., and require documentation from the appropriate authority (e.g.,
funeral home, doctor) must be provided.
Arriving late/leaving early:
Students are expected to arrive on time and stay until class is over in order
to not disrupt class. Frequent leaving early and arriving late can result in
the lowering of class participation grade at the discretion of the instructor.
Academic integrity: Students
are expected to follow the University guidelines for academic conduct
(available at http://ww.eiu.edu/~judicial/code.html), which requires students
to “observe the highest principles of academic integrity and support a campus
environment conducive to scholarship.” Violations of academic integrity include
“conduct in subversion of academic standards, such as cheating on examinations,
plagiarism, collusion, misrepresentation or falsification of data;” “submitting
work previously presented in another course unless specifically permitted by
the instructor,” and “complicity in violations of this standard.” Plagiarism is “the use, without adequate
attribution, of another person’s words or thoughts as if they were one’s
own.” Citation of sources will be
discussed in class and is required for all written assignments where
appropriate.
Disabled students: Any
student anticipating the need for special accommodations due to disability,
physical or otherwise, should contact as early as possible Disability Services,
located in Ninth Street Hall in Room 2002 or by phone at 581-6583. Accommodations can only be given to students
with appropriate documentation from that office.
Writing Portfolio: This is a
writing-intensive course. Should you elect to submit a paper from this course
for your portfolio, you will need to give me the paper one week in advance of
your deadline.
Tentative Course Schedule
Please note that the
instructor reserves the right to make changes in the course schedule as may
become necessary. All changes will be announced in class.
Aug.
23-28 Industrialization
Palmer and Colton, Chapter 11
WEB Chadwick’s Report on the Condition of the
Labouring Population in Great Britain
http://www.cyberartsweb.org/victorian/history/chadwick2.html
WEB Women Miners in English Coal Pits,
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1842womenminers.html
Aug.
30-Sept. 3 Nationalism, Liberalism, Radicalism
Palmer and Colton, Chapter 12
WEB Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Communist
Manifesto,
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/marx.html
Sept.
6-10 Emergence of Nation-States
Palmer and Colton, Chapter 13,
15
WEB Zionism:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1896herzl.html
Sept.
13-17 China and Islam in the Age of European Hegemony
Palmer and Colton, Chapter 16
WEB People of Canton Against the English
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1842canton.html
WEB Attempted Reforms (1898),
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/eastasia/1898kuantsu.html
Sept.
20-24 Imperialism
Adam Hochschild, King Leopold’s Ghost (review
due Sept. 24)
Sept.
27-Oct. 1 World War I
Begin News Clipping Project
Palmer and Colton, Chapters 17
and 18
WEB World War One Poetry
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1914warpoets.html
Oct.
4-8 Home Rule Movements
(No class Friday, Oct. 8)
Palmer and Colton, Chapter 19
(Begin)
(R)Gandhi, Satyagraha (selections on reserve)
Oct.
11-15: Crisis of Liberalism
Mid-Term Exam Oct. 11
Palmer and Colton, Chapter 19 (finish)
WEB Spengler, The Decline of the
West http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/spengler-decline.html
WEB Versailles Treaty (League of Nations Covenant)
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/imt/parti.htm
WEB Versailles Treaty (Germany):
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1919versailles.html
Oct.
18-22 Interwar Dictatorships
Palmer and Colton, Chapter 20
Benito Mussolini, What is Fascism?
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/mussolini-fascism.html
Oct.
25-29 World War II
Palmer and Colton, Chapter 21
WEB Nanking Massacre
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/nanking.html
Nov.
1-5 Internationalism and the Cold War
Palmer and Colton, Chapter 22
WEB United Nations Charter http://www.hrweb.org/legal/unchartr.html
WEB NATO Treaty
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/NATOTREATY.html
Nov.
8-12 Decolonization
Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth
(analysis due Nov. 12)
Nov.
15-19 Middle East
Palmer and Colton, Chapter 24
(Begin)
No Class 11/19
Nov.
22-26: Thanksgiving Break
Nov.
29-Dec. 3 Nation-building in the Cold
War Context
Palmer and Colton, Chapter 24
(Finish)
News Clipping Project due Dec. 3
Dec.
6-10: The World at the Dawn of the 21st Century
Palmer and Colton, Chatper 25
Peter Maass, Love thy
neighbor (analysis due Dec. 10)
Final
Exam: Thursday, Dec. 16 8:00-10:00 am