HS 114. The World in the Twentieth
Century
MontgomeryCollege, Spring 2009
CRN 35407, HU 131 Tuesday,
6:30-9:10pm
Instructor: Doug
Campbell
Office:
HU 016
Office Hours: By
Appointment
E-mail
Address: dcampbel@umbc.edu
Course Objectives: This course is designed to give you, the student, a
sense of the major events, changes, movements, and ideas which have shaped the
world in the twentieth century. It will also acquaint you
with the manner in which historians examine evidence in order to explain not
just what happened in the human past, but why it
happened. Careful reading and effective writing are integral
parts of any college history class, and this course will help you learn how to
analyze the arguments in the sources and texts which you read, and to formulate
your own arguments about the past in writing.
History, when presented well, is never a dry,
dusty list of names and dates. It is the story of people like
you and me, and it examines how they lived their lives in circumstances which in
some ways were very different from those today, and in other ways remarkably
similar. I find the study of history in all its shapes and
forms absolutely fascinating, and I hope that my enthusiasm will be
infectious.
Please do your best to keep up with the readings, and
above all: never be afraid to ask questions in class!
Don’t worry about looking silly; if something is
unclear to you, odds are that it is unclear to your classmates as
well.
Course Grading: Your grade for the course will be determined as
follows:
Exam #
Attendance
and Class Participation: 20%
Two Written Assignments: 20% each
Attendance: Students are
expected to attend all class sessions. "Excessive absence" is defined as one
more unexcused absence than the number of times the class meets per week during
a fall or spring semester (with the number of absences to be prorated for
accelerated sessions). For example, in a Monday-Wednesday-Friday class, four
unexcused absences would be considered excessive. If you miss a class session,
it is your responsibility to find out what you have
missed.
Participation: A portion of your grade will be based upon the degree
to which you participate in class discussions.
William Duiker, Twentieth Century World History, 4th edition, 2006 (ISBN-13: 978-0495095927)
In
addition to the textbook, you will be reading the following short works (Any
editions are acceptable):
Art
Spiegelman, Maus: A Survivor's Tale, Parts I
and II
Timothy Garton Ash, The Magic Lantern: The Revolution of '89
as Witnessed from Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague.
You are required to complete at
least two of the following 3 page papers for the class. If
you complete all three, the highest two out of the three assignment grades will
count towards your final average, and the third assignment grade will add up to
5% extra credit to your final average.
Assignment # 2:
Read Art Spiegelman's Maus: A Survivor's
Tale, Parts I and II, and then answer the following questions in a well
written essay: What was life like for Vladek Spiegelman and other Jews during
the Nazi occupation of Poland? Once he was sent there, how did he manage
to survive in Auschwitz? Finally, how did Vladek's experiences during the
holocaust seem to affect his relationship with his son, the author and artist of
Maus? Due 3/31
Assignment # 3: Read Timothy Garton Ash's The Magic Lantern, and then answer the following questions in a well written essay: According to the author's account, why did Communist rule collapse so easily, and with so little bloodshed in East Central Europe? How were the revolutions of 1989 similar in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany and Hungary? How were they different? Due 4/28
Formatting: Each essay should be 3 double spaced pages, using 12 point Times New Roman font and one inch margins. You must present your arguments in clear, concise, and grammatical English. Make sure to proofread and use spell-check. All essays must be word processed.
Citations: You MUST include a formal
citation any time you refer to a specific passage in a text, even if you do not
quote the text directly. The most commonly accepted method for citing
sources is the MLA's
format for in text citations. According to this format, at the end of
passage drawn from a specific part of a source, you insert a set a parentheses
containing the author's last name and the page number or numbers: (Name
#). Consult the previous web link for more detailed information on MLA
style citations.
Late Work: Late
work will penalized one letter grade per class session late. Assignments
more than 30 days late no longer will be accepted at all.
Examples of academic
dishonesty include, but are not limited to using "cheat notes" during an exam,
copying answers from another student, allowing another student to copy your
work, either inside or outside of class; using work from previous semesters; and
copying from a book, magazine, Internet site, or brochure when writing a paper
without giving credit to the source.
Faculty members may
impose grade sanctions for violations of academic ethics, normally ranging from
a minimum of F on the assignment in which the dishonesty occurred to a maximum
of an F in the course. Faculty members may choose to impose different sanctions.
Faculty members also have the prerogative of referring a case to the campus Dean
of Student Development with a specific request that the dean consider imposing
additional sanctions.
Classroom
Conduct: The College seeks to provide an environment where
discussion and expression of all views relevant to the subject matter of the
class are recognized as necessary to the educational process. However, students
do not have the right to interfere with the freedom of the faculty to teach or
the rights of other students to learn.
Faculty set the
standards of behavior that are acceptable in the classroom by announcing these
standards early in the semester. It is your responsibility to pay attention when
these standards are outlined; missing a class period does not absolve you of
this responsibility. Following these standards will contribute to a respectful
learning environment for everyone in the classroom. Examples of acceptable
behavior include, but are not limited to turning pagers and cell phones off or
to "silent mode" during class and entering class quietly if one is
late.
Support
Services: A student who may need an accommodation due to a
disability should make an appointment to see the class instructor during office
hours. A letter from Disability Support Services (DSS) authorizing your
accommodations will be needed. The DSS office is located in CAB 122 and may be
called on 301-279- 5058 or TTY 301-294-9672.
Cancellation
of Classes:
If inclement weather forces the College
or any campus or College facility to suspend classes or close, public service
announcements will be provided to local radio and television stations as early
as possible. If you have checked several stations and have not heard an
announcement, you may go to the College Web site or call the number listed below
for closing information.
You will be able to determine the College's
operational status during inclement weather or other emergencies through the
following means:
Television --
NBC Channel 4/WRC; Fox Channel 5/WTTG; Channel 7/WJLA; Channel 9/WUSA; and cable
News Channel 8. In the
Radio -- WTOP
(1500 AM and 107.7 FM), WMAL (630 AM), WAMU (88.5 FM). In the
If the campus or College closes, class will be
cancelled. It is your responsibility to find out whether class is cancelled. The
content of subsequent class sessions or other course requirements may be changed
to accommodate the loss of one or more class sessions. Your instructor will
notify the class of any changes to the course.
Emergency Evacuation: Each student
should study the emergency evacuation procedures for the campus
buildings. These procedures can be found on the front page of
MY MC.
Weekly Lecture Topics and
Week
1. January 27. Introduction; The Dominance of the West
Discussion Readings:
Week 2. February 3. Industrialization, and the Rise of
Modern Ideologies
Readings: Duiker,
Chapter 1
Discussion Readings: J. S.
Mill, excepts from On
Liberty
Discussion
Readings: Lenin,
excerpts from What is to Be
Done?
Discussion Readings: Art Spiegelman, Maus (all)
Assignment # 2 Due 3/31
Week 10. April 7.
The Beginning of the Cold
War
Discussion
Readings: George Marshall, "The
Marshall Plan" (1947)
Week 11. April 14. The Cold War Around the
World
Discussion
Readings: Fidel Castro, Speech of May1,
1960; John Kennedy's Inaugural
Address (1961)
Week 12. April 21. The
U.S. in Vietnam and Dissent Behind the Iron Curtain
Readings: Duiker,
Chapters 12 and 13
Discussion Readings: Vietnamese
Declaration of Independence, 1945
Week 13. April 28. The
Readings
Discussion Readings: Ronald Reagan’s “Evil Empire
Speech” ; TImothy Garton Ash, The Magic
Lantern (All)
Assignment #3 Due 4/28
Week
14. May
5. We will use this week to review for the final and to
make up certain subjects if we have gotten behind (as we undoubtedly will)
during the semester.
Readings: Duiker, Chapter 16