HIST 388: U .S. and the World since 1945: The Question of Empire

 

ProfessorNikhil Singh                                       

Mechanical Engineering Building 102                                                                 

Tuesday 10:30-12:20

 

I. COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is designed to introduce students who have recently become history majors to some of the skills and perspectives of reading, analysis, and communication (both verbal and written) that are central to the historian’s craft.

This seminar is focused upon the idea of U.S. foreign relations and interventions abroad with a focus on the period since WWII. Broadly, we will explore the cultural, institutional, political and economic dimensions of America’s increasing global power across the twentieth-century. We will ask whether the U.S. can be said to have assumed an imperial role in world affairs, and assess the implications, costs and consequences of this role for people at home and around the world.

II. BOOKS AND ASSIGNED READINGS

Books are available for purchase at the University Bookstore.

 

Chalmers Johnson, Blowback

John Lewis Gaddis, Security Surprise and the American Experience

Thomas McCormick, America’s Half-Century

Rashid Khalidi, Resurrecting Empire

Melanie McCalister, Epic Encounters

 

A short Reading Packet is available for purchase at “The Ave.” Copy on University Ave at 42nd St. (Readings marked with a * below are included in the packet.)

 

III. SEMINAR SCHEDULE

 

Part 1: Introduction

 

January 4: Overview

 

Discussion of Syllabus

Screen short documentary, “Savage Acts”

 

Part 2: Perspectives on (US) Imperialism

 

January 11: Freedom’s Frontier

 

Read introduction, sections I, II, III and V of National Security Strategy of the U.S. (2002)

John Lewis Gaddis, Security, Surprise and the American Experience

*John Stuart Mill, “A Few Words on Non-Intervention” (1859), in Essays on Politics and Culture, pp. 368-384

 

January 18: American Exceptionalism

 

*Amy Kaplan, “Left Alone with America,” in Cultures of U.S. Imperialism, pp. 3-21

*Thomas Hietala, “Continentalism and the Color-Line,” “American Exceptionalism,” Manifest Design: American Exceptionalism and Empire

*Paul Kramer, “Empires, Exceptions and Anglo-Saxons: Race and Rule Between the British and U.S. Empires, 1880-1910,” in Julian Go, ed., The American Colonial State in the Philippines

 

January 25: Introduction to Library Research

 

Class meets with Research Librarian Theresa Mudrock in the Suzallo Instruction Lab (begin reading McCormick, America’s Half Century)

 

February 1: World Economic System

 

Thomas McKormick, America’s Half-Century, chapters 2-8, pp. 1-215 (required); chapters 9-10 (recommended)

 

[One-page description of projects due in-class]

 

Part 3: Case Studies

 

February 8: The Cold War Empire of Bases

 

Chalmers Johnson, Blowback: The Causes and Consequences of American Empire

 

February 15: Colonial Legacies and Resource Wars

 

Rashid Khalidi, Resurrecting Empire

 

February 22: In-Class Research Workshop

 

[First five-pages of prospectus due in-class.]

 

March 1: Cultures of US Imperialism

 

Melanie McCalister, Epic Encounters: Culture, Media and US Interests in the Middle East, 1945-2000 (entire)

 

Part 4: Conclusion

 

March 8: The Current Crisis (readings subject to revision)

 

*Michael Ignatieff, “The Burden,” New York Times Magazine, 1/5/03.

*Robert Kaplan, “Supremacy By Stealth: Ten Rules for Managing the World,” Atlantic Monthly, July/August 2003.

*Mark Danner, Torture, Truth and Terror (selections)

 

FINAL PAPERS DUE MARCH 15th BY 5PM IN MY BOX IN SMITH 315

 

IV. PAPERS AND ASSIGNMENTS

 

Each week you will be asked to write a short one-page response to the readings. Responses should be e-mailed to me no later than midnight on Tuesday, the night before class. Responses should be thoughtful, but they can also be polemical. In other words, I encourage you to say what you think was most important, or most disagreeable about the reading. Each week three or four students will be asked to present their responses to the class as a whole.

During the quarter, students will be asked to identify a significant episode in U.S. foreign relations over the past half-century, and to begin researching it in greater depth. You will be asked to produce a 10-page research prospectus in which you a) briefly outline the importance of the topic with reference to relevant secondary literature, b) explain the approach or method you will use in your research, c) identify at least five primary sources you will be using, and d) provide an annotated bibliography of secondary sources.

A list of potential topics/areas of research will be e-mailed to the class by January 18th in advance of our class meeting with Suzallo librarian Theresa Mudrock. Students are encouraged to meet with me in the course of deciding on your topics. In addition there are three stages to the assignment: 1) Write a short one-page abstract for your paper, along with a list of at least three primary sources and five secondary sources, due in-class February 1st; 2) complete the first five-pages of your paper, outlining your topic, to present at an in-class workshop February 22nd; 3) hand in your final paper on March 15th.

 

V. GRADING

 

Your grade will be based upon a cumulative assessment of your work during the quarter, including class participation and completion of the writing projects and the workshops. The response papers will count toward 25%; the final paper (including workshop) is worth 50% of your grade. Class participation will make up for the rest of your grade, or 25%, so it is important to complete the reading assignments, attend seminar, and be prepared for discussion.

 

VI. A FINAL NOTE

 

There is a vigorous on-going discussion in the press right now about the risks and benefits of “empire” for the United States. Much of this discussion is unfolding in relationship to the “war on terrorism,” and the U.S. war and occupation in Iraq. Times like these can create intense feelings and authentic disagreements. I encourage you to read the newspapers daily, including the international press, and to stay informed. Let your understanding of the present inform your view of the past, and let the historical work you do in this course shape your interpretation of the present. In light of our discussions and current events, I reserve the right to change the syllabus, if appropriate. Be on your toes.

 

VII. LINKS AND ATTACHMENTS 

 

I will periodically update the syllabus with relevant links and attachments that will inform your reading and our discussions. Make sure to continue to check back on a weekly basis.