Learning Outcomes:
If you devote time and energy to this class, you will acquire a perspective on history and an understanding of human activity, with specific reference to the United States’ foreign relations during the twentieth century. Here are six learning outcomes . . .
By the end of the semester, you will understand the following concepts:
1. The relationship between global capitalism, the modern nation-state, and U.S. empire. One of the course’s central arguments is about expansion. Unique among great powers, the United States has expanded by creating united states, i.e. legally sovereign governments that enforce comparable policies toward capital, property, and security. By December, you should understand this process and how it changed over time.
2. The relationship between U.S. power and resistance to U.S. power. The course’s second argument is that resistance to American worldmaking changed American worldmaking, over and over and over again. By December, you should understand the tension between elite liberal designs for the twentieth century and how those designs affected worldwide campaigns against capitalism, imperialism, and racism.
3. The importance of international context to U.S. world power. As we move from one chapter to the next, international context will shape how we discuss U.S. foreign relations. By December, you should possess opinions about the relative importance of structure and agency in the past (and the present).
Additionally, you will leave this course with the following analytical skills:
1. Thinking together. Ultimately, history happens in the space between individuals and their ideas, and no one thinks alone. By attending class, listening respectfully to others, and sharing your ideas, you’ll master the all-important art of thinking together.
2. Thinking with evidence. Historians use primary and secondary sources to create arguments called narrative. As the semester progresses, we will break down the craft of narrative-making by exploring the sources that support different stories.
3. Thinking in time. Deconstructing narratives will turn you into a top-flight critic, but that’s not enough. In addition to breaking-down narratives, we will commit our own interpretations to paper—that’s the purpose of historical thinking.
Indicative Module Content:
PART I: NEW WORLD
Week 1 When should this story begin?
Week 2 Did U.S. power have an ideology?
Week 3 Was Nazism anti-American?
PART II: FREE WORLD
Week 4 Did the United Nations consolidate U.S. power?
Week 5 Did the Free World repudiate the spirit of the UN?
Week 6 Was decolonization an expression of U.S. power?
Week 7 Was the Free World fated to unravel?
PART III: ONE WORLD
Week 8 Why did U.S. power bounce back after Vietnam?
Week 9 Were the 9/11 attacks inevitable?
Week 10 Can U.S. power bounce back from Iraq/Afghanistan?
PART IV: YOUR WORLD
Week 11 Is this story over?