Course Discription

European Studies 2000 (History & Political Science 2350) Winter 2008 Prof. Steven Wolinetz and Prof. Osvaldo Croci ED1014 - Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:30-4:50 p.m.

Europe in the Twentieth Century

Europe is today a very different place than 100 years ago. Then, a period of optimism and progress gave way to turmoil bracketed by two world wars and the rise of some of the world’s most horrendous regimes. From this a new Europe, far less central in world politics, emerged. Exploring economy, society, and politics at different pointsin the twentieth century, the course examines the slow and painful transition from interstate competition, war, and destruction to cooperation, peace and prosperity. Taught by political scientists, the course does not attempta comprehensive narrative history, which is provided by the textbook. The lectures present instead a series of ‘snapshots’analyzing how, why and to what extent crucial transformations took place. Lectures and discussions are organized around a number of themes that run through the course. These include:

• The changing role of nationalism as a political force

• Changing conceptions of state: from modern to post-modern?

• How political elites built a new, or at least different, Europe

• The changing role of the state in social and economic life

• The changing nature of social and political cleavages

• Europe’s role in a globalizing world

The bookstore has been asked to order the following textbook:

Spencer M. Di Scala, Twentieth Century Europe: Politics, Society, Culture. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.

Most, but not all readings are from the Di Scala text. This and other materials will be on reserve. Please note that reserve materials will be listed under European Studies 2000. Students will be expected to complete assigned readings on schedule, attend class regularly, and participate in class discussions.

Evaluation

Tests (February 7th and March 20th) 20%

Midterm Exam (February 21st) 20%

Paper (due March 18th) 20%

Final Exam 40%

The website for the course is European Studies Lecture presentations will be posted on the website prior to the midterm and final examinations.

Office hours: Prof. Wolinetz, SN 2043, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:00 to 3:15 p.m. Prof. Croci, SN 2034, by appointment.

Tests, Papers and Grading

1. Tests. These tests (a combinations of multiple choices and identification of concepts and terms) are based on the material (both readings and lectures) covered from the first day of class until the day in which the tests are held, included.

2. Midterm and final exams. A good exam addresses the question(s) asked in a direct manner and provides a logical, coherent, and well-organized answer which makes connections to theory when necessary and uses relevant empirical evidence to back up the points it makes. The final examination will cover material from the entire course.

3. Paper: you will be asked to write a 2000-2500-word paper, due on March 18 at the beginning of class. Your papers will be based both on research and cogent analysis. Topics will be distributed shortly. Part of the exercise is organizing your time in order to meet deadlines. Hence, no extensions will be granted.

The grading of papers and exams will follow the following guidelines:

A: An excellent paper/exam that shows a thorough and superior understanding of the subject under discussion and displays significant insights. It makes precise and clear arguments and is thoroughly researched. Its organization is very logical and coherent. It makes all relevant connections to relevant literature and theory. It is written in perfect scholarly fashion, has no spelling, grammatical, or syntactic mistakes, and reads very smoothly.

B: A good paper/exam that shows a good understanding of the subject under discussion and displays at least some insights. It makes fairly clear and precise arguments and is adequately researched. Its organization is, for the most part, logical and coherent. It makes at least some connections to relevant literature and theory. It is written in less than perfect scholarly fashion, has no major or consistent spelling, grammatical, or syntactic mistakes, but does not always read very smoothly.

C: A satisfactory paper/exam that shows an understanding of some of the issues related to the subject under discussion but displays few insights. It attempts to make some arguments but they are not always too clear or precise and not entirely well researched. Its organization is not always logical or coherent. It makes few connections to relevant literature and theory. It is written in a rather informal manner and does not always read very smoothly. It does not, however, have any major or consistent spelling, grammatical, or syntactic mistakes.

D: A less than satisfactory paper/exam that shows a poor understanding of the issues related to the subject under discussion and displays no insights. It attempts to make some arguments but they are not clear or precise and are poorly researched. Its organization lacks logic and coherence. It hardly makes any connection to relevant literature and theory. It is written in an informal manner, may not read very smoothly, and may contain major or consistent spelling, grammatical, or syntactic mistakes.

F: An unsatisfactory or unacceptable paper/exam: there are no arguments or they are either unclear or very poorly developed. It is written in an informal manner and may present major or consistent spelling, grammatical, or syntactic mistakes. Also, the paper is not written on the topic requested or has been handed in past the deadline.

In writing your papers, avoid excessive quotations: you should quote only for emphasis or because your reader needs to know what another author has said. Papers which are little more than a string of quotations will receive low grades.

Expectations

Doing well in this course:

This is not a correspondence or web-based course; students are therefore expected to attend classes regularly (they will sign an attendance sheet) and participate in class discussion. The best form of contribution is one that demonstrates familiarity with the topic being discussed based at least on the assigned readings. In order to participate effectively, students should do all their readings before coming to class.

Deadlines, Extensions and Exemptions:

The Department of Political Science likes to treat its students as responsible adults. That means that you are responsible for meeting deadlines for dropping courses, submitting papers when they are due and taking tests and exams when they are scheduled. If there are extenuating circumstances and you have a legitimate documented excuse we will be happy to make adjustments as prescribed in university regulations and following a request submitted in written form and including all relevant documentation. For more information, see Department of Political Science Policies

Lecture Web Resources

Lectures: Jan. 15th & 17th

•The World War I Document Archive

•Trenches on the Web

•Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points

•The key points of the Versailles treaty

•J. M. Keynes: The economic consequences of the peace (excerpt)

Lectures: Feb. 12th & 14th

•German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

•Soviet Reaction to German Aggression

•Western Guarantee of Polish Independence

•Churchill’s "Blood and Toil" Speech

•Churchill’s Speech at Fulton, Missouri, March 5, 1946

•Truman’s Doctrine

•The Brezhnev 1968 Doctrine

Lectures: March 25th & 27th

•European Union

For a pintable version of the reading list click HERE.