Syllabus for History 2, last taught Spring 2004

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A principal goal of this course is to provide you with an overview of the history of European civilization from the French Revolution through the twentieth century. The course will help students understand the major political and social issues and cultural themes which have defined concepts of humanity and society in the Western world in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century.
A second, and equally important, goal is to develop student writing. This is a Writing Intensive course. The majority of your grade for this semester will be based upon your writing. Throughout the semester you will weekly reaction papers based upon the weeks reading (choose one or two sources a week that you find especially interesting). The reaction paper must be typed and more than one page in length. In order to attend a discussion class period you must bring a reaction paper with you, no paper means no attendance. You will also write three formal papers this semester. Each paper must be typed and about seven to eight pages long. All papers will be based upon the primary source readings assigned in the course; no external reading is required. We will dedicate class time to building your writing skills and you will re-write your first two papers. I will penalize late papers and late re-writes. Given the volume of writing expected of you this semester you cannot afford to fall behind. There will not be a midterm exam, the final exam will be a take-home cumulative exam due during finals week.
You must attend class and be prepared to discuss the topics of the day. If you miss more than 2 classes this semester your grade will be lowered. If you regularly arrive late to class your grade will be lowered.
When you submit papers and your final exam in this class the ideas and words in these essays must be your own. You must provide proper citations to credit other authors when you borrow their words and ideas, if you do not do so you are plagiarizing. If you plagiarize in this class you will receive an F for the class and your case will be turned over to the Dean’s Office for further action. I am serious about this. Do NOT plagiarize.

Grade distribution:
Karl Marx paper 20% Reaction papers 20%
Vera Brittain Paper 20% Final Exam 10%
Sebastian Hafter Paper 20% Class Participation 10%
Required Books:
Vera Brittain, A Testament of Youth: An Autobiographical Study of the Years 1900-1925. London: Gollancz, 1981.
Sebastian Haffner, Defying Hitler. New York: Picador, 2000.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto. NY: Penguin Books
Wiesner, Ruff and Wheeler, Discovering the Western Past. NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.Week One Introduction
1/21

Week Two The Industrial Transformation of Europe
1/26 Industrialization in England
1/28 Discussion
Readings Wiesner, Ruff & Wheeler, Chapter 6

Week Three The French Revolution
2/2 Revolution in France
2/4 Discussion
Readings Wiesner, Ruff & Wheeler, Chapter 5

Week Four Urbanization
2/9 1848 and the subsequent Rebuilding of Paris
2/11 Discussion
Readings Wiesner, Ruff & Wheeler, Chapter 8

Week Five Victorian England
2/17 Nineteenth-Century England
2/18 Discussion
Readings Wiesner, Ruff & Wheeler, Chapter 7
Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto

Week Six Nationalism
2/23 German and Italian Unification
2/25 Discussion
Readings Handout, Perry Rogers pages 208-220
Karl Marx Paper Due 2/25 in class

Week Seven The Age of Imperialism
3/1 Europe “Conquers” the Globe
3/3 Discussion
Readings Wiesner, Ruff & Wheeler, Chapter 9
Vera Brittain, A Testament of Youth Chapters 1-3


Week Eight The First World War
3/8 Carnage in the Trenches
3/10 Discussion
Readings Wiesner, Ruff & Wheeler, Chapter 11
Vera Brittain, A Testament of Youth Chapters 4-6

Week Nine The Russian Revolution
3/15 Revolution in Russia
3/17 Discussion (we will discuss Vera Brittain)
Readings Vera Brittain, A Testament of Youth Chapters 18-10

Week Ten The Interwar Years: The Rise of Fascism
3/22 The Rise of Hitler and Mussolini
3/24 Discussion
Readings Wiesner, Ruff & Wheeler, Chapter 13
Vera Brittain Paper Due 3/24 in class

Week Eleven The USSR
3/29 The USSR in the 1920s and 1930s
3/31 Discussion
Readings Handout, Perry Rogers pages 334-360

Week Twelve Spring Break

Week Thirteen The Second World War
4/12 War, Collaboration and Resistance
4/14 Discussion
Readings Sebastian Hafner, Defying Hitler read all

Week Fourteen The Holocaust
4/19 The Nazi “Final Solution”
4/21 Discussion
Readings Handout, Perry Rogers pages
Sebastian Hafner Paper Due 4/21 in class

Week Fifteen Post War Europe
4/26 Discussion
Readings Wiesner, Ruff & Wheeler, Chapter 14
4/28 Discussion
Readings Wiesner, Ruff & Wheeler, Chapter 15

Final Exam Take home essay exam due Wednesday 5 May before noon to the History Office