Lewis-Clark State College, Fall 2009
History 336: Imperialism and the Modern World

Prof. Eric Martin
310 Spalding Hall (Office Hours: TBA)
Phone: (208) 792-2281
Email: elmartin@lcsc.edu Website: www.lcsc.edu/elmartin

Course Description

This student-research oriented course will begin with a review of the role of “The New Imperialism” (1885 –1918) in world history, but will primarily focus on understanding imperialism through the eyes of intellectuals involved in the anti-colonial struggles in the third-world during the 20th century. The ideas of Mohandas Gandhi, Kwame Nkrumah, and Che Guevara will be utilized in detail. The ideas of Malcolm X, Ho Chi Minh, George Padmore and many others will also be examined. Why don’t we think of these people as philosophers? And what might we learn about the 21st century through an examination of their worldviews? Although some lecture will be provided, this course will be organized as a roundtable discussion of assigned readings. Each student is going to develop a supervised historical research project on such a thinker or a related aspect of the history of decolonization.

I assume that you are a Jr/Sr and have successfully completed, or are very near to completing, your General Education Core -- including ENG 102. HIST 102 is strongly recommended. Don't be afraid to build upon the knowledge you have gained in previous courses; utilize the relevant books and notes from previous classes.

Purpose/Goals
 By the end of the course, you should have a demonstrable understanding of the colonial problem of the twentih-century. More generally, as a Social Science course, History 336 should help you to do at least some of the following:

Required Readings

 


Suggested Readings


Grading and Evaluation

Grading Scale:

A = Reserved for those who consistently demonstrate sophisticated, content based historical thinking on paper and in class. An "A" is for the folks who went far above and beyond their duties as a student of history this semester.

B = Reserved for those who often demonstrate sophisticated, content based historical thinking on paper and in class. A "B" is for students who went above and beyond their duties as a student of history this semester.

C = You did what I asked and you did a decent job of it. A "C" is an honorable grade.

D = You either didn't do all I asked or you didn't do a very good job of it. But, you have met enough of the minimum requirements for this course that you should get college credit for a History course. However, if you are a Social Science major a grade of D means "Doesn't Count" and I suppose we will see each other again. Let's try to avoid this scenario.

F = You did not meet the minimum requirements (outlined in this document) to receive college level credit for this course . We probably don't need to dwell on what may have gone into earning this grade.

[The standard grading scale will be used in this course. 90 and above = A: Excellent Work; 80-89 = B: Above Average Work; 70-79 = C: Average Work; 60-69 = D: Below Average Work; 59 and below = F: Fail. +'s and -'s will also be used. - = _0-_2, + = _7-_9]


Course Requirements

I. Class Participation (25% of overall grade)

A. General Class Discussion: This course is heavily based on discussion and depends upon your active participation. Practically all of our discussions over the assigned readings this semester will be student led. The oral presentation of our ideas is an extremely important skill to develop, so come to class prepared to discuss the material. The better prepared you are the better our discussions will be. My main role in this course will be that of a facilitator. Although I will lecture at points, the responsibility for the direction and value of our class discussions will be shared equally among all members of the class.

For any individual reading be sure that you are able to: 1) identify/summarize the author's argument/main point(s); 2) identify & critique the evidence used to support this argument; 3) decide whether or not you were convinced; 4) explain your position; 5) support your position with additional source material; 6) connect the reading to other readings we have done or readings you have from other classes (this may be difficult at first); 7) identify issues the reading brought up that you would like to know more about.

If after reading an individual selection you find yourself unable to do any of the above, that is o.k. In those cases (and there may be many of them) be sure you come to class with some questions about the reading. You will be expected to have written notes on each reading from which you can refer to during our discussions.

B. Learning Through Discussion Outlines: To ensure the assigned readings are done Diligently, you will be assigned a number of Learning Through Discussion Outlines using the guidelines near the bottom of this syllabus.


II. Research Assignments, Projects, and Formal Presentations (50% of overall grade)


III. Formal Essay: Conclusions (25% of overall grade)

This essay will be evaluated as a medium length (6-8 pages) piece of formal analytical writing and will be based on a set of questions that we will develop as a group. You will be required to use our class materials plus your required additional reading to support your positions. You will receive more details on this assignment in the near future.

 

Attendance Policy: In addition to a reduced class participation grade, excessive unexcused absences will have a detrimental impact on your final grade. It is your responsibility to make arrangements if life prevents you from turning in an assignment on time or requires you to be away from class for an extended period. Get any missed notes or assignments from a classmate.

Please Turn off your cell phone for the duration of this class.

Academic Honesty: You are on your honor at all times and my presumption is that each of you is honest. However, the College does not tolerate academic dishonesty of any sort. All written work that you hand in -- essays and examinations -- must be exclusively your work. In addition to receiving a failing grade in this course, expect expulsion proceedings to begin if I have to waste my time gathering the evidence to prove you submitted work that was not yours. Contact me if you are not clear on this point.

FERPA Statement: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law designed to protect the privacy of student education records and is enforced by the U.S. Department of Education. In essence, the act states that 1) students must be permitted to inspect their own "education records" and 2) "school officials" may not disclose personally identifiable information about a student without written permission from the student. For further information on FERPA and LCSC's directory information policy, visit www.lcsc.edu/registrar or call 208-792-2223.

 


Schedule

Potential Guest Speakers: Chris Riggs TBA
Potential Films: The Motor Cycle Diaries TBA

Due to the nature of this course, it is all but certain that this schedule will need to be revised from time to time.

Week One 8/25-8/27

Readings:

(T) Introduction to class and each other.
(Th) HIST 102 Review: "The New Imperialism"

Pay special attention to:

Start thinking about a place/person you would like to learn more about over the course of this semester.


Week Two 9/1-9/3

Readings:

(T) HIST 102 Review: "Anti-imperialism/Decolonization"

Pay special attention to:

(Th) My Intro from LCSC Electronic Reserves(32p); TOC Political Thought from LCSC Electronic Reserves; Research Projects [will there be time to discuss?] What kind of feedback do i want on Intro?

 

Week Three 9/8-9/10

Readings:

(T) AE Biography: Gandhi
(Th) From Mohandas to Mahatma (51p)

 

Week Four 9/15-9/17

Readings:

(T) Hind Swaraj

(Th) Hind Swaraj

 

Week Five 9/22-9/24

Readings:

(T) Preliminary Conclusions; Research Project Discussion
(Th) Peoples Century: 1947; Africa: Nationalism


Week Six 9/29-10/1 (10/3 KRFP) Annotated Bibliography Due Tuesday (See course requirements above for details)

Readings:

(T) Chapter 4: From Francis to Kwame from LCSC Electronic Reserves
(Th)
Kwame Nkrumah "Towards Colonial Freedom" ( 1947/1962) from LCSC Electronic Reserve
Kwame Nkrumah "What I Mean by Positive Action" (1949) from LCSC Electronic Reserves
Kwame Nkrumah "Declaration to the Colonial peoples of the World" (1945) from LCSC Electronic Reserves

Week Seven 10/6-10/8 (10/9 - 10/10 NWWHA)

Readings:

(T)
Kwame Nkrumah "Continental government for Africa" from Africa Must Unite (1963) from LCSC Electronic Reserves
Kwame Nkrumah, Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism (1965)

 


Week Eight 10/13-10/15 Book Analysis #1 Due Tuesday: Scholarly Biography about your figure.

Readings:

(T) AE Biography: Che Guevara;
(Th) From Ernesto to Che (28p)

 

Week Nine 10/20-10/22 (40)

Readings:

(T)
EVERYBODY READ
Che Guevara, "Socialism and Man in Cuba" (1968)

PICK ONE
Che Guevara, "At the Afro-Asian Conference in Algeria" (1965)
Che Guevara, "Message to the Tricontinental" (1967

Develop an outline or an outline for discussion for Socialism and Man in Cuba and your selected reading.


(Th) TBA


Week Ten 10/27-10/29 Book Analysis #2 Due Tuesday: Autobiography or proxy source for an autobiography written by your figure.

Readings:

(T) Preliminary Conclusions; Research Project Discussion;
(Th)


Week Eleven 11/3-11/5 Primary Source Reader Project Due (TUES.)- You will submit a selected statement(s) by your figure that express key elements of their "worldview" / thought on the colonial problem, along with a brief annotation -- written by you -- introducing the source. A digital copy would also be appreciated.

(T) TBA
(Th) TBA

Week Twelve 11/10-11/12

(T) Student Presentations

1. Winnie Mandela (1936) -- South Africa
2. Che Guevara (1928) -- Argentina, Cuba
3. Che Guevara (1928)
4. Frantz Fanon (1925) -- Martinique, Algeria
5. Patrice Lumumba (1925) -- Congo


(Th) Student Presentations

1. Malcom X (1925) -- U.S.
2. Michael Manley (1924) -- Jamaica
3. Gamal Abdel Nassar (1918) -- Egypt
4. Kim Il Sung (1912) -- North Korea
5. Kwame Nkrumah (1909)

 

Week Thirteen 11/17-11/19

(T) Student Presentations

1. Colonialism in Malaysia
2. Leopold Senghor (1906) -- Senegal
3. Tito (1892) -- Yugoslavia
4. Ho Chi Minh (1890) -- Vietnam
5. Ho Chi Minh (1890) -- Vietnam

 

(Th) Student Presentations

1. Japanense Imperialism
2. Mohammed Mossedeq (1882) -- Iran
3. Mohammed Mossedeq (1882)
4. W.E.B. Dubois (1868) -- U.S.
5. Annie Basent (1847) -- England, India


November 23 - 27 Thanksgiving Break

Week Fourteen 12/1 - 12/3

(T) TBA

(Th) TBA



 

Week Fifteen 12/8-12/10

(T) TBA
(Th) Formal Essays Due

 

 

Learning Through Discussion - Outline Preparation

Step One: Definitions: List three to five words of which you are unsure. Look them up and write down the definitions of them.

Step Two: Main Topic Identification: Write down your version of a general statement of the author's message.

Step Three: Subtopic Identification: Identify three to four subtopics.

Step Four: Subtopic Explanation & Questions: Write a brief statement of the subject matter of each subtopic. Design a question that you would ask for each.

Step Five: Integration with Other Materials: Write down the meaning or usefulness the material has for understanding other concepts and materials. This step should include concrete concepts and evidence from the reading related to an outside reading, lecture, film or other material. The analysis should talk about the concept, the two sets of evidence, and the significance of the comparison.

Step Six: Application: Write down how the material can apply to your own life situation - past, present or future. What implications does the material hold for your own intellectual pursuits or interests?

Step Seven: Evaluation: Write down your reactions and evaluation of the assignment.

[Adapted from Hill, Wm . Fawcett, Learning Thru Discussion (Sage Publications, 1969)]

 

 

Guide for Writing Reviews

Dr. Steven G. Reinhardt

STOP!!! Study this guide carefully before reading your selection!! Remember that you are writing a formal book/article review, not a book report!

In writing a review, your primary focus is on analyzing the author, his/her book, and its argument. Therefore, describing/summarizing the content (i.e., the supporting evidence) is important but clearly a secondary focus. Keep the author in the foreground of your vision.

Remember that every book/article is a construct created by an author who has consciously (or perhaps unconsciously) made decisions about how best to organize his/her argument and then has marshaled evidence to support that argument. Your job is to "deconstruct" the author's work by breaking it into its component parts, examining their interconnections, and re-combining them to see if the overall argument and its supporting evidence "hold" or "work" together.

Therefore, the review should consist of the following four sections:

In the first section, state the author's purpose in writing the selection. What does he/she hope to accomplish or prove? What historical issue or controversy does the author address? What is the author's attitude/perspective on the subject matter? Does the author rely on any particular method or theoretical approach? What is the author's plan for the book. In other words, describe how the author organizes his/her material to buttress the overall argument.

The second section should describe the sources the author uses. Ask yourself what kind of work this is. Is it, for example, an interpretative essay that reflects on historiographical or theoretical issues, a survey that synthesizes secondary works produced by other researchers, or is it a monograph based on the author's original research into primary sources? Do not simply list or count the sources; instead, state their general nature, distinguishing between primary and secondary, manuscript and printed/published sources.

Section three will be the longest part, for here is where you break the work down into its component parts/chapters, summarize the author's argument in each of the components, and describe (briefly) the supporting evidence presented in each. End this section with a summary of the book's main conclusions.

In the fourth section, you should "fit" the selection into the course material read until that point. In other words, compare and contrast the book's argument and conclusions with the various class lectures, discussions, and required readings -- especially those assigned for the same week. Finally, you should now include your thoughts -- saying what you found especially interesting (or troubling).

 

NYT Coverage Project Due (sort of)- You will bring to class a copy of the NYT coverage of your selected figure and their movement (one year before/after independence) for me to keep and a one page written analysis of the coverage. Digital copies would also be appreciated.