home | many pasts | evidence | www.history | blackboard | reference
talking history | syllabi | students | teachers | puzzle | about us

History 1BB3: America and the World: The Twentieth Century

	Course Description	Required Reading	Grades
	Class Schedule	Contact Information	Tutorial Schedule
	Dr. Streeter's Homepage	McMaster History Dept.	WebCT

This course explores global dimensions of U.S. history since 1900. The content is organized chronologically as a series of case studies that illustrate the central themes and turning points in what some commentators have called the "American century." We will study the following questions: When, how and why did the United States become a global power? How has the political, economic, and cultural expansion of the United States influenced the rest of the world? What global developments have shaped the history of the United States in the twentieth century? Two multimedia lectures each week will build on the "background reading" for each week's tutorial. These lectures will define important terms, introduce central concepts, and establish the historical context for the case studies. Tutorials led by the teaching assistants will provide students with an opportunity to explore primary and secondary sources that illustrate the themes presented in lecture. The tutorials also introduce students to the discipline of history by emphasizing a different historical method or skill in each session. Students are expected to participate actively in the tutorials, which are staggered to follow the previous week's lectures. This course uses WebCT software for the management of grades and discussion lists. All students in this course must have a student id number, a proxy account number, and a MUSS userid.

---

Required Reading

The following required texts can be purchased at the Mezzanine in the Ivor Wynne Centre for the first two weeks of classes. After that, you have to go to the Tank in the basement of Togo Salmon Hall.

Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001), 3d edition

History 1BB3 course pack (contains all assigned readings and tutorial instructions)

Note that the first and last assigned readings are on-line texts available on the Internet.

---

Grades

 

Grades will reflect both the quality and the quantity of your written and oral contributions. Pay attention not just to what you say, but also to how you say it. For all your written work follow the advice in Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History. Assignments and class participation will be graded numerically using the 100 point system described in the McMaster Undergraduate Calendar. The Senate's Statement on Academic Ethics forbids plagiarism. Read Appendix A carefully. It is your responsibility to keep copies of all written work that you do for this course.

Very Important! The research essay should be handed in during tutorial on the appropriate date as specified in the tutorial information sheet. All late assignments should be turned into the history department essay box on the 6th floor in Chester New Hall (just to the left when you get off the elevator). You must supply a hard copy of your essay; we do not accept papers sent by e-mail or by fax. Late assignments will be penalized 2 points for every day that they are late. Weekends count as one day in this penalty scheme. All legitimate excuses for absences in tutorial and late assignments must be addressed in writing to your section leader. Legitimate absences include illness, family emergencies, or university sponsored sporting events. That you have a heavy course load this term, have decided to leave early for vacation, or have scheduled other activities such as work that conflict with tutorials DO NOT constitute acceptable excuses. You know now all the due dates for your assignments, so plan accordingly!

Please Note: University regulations prohibit us from leaving graded student assignments in a public place or with the secretary. If you want an assignment back you must arrange to get it from the teaching assistant in person (normally this is done in tutorial). When this course ends you will be able to see all of your graded assignments, including the final course grade, through WebCT until August 31, 2002. You are welcome to make an appointment to see how your final exam was graded, but the exam must remain in the custody of the history department.

---

Step 2: Logon to WebCT.

Step 3: Add History 1BB3 to myWebCT

---

The outline for each lecture can be obtained by clicking on the date of the lecture. These outlines include an internal link to the electronic slides (powerpoint) used in lecture. External links to websites provide more information, but you will have to attend lecture if you want to get the important details. You are encouraged to browse the entire syllabus in advance, but please be aware that the outlines and electronic slides are tentative until the actual lecture is given. The final version of each lecture will be posted within 24 hours of date it is given.

 

Please Note: Some annotations appear within lectures and tutorials.

Date	Lecture Topics	Reading Assignments
1. Introduction
Jan 8	Introduction	Howard Zinn, "From the Introduction to You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train"
Jan 9	Themes and Definitions	McMahon, "The Republic as Empire," 3-13
2. Opposition to U.S. Intervention in World War I
Jan 15	U.S. Entry into World War I	Small, "Woodrow Wilson and U.S. Intervention in World War I," 19-29
Jan 16	American Opposition to World War I
tutorial 0	orientation	Rampolla, v-19; coursepack, 1-2
3. Building an Empire in Latin America
Jan 22	Rise of US Hegemony in Latin America	Paterson, "Excerpts from Asia, Latin America and the Vagaries of Power," 47-64
Jan 23	Big Stick Diplomacy in Nicaragua
tutorial 1	Evaluating Primary Sources: Reconstructing Perspectives on U.S. Intervention in World War I	coursepack, 15-42
4. America and the Origins of the Great Depression
Jan 29	The Great Depression in America	Garraty, "Why It Happened," 93-107
Jan 30	Explaining the Great Depression
tutorial 2	Historiography: Changing Views of Sandino in Nicaragua	coursepack, 43-88
5. Women on the American Homefront in World War II
Feb 5	World War II: American Women on the Home Front	Chafe, Paradox of Change, 113-40
Feb 6	film: "Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter" (1980)
tutorial 3	The Problem of Historical Causation: Using the Mills Library to Investigate the Origins of the Great Depression Library Exercise Due	coursepack, 89-108
6. Japanese and American Propaganda in World War II
Feb 12	Origins of the Pacific War	Blum, V Was for Victory, 145-49
Feb 13	video: "Cartoons Go To War" (1995)
tutorial 4	Midterm Exam	coursepack, 109-40
Feb 18-22	WINTER RECESS
7. Americanization of Europe
Feb 26	America and the Cold War in Europe	Lundestad, "American Empire by Invitation,"167-71
Feb 27	Cultural Imperialism or Cultural Transfer?
tutorial 5	Deciphering Pictorial Evidence: American and Japanese Propaganda	coursepack, 141-62
8. American Popular Culture During the Cold War
Mar 5	video: "Atomic Cafe" (pt. 1)	Whitfield, "The Culture of Cold War," 210-13
Mar 6	video: "Atomic Cafe" (pt. 2)
tutorial 6	Understanding Causes and Consequences: The "Americanization" of Europe	coursepack, 163-202
9. American War Crimes in Vietnam
Mar 12	Overview of the Vietnam War	Olson and Roberts, My Lai, 225-37
Mar 13	Vietnam as "Technowar"
tutorial 7	History as Synthesis: The Cold War and Popular Culture in the 1950s	coursepack, 203-20
10. The Impact of Immigration on American Society
Mar 19	Immigration and Nativism in the 1920s	Barkan, "The Recent Era of Immigration to the United States, 1965 to the Present," 278-83
Mar 20	"New" Immigration After World War II
tutorial 8	Putting A Single Event Into Historical Context: Interpreting the My Lai Massacre	coursepack, 221-66
11. Decline of Empire
Mar 26	Deindustrialization	Kennedy, Rise and Fall of the Great Powers" 295-305
Mar 27	End of the Cold War	Paterson, "Superpower Decline and Hegemonic Survival," 307-313
tutorial 9	History "From The Bottom Up": Third World Immigration to the United States Research Essay Due	coursepack, 267-90
12. Globalization
Apr 2	Neoliberalism and NAFTA	Green, Silent Revolution, 339-42
Apr 3	Canada, the United States, and the Culture Wars
tutorial 10	Using Statistics to Determine Historical Trends: Is America an Empire in Decline?	coursepack, 291-334
13. Final Exam
Apr 9	The War on Terrorism	Chomsky, "The World After Sept. 11"
Apr 10	Course Evaluation and Discussion of the Final Exam
tutorial 11	Preparation for the Final Exam	Rampolla, 29-31, 43-56; coursepack, 335-37
TBA	Final Exam

---

Contact Information

Given the large number of students in this course, we ask that you make use of our office hours if at all possible. If you have a scheduled conflict that makes it impossible for you to see us at that time, then make an appointment. E-mail addresses provided below should be used only for emergencies. All correspondence in this course should take place through the WebCT mail program.

Teaching Assistant	e-mail address (for emergencies only; use WebCT for all your normal correspondence)	sections	office hours (or by appointment)	office phone 525-9140	office in CNH
Black, Lee-Anne	leeanneblack@hotmail.com	6, 8	Wed 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.	22042	432
Fortuna, Matthew	y2m25@yahoo.com	2, 7	Tue & Wed 1:30-2:20 p.m.	22042	431
Goranson, Brenda	rbgoranson@sympatico.ca	3, 5	Tue 1:30-2:20 p.m.	22042 24154	401
Lucier, Brandi	bllucier@sympatico.ca	4, 13	Tue 1:30-2:30 p.m.	22042	430
Miller, Jason	thecore@sympatico.ca	10, 11	Wed 1:30-2:20 p.m.	22042	432
Shan, Patrick	shanf@mcmaster.ca	9, 12	Mon 11:25 a.m.-12:25 p.m.	22042	437
Streeter, Dr.	streete@mcmail.ca		Wed 2-3:30 p.m.	24147	623

---

Tutorial Schedule

Check your student schedule to find your section number. The first date your tutorial meets can be found by consulting the class schedule. For example, suppose the registrar assigned you to section 3. Your first meeting would be on Tuesday, January 15 at 3:30 p.m. in KTH 107.

All students in section 1, as well as students with schedule conflicts or with no section number on their schedule, must go in person to the history department (Chester New Hall 619) to see Rita Maxwell, who will assign you to a new section. It is extremely important that you do this as soon as possible. DO NOT simply show up at any tutorial you feel like attending. No tutorial can hold more than 20 students, so we need to keep track of section sizes.

					Assignment Due Date
Section		meeting time	location	tutorial leader	Library Exercise	Midterm Exam	Research Essay
12	Monday	10:30 a.m.	Togo Salmon Hall B126	Patrick Shan	Feb 4	Feb 11	April 1
9	Monday	12:30 p.m.	Togo Salmon Hall B126	Patrick Shan	Feb 4	Feb 11	April 1
1	Monday	2:30 p.m.	University Hall 102	canceled	Feb 4	Feb 11	April 1
13	Tuesday	8:30 a.m.	Chester New Hall 223	Brandi Lucier	Feb 5	Feb 12	April 1
4	Tuesday	11:30 a.m.	University Hall 102	Brandi Lucier	Feb 5	Feb 12	April 1
3	Tuesday	3:30 p.m.	Kenneth Taylor Hall 107	Brenda Goranson	Feb 5	Feb 12	April 1
5	Tuesday	4:30 p.m.	Kenneth Taylor Hall 107	Brenda Goranson	Feb 5	Feb 12	April 1
6	Wednesday	8:30 a.m.	Kenneth Taylor Hall 107	Lee-Anne Black	Feb 6	Feb 13	April 1
8	Wednesday	9:30 a.m.	University Hall 102	Lee-Anne Black	Feb 6	Feb 13	April 1
10	Wednesday	2:30 p.m.	University Hall 101	Jason Miller	Feb 6	Feb 13	April 1
11	Wednesday	3:30 p.m.	Kenneth Tayor Hall 107	Jason Miller	Feb 6	Feb 13	April 1
2	Friday	3:30 p.m.	Kenneth Taylor Hall 107	Matthew Fortuna	Feb 8	Feb 15	April 1
7	Friday	2:30 p.m.	Togo Salmon Hall B126	Matthew Fortuna	Feb 8	Feb 15	April 1

End of 1BB3 Syllabus