History 1400-001 Western Traditions Modern Europe in the World, 1492 to the Present

Prof. Janet Watson 201 Wood Hall 486-2360 janet.watson@uconn.edu Office hours: T 10:00-12:00 and by appointment Spring 2014 MW 10:10-11:00 Arjona 105 Friday discussion sections

This course provides students with an opportunity to examine some of the cultural, social, political, intellectual, and economic developments of approximately the last five hundred years of European history, always considering Europe in a broader global context. Through a combination of lectures and discussions, it presents an overview of some of the major changes of the period while focusing in greater depth on analysis of some specific themes, events, and issues, many of which continue to have a profound impact on our own modern society. The lectures on Monday and Wednesday mornings focus on historical narratives and debates designed to provide context for the primary source readings that will be discussed in smaller groups each Friday. Most of you will, of course, never be professional historians, or even history majors. This course, however, aims to explore the ways that the study of history is useful to all of us living now, in our own historical moment. We will also use history as a tool to develop the essential life skills of critical reading, thoughtful analysis, argumentation, use of evidence, and effective communication (both written and oral). A fundamental part of this approach is the questioning and investigating of ideas that appear to be natural. We will also be enhancing our awareness of multiple perspectives on different historical events. This course is centered on the practice, and not just the study, of history. The readings we will analyze in discussion section are primary sources, dating from each period of focus. These sources vary widely in form and genre, and are what we, as historians, will study to make arguments about the past, rather than concentrating exclusively on conclusions reached by other scholars (such as we might find in a textbook or other secondary sources). History is as much or Watson History 1400 Spring 2014 p. 1 of 10

more about asking questions, and determining which questions to ask, as it is about answering them. This idea is central to this course. Regular attendance at lectures is absolutely essential to provide the necessary basis for analysis of the assignments. There is no textbook for this class, so that reading time can be focused on the primary sources. This makes lectures fundamental to an understanding of the content of the class. Lectures will include PowerPoint presentations to illustrate some of the issues we will be discussing and to help students organize the material for their notes. The presentations do not, however, offer an adequate substitute to either regular attendance or good note taking, and they will not be published or available outside of class, other than by making an appointment with the professor to view them at a mutually convenient time in her office. Discussion sections will be led by the three section leaders, Ms. Maureen Harris, Ms. Amy Sopcak-Joseph, and Ms. Jessica Strom. As class participation constitutes 25% of your grade, and is based on your active presence in discussion section, you need to be at section in order to fulfill that requirement even minimally; your presence in the room, however, does not count as participation, and therefore IS NOT SUFFICIENT FOR A PASSING GRADE IN THE DISCUSSION COMPONENT. Discussions are the opportunity for you all to work through the readings together, so to be successful, it is essential that you each come to section having read the texts assigned and prepared to discuss them. Remember that this does not mean that you have "answers;" only that you have given real thought to the readings and the questions they raise. Here in the syllabus, I have included questions to think about for each reading assignment. They provide a guideline for discussion, and you should be prepared to offer an opinion about them, but you should feel more than free to bring up other issues and take the discussions in different directions. Sections will also include writing exercises and quizzes. In addition to lectures and discussion sections, there are three 2 pp. papers based on the texts assigned for the course; only the two highest grades will count for each student, but ALL papers must be completed in a timely manner (as described below) in order to receive credit for ANY of them. Papers are due February 14, April 4, and April 25, and must be submitted on-line via SafeAssign on HuskyCT by the BEGINNING of your discussion section (papers more than an hour late will be assessed but will automatically receive a grade of 0; papers more than one week late will not be accepted). Hard copies of papers must ALSO be submitted to your instructor during your discussion section. In each paper, you must investigate analytically a Watson History 1400 Spring 2014 p. 2 of 10

specific topic raised by our readings; these paper topics will be distributed one week in advance. In fairness to the other students in a class this size, extensions will not be granted and late papers (up to one hour) will be marked down; each paper MUST be turned in within one week of its due date and demonstrate a good faith effort, or no credit will be given for ANY papers (you will earn 0 points for entire paper component). There is also a midterm examination on March 3, during the regular class period. The final exam, which will be cumulative, will be held at the time designated for this course, which has been preliminarily scheduled by the Registrars office for Monday, May 5, 10:30-12:30. Master sheets of questions from which the exams will be drawn will be distributed in advance. Final grades will be based on the four graded components of the course: class participation (25%), midterm exam (20%), papers (12.5% each for a total of 25%), and final exam (30%). As required by university guidelines, you are reminded that academic misconduct will not be tolerated, and your enrollment in this class is an agreement to abide by the rules of appropriate scholarly and social behavior; please show the class, the students, and instructors appropriate courtesies at all times. No electronic devices are permitted in lecture other than laptops solely for the purpose of typed note taking; no electronic devices are permitted in discussion section at all. You may not record lectures or discussions. If you have any questions about plagiarism, academic misconduct, or related issues, please feel free to talk to any of the course staff or to take advantage of the numerous resources available at UConn. Any misconduct will be dealt with following university procedures and consequences, and may lead to failure in an assignment, a component, or for the entire course. The staff of this course are available to discuss any questions or concerns you may have. Please feel free to contact us at our office hours, or to make an appointment for another time: Ms. Harris: W 1:30-3:30, and by appointment; Wood Hall 2C (lower level) Ms. Sopcak-Joseph: W 1:30-3:30 and by appointment; Wood Hall 14B (lower level). Ms. Strom: W 1:00-3:00 and by appointment; Wood Hall 3C (lower level). We will be reading a number of primary sources that will be available electronically or for you to download from our class HuskyCT site.

Schedule of Lecture and Discussion Topics

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Week 1The "New World" and the Old W 1/22 lecture: Introduction 1492 etc. F 1/24 discussion readings: http://www.c o m m u n i t y. u c o n n . e d u / s t u d e n t_c o d e . h t ml Also, plagiarism resources, Babbidge Library website (there are a number of helpful resources there; we want you to search for them and read them so you learn not just about plagiarism but about navigating the resources of the Babbidge site, so we are not giving you specific links for them). Discussion Questions to consider: 1. What is plagiarism? What are other kinds of academic misconduct? 2. Whats the big deal about it anyway? Week 2The Responsibilities of a Christian M 1/27 lecture: The Impact of "Discovery" W 1/29 lecture: Reformations F 1/31 discussion readings: Columbuss Letter to the King and Queen of Spain; http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columbus2.asp Martin Luther, On the Freedom of a Christian http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/luther-freedomchristian.asp Discussion Questions to consider: 1. What arguments is Columbus making? Why might he be making them? 2. Why is Luther addressing the Pope? How do you imagine the Pope might have reacted? Week 3Multiple Voices: Secularization, Renaissance, and Society M 2/3 lecture: Work, Property, and Life W 2/5 lecture: The New Science F 2/7 discussion readings: Michel de Montaigne, Of Cannibals, http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/montaigne/montaigne-essays--2.html Title Page, Dedication, and Prefaces to the First Three Editions of Newtons Principia; HuskyCT Discussion Questions to consider: 1. How is Montaigne using both ideas from the Reformation and from exploration to make arguments about his own European society? 2. What can we learn from how both Newton and others wrote about his work? What were the primary issues and concerns raised in these texts?

Week 4Revolutions in Thinking and Politics M 2/10 lecture: Le Roi Soleil and the English Civil War W 2/12 lecture: Who is Enlightened? F 2/14 discussion readings: Watson History 1400 Spring 2014 p. 4 of 10

Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Scripture and Memoires for the Instruction of the Dauphin; Husky CT Documents from the Trial of Charles I; HuskyCT Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/rousseausoccon.asp Immanuel Kant, What is Enlightenment? http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/kant-whatis.asp Discussion Questions to consider: 1. What justifications for absolutism are offered in the documents from France? What contrasts do you see in the British documents? 2. How do Rousseau and Kant imagine an enlightened society should function? FIRST PAPER (on readings for week 3) DUE BY THE BEGINNING OF DISCUSSION SECTION Week 5Enlightened Revolutions M 2/17 lecture: The French Revolution W 2/19 lecture: Revolutionary Ideals and the European Slave Trade F 2/21 discussion readings: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; Epistle Dedicatory and Chapters IV. http://history.hanover.edu/texts/equiano/equiano_contents.html Discussion Questions to consider: 1. What arguments was Equiano making about the slave trade? 2. What roles do ideas about religion and the Enlightenment play in those arguments?

Week 6The Rights-Bearing Citizen M 2/24 lecture: Nature, Industrialization, and Technology Where are the Answers? W 2/26 lecture: Liberalism and the Revolutionary Tradition F 2/28 discussion readings: Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England; Husky CT Charles Dickens, Hard Times; Husky CT Discussion Questions to consider: 1. What can you learn about the lives of industrial workers from these two readings? 2. What arguments about industrialization are these two authors making? How do they each portray different socioeconomic groups?

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Week 7Toto, I Don't Think We're In the 18th Century Anymore M 3/3 MIDTERM EXAM W 3/5 lecture: Who Survives/Who Thrives Marx and Darwin F 3/7 discussion readings: Alexis de Tocqueville, Recollections: The French Revolution of 1848; HuskyCT Karl Marx, Class Struggles in France; HuskyCT Discussion Questions to consider: 1. What differences can you identify between Liberalism and Socialism from these readings? 2. What is Tocqueville arguing for? Why? What is Marx arguing for (and is it what you expected)? Why? Where do they agree? Week 8The New Europe M 3/10 lecture: Liberalism, Nationalism, and Empire W 3/12 lecture: Imperial Wars F 3/14 discussion readings: My Indian Mutiny Diary; HuskyCT The Mutinies and the People; HuskyCT Mafeking Diary; HuskyCT Discussion Questions to consider: 1. How are views of imperialism articulated from the perspectives of the colonized peoples? For what purposes? How do these differ from the perspectives of the colonizers? 2. What relationships can you see in these readings between imperialism, war, nationalism, and liberalism? SPRING BREAK ENJOY!

Week 9 The Century Turns and So Does Liberalism M 3/24 lecture: Nietzsche, Freud, and the Crisis of Liberal Culture W 3/26 lecture: The War They Called Great F 3/28 discussion readings: Ernst Lissauer, Hymn of Hate; http://www.hschamberlain.net/kriegsaufsaetze/hassgesang.html Rebecca West, Return of the Soldier; http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37189 Henri Barbusse, Under Fire; HuskyCT Discussion Questions to consider: 1. How did the war affect European society, and what changes in attitude can you see in the readings? Did it affect different people in different ways? 2. Both long selections are from novels published during the war. What issues are raised by using fictional accounts as historical sources? Week 10War and Peace, East and West Watson History 1400 Spring 2014 p. 6 of 10

M 3/31 lecture: The Russian Revolution and the Early Soviet State W 4/2 lecture: Life after the Deluge F 4/4 discussion readings: Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents; HuskyCT Burmese Days, HuskyCT Discussion Questions to consider: 1. What is Freud saying about European society? Why might this have resonated in the interwar years? 2. How has empire changed, according to Orwell? What effects are experienced by the variety of characters in this selection? SECOND PAPER (on readings for week 9) DUE BY THE BEGINNING OF DISCUSSION SECTION

Week 11The Temporary Peace and Return to War M 4/7 lecture: The Rise of Fascism and the Road to 1939 W 4/9 lecture: The Second World War F 4/11 discussion readings: Vassily Grossman, A Writer at War; HuskyCT Vassily Grossman, Tanya and In the Line of the Main Attack; HuskyCT Discussion Questions to consider: 1. What can we learn from these different perspectives on Stalingrad? 2. How might we compare Grossmans journal accounts and fictionalization of the battle?

Week 12A Brief Account of the Devastation of Europe M 4/14 lecture: Re-Waging War - Resistance, Collaboration, National Unity W 4/16 lecture: The Holocaust F 4/18 discussion readings: Primo Levi, Survival at Auschwitz; HuskyCT Tadeusz Borowski, The People Who Walked On; HuskyCT Discussion Questions to Consider: 1. What can you tell from these accounts about how the Holocaust happened? How did cultures and systems of belief react, respond, and change? Think especially about the role of religion. 2. How does these first-person accounts relate to each other? How do those relations affect your view of the Holocaust?

Week 13 Wars Cold and Hot, East and West M 4/21 lecture: New Superpowers, New Geography: Socialism and Conservatism in Action Watson History 1400 Spring 2014 p. 7 of 10

W 4/23 lecture: Postwar Discontent: Decolonization and 1968 F 4/25 discussion readings: The Wretched of the Earth; HuskyCT The Buddha of Suburbia; HuskyCT Discussion Questions to Consider: 1. What is Fanon arguing about the effects of imperialism? What does it do to people, and what responses are called for? 2. How was postwar British society grappling with ideas about both Empire and youth culture? THIRD PAPER (on readings for week 12) DUE BY BEGINNING OF DISCUSSION SECTION

Week 14 The New Europe M 4/28 lecture: The Revolutions of 1989 W 4/30 last lecture: 1492 Now: Rebuilding Sarajevo, European Union and Beyond F 5/2 discussion readings: The Haunted Land; HuskyCT History of the Present; HuskyCT Discussion Questions to consider: 1. How does the new Europe (and the new Europeans) relate to the Europe of the beginning of the course? Consider the roles of religion, race, and ideas about other places and European identity. 2. What do you think have been the big issues we have discussed in this course? How would you describe the past five hundred years of European history? What have we learned about Western Traditions?

SOME NOTES ABOUT WRITING PAPERS AND ESSAYS: 1. You must be making a historical argument rather than just offering a description or telling a story. If no one could disagree with what you are saying, it isnt an argument. Then, set out to support that argument to convince your reader with the use of specific evidence from the texts themselves. History 1400 deals with the last five hundred years of European history is a description. History 1400 is the best class Ive ever taken is an argument, but one that you cannot support with evidence, as it is a personal judgment. History 1400 demonstrated that studying the past is useful to understanding the present is an argument which, we hope, you will be able to support with effective evidence by the end of the semester. 2. In case you missed #1, you must make a historical argument (that means it must be about the past), and you must support it by your analysis of specific evidence the primary sources you are reading for your class assignments.

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3. Papers and essays have a traditional structure that makes sense: start with an introduction that lets your reader know what you are arguing and how it is significant. In the body of your paper, present your evidence in a compelling and logical order. Dont forget to analyze your evidence you cant trust it to speak for itself YOU have to explain it to your reader. Then, conclude. Conclusions can be tricky you need to do more than restate your introduction, and conclusions are NOT about bringing things up to the present day. They are about tying everything together in a neat package so your reader will be convinced by your argument. 4. Be careful with evidence, and make sure you cite things properly. This means complete footnotes (or endnotes) not just for direct quotations, but for ideas. Your work and other peoples work need to be clearly distinguished from each other. If you are not sure about the definitions of plagiarism, come talk to any of the instructors. There are also resources here at the university. Be sure you know what you are doing academic misconduct will not be tolerated. 5. Write as if your reader is an intelligent person who is familiar with the texts you are discussing, but doesnt know them as well as you do. This means giving enough context to make discussions of evidence make sense, but not overwhelming yourself in detail. 6. Always remember that you are making a historical argument - this means that it is about the past, not the present; and it is not just about your personal preferences. SOME PICKY NOTES ABOUT WRITING PAPERS: 1. Papers must have titles. A title must be descriptive of the paper that follows it is a signpost to your reader. If you are having difficulty coming up with a title, that probably means that you dont really know what you are trying to say in your paper (and your reader probably wont know, either). 2. Certainly spellcheck, but also proofread spellchecking just doesnt catch everything. You are responsible for turning in professional and polished work. 3. Refer to any standard manual for correct footnote and bibliography formats. The Reference Section of Babbidge Library offers several; Turabians guide, modeled on the Chicago Manual of Style, is always a good choice for a history paper. 4. Papers must be submitted electronically via HuskyCT and SafeAssign. Remember that we know all the tricks with margins, spacing, and font size. Paper lengths are suggested to give you a guideline for the depth of your analysis if you cant match the guidelines pretty closely, then you probably havent fulfilled the assignment very successfully, no matter how you made the pages look.

In accordance with university guidelines, you are hereby informed of the official policy on academic misconduct:
ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT

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The compl e t e Stud e n t Conduc t Code is ! il "l e t http://! m. u c o n n . e d u / # d o s $ / c o d e % . h t ml Section A o& ' (t )I is include d "elow. A. Ac de mic Inte*(ity

A fundamental tenet of all educational institutions is academic honesty; academic work depends upon respect for and acknowledgement of the research and ideas of others. Misrepresenting someone elses work as ones own is a serious offense in any academic setting and it will not be condoned. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, providing or receiving assistance in a manner not authorized by the instructor in the creation of work to be submitted for academic evaluation (e.g. papers, projects, and examinations); any attempt to influence improperly (e.g. bribery, threats) any member of the faculty, staff, or administration of the University in any matter pertaining to academics or research; presenting, as one's own, the ideas or words of another for academic evaluation; doing unauthorized academic work for which another person will receive credit or be evaluated; and presenting the same or substantially the same papers or projects in two or more courses without the explicit permission of the instructors involved.
A stud e n t who +nowin*ly ssist s not h e ( stud e n t in com mi t tin* n ct o& c d e mi c miscon d u c t sh ll "e e,u lly ccou nt "l e &o( the !iol tion- nd sh ll "e su".ec t to the s nctions nd othe( (e me di e s desc(i"e d in The Stud e n t Code.

Acade mic miscon d u c t is a serious offens e and will be take n seriously. Cons e q u e n c e s , eve n for a single offens e , will be significan t and may includ e failure in the cours e.

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