Teaching Philosophy
Much
like my research, my teaching focuses on building critiques of historical
formations that we often take as given and natural. My goal is for students to
understand historical narratives and the ways that they are deployed in order
to form their own historical critiques. I focus my assignments on developing
students’ ability to construct such a critique through close readings of
primary and secondary sources. I aim to get students to consider the historical
roots of the ideas they hold about the topic of the course and think about what
historical contingencies shaped the framework of their own knowledge and
beliefs on the subject. My greatest strength as a teacher is my ability to
foster an open classroom dynamic in which students feel free to ask questions
about the material. As the historical subfields I teach are often remote from
students’ personal experiences, I believe it is particularly important to
create an environment in which students can grapple with difficult concepts. Students
have praised me for my willingness to allow them to explore the important
issues of my courses in a relaxed, yet rigorous, environment and for my
"masterful" management of course discussions of complex ideas. I want
students to explore and critique important ideas in historical scholarship in
ways that make sense to them, and believe in giving them space to explore
particular topics covered by the larger umbrella of a course according to their
own interests.
I
focus my assignments on developing students’ ability to construct such a
critique through close readings of primary and secondary sources. In my course
on revolutionary Europe course, I discussed the ways in which the
historiography of previous revolutions became an important factor in many 19th-
and 20th-century European revolutions. I then asked students to
build arguments about the ways in which revolutionary histories became part of
later political claims. I aim to get students to consider the historical roots
of the ideas they hold about the topic of the course and think about what
historical contingencies shaped the framework of their own knowledge and
beliefs on the subject. My methods of assessing student learning are based
around thesis-driven writing assignments, which I try to build from the early
weeks of a course. My writing instruction centers on developing students’
ability to construct an argument based on source material. I evaluate students
based on their ability to produce written and oral arguments on the subject of
the course that reconsiders the knowledge with which they entered the course.
In my European History through Film course, I ask students to develop an
in-depth critique of a history film of their choosing by examining both the
context in which it was made and the historical narrative it purports to tell.
My students explored historiography, a topic they normally avoid in their
writing, by looking at the ways in which people have deployed historical
narratives for political or artistic purposes, media students feel more
comfortable critiquing than academic historical works. Students in both classes
wrote penetrating critiques of historical works, not only exploring the
weaknesses of a particular argument, but also why the historian/filmmaker
created such an argument in their historical context. In my gender and world
societies course, I asked students to evaluate and contextualize assumptions
and arguments about gender in a historical memoir of their choosing in order to
better understand the ways in which a historical actor interacted with and
shaped the construction of gender in their time.
In
sum, my pedagogy is dedicated to creating an environment in which students can
comfortably explore the ways in which history is a living creation and part of
ongoing cultural and political debates. I dedicate my classes to helping
students understand the ways in which historians create and deploy the
histories they write and creating ways for students to enter historical
conversations on terms that they feel they can control.
List of courses taught
As instructor of
record:
Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, Intermediate Writing Seminar: Europe, Gender and World Societies, Turning Points in Human
History: Modern World, Revolutionary Europe, European History through Film,
Modern Europe
As teaching assistant:
Confronting Empire, War and Peace, Superpower
America, World War Two
Sample syllabi
History
3342 – Revolutionary Europe
Temple
University
Spring
2014
Course
overview
This course treats major social,
political, and cultural revolutions that occurred in Europe during the modern
period (1789-1989). By addressing specific revolutions, the class will attempt
to discern some patterns in the causes and occurrence of revolutionary events.
More precisely, the course will consider historical factors related to the
outbreak of revolutions due to rural economics, industrial transformation,
class conflict, commercial changes, and ideological influence prior to or
during revolutionary periods. Specific topics include: the French Revolution;
the Industrial Revolution and Revolutions of 1848; the French Commune; the
Russian Revolution, and the social and cultural revolutions of the 30's.
Student
learning objectives
compare varied interpretations of historical events
collect and organize historical data
employ primary and secondary sources to construct an historical argument
write with clarity and precision
use standard methods of citation
refine command of library and Internet research skills
Required
texts
The following books (except the
Sperber book) are available at the Temple bookstore (some are available free
online and print versions of all of them can probably be found for cheaper
prices online):
William Doyle, The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2001). Available as free e-book through Temple University
Libraries.
Sheila Fitzpatrick, The Russian Revolution (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2008).
Emma Griffin, A Short History of the British Industrial Revolution (New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).
Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolution 1789-1848 (New York: Vintage, 1996).
Christopher Isherwood, Goodbye to Berlin (New York: New
Directions, 2012). Or any other edition.
Karl Marx, The Civil War in France (New York: International Publishers, 1989).
Or any other edition. Available free online at:
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1871/civil-war-france/index.htm.
Jonathan Sperber, The European Revolutions, 1848-1851
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005). Available as free e-book through
Temple University Libraries.
Assignments
and grading breakdown
Your grade in this class will be
made up of the four following elements:
-
25% Book review (due 20 February). This assignment will
ask you to assess the argument of a historical monograph - its thesis, sources,
methods, strengths, and weaknesses - in 3-4 pages
-
25% Historiography (due 20 March). This assignment will
ask you to compare different historians' interpretations of the same historical
event. You will choose a topic and find books and research articles about it,
and then assess the arguments of each in comparison with one another in 5-7
pages.
-
25% Research paper (due 1 May). This assignment asks
you to construct your own historical argument based on historical evidence. You
will choose a topic related to one of the five revolutions we cover in the
class, find sources related to it, and argue your own thesis about that topic
over 12-15 pages.
-
25% Attendance and participation. Attendance means more
than sitting silently in a chair for an hour and twenty minutes. This class
depends on you doing the assigned reading and discussing it with your
classmates and me. You will be graded on your preparation for class and your
involvement in class discussions.
Schedule
This class will operate primarily
as a seminar. We will begin class each day with a discussion of that day's
reading.
This schedule is provisional and
subject to change.
23 January – Introduction, and
the Ancien Regime
28 January – The Causes of the
French Revolution
Reading: Doyle, Chapters 1 and 2
Hobsbawm, Introduction, Chapters
1 and 3
Cahiers of 1789. http://history.hanover.edu/texts/cahiers1.html
30 January – The Constituent
Assembly
Reading: Doyle, Chapter 3
Hobsbawm, Chapter 8
Abbé Sieyes, What is the Third
Estate. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/sieyes.asp
The Declaration of the Rights of
Man. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/rightsof.asp
4 February – The Convention
Reading: Doyle, Chapter 4
Hobsbawm, Chapter 12
Maximilian Robespierre, The Cult
of the Supreme Being. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/robespierre-supreme.asp
Maximilian
Robespierre. Justification
of the Use of Terror. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/robespierre-terror.asp
6 February – The Directory and
Napoleon
Reading: Doyle, Chapter 5
Hobsbawm, Chapters 4 and 10
Code Napoléon, Title 5, Chapter
1. http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/government/code/book3/c_title05.html#section1
11 February – The French
Revolution and the Rest of Europe
Reading: Doyle, Chapter 6
Hobsbawm, Chapters 5, 6, and 7
Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Address
to the German Nation. http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/mod/1807fichte1.asp
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the
Revolution in France. http://web.archive.org/web/19981206201151/http://pluto.clinch.edu/history/wciv2/civ2ref/burke.html
13 February – The Origins of the
Industrial Revolution
Reading: Hobsbawm, Chapter 2
Griffin, Introduction and Chapter
1
18 February – Revolution in Production
Reading: Hobsbawm, Chapters 9 and
11
Griffin, Chapters 3, 6, and 7
The Life of the Industrial Worker
in 19th-Century England. http://www.victorianweb.org/history/workers1.html
20 February – Social Revolution
BOOK REVIEW DUE
Reading: Hobsbawm, Chapters 13
and 14
Griffin, Chapters 4, 5, and 9
Benjamin Disraeli, Utilitarian
Follies. http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/mod/disraeli-utilitarianfollies.asp
25 February – Why Britain?
Reading: Hobsbawm, Chapter 15
Griffin, Chapter 8
Kenneth Pomeranz, "Political
Economy on the Eve of Industrialization: Europe, China, and the Global
Conjuncture," American Historical
Review 107, no. 2 (April 2002): 425-446.
Max Weber, The Protestant Work
Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Chapter 2. http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/weber/protestant-ethic/ch02.htm
27 February – The Origins of the
Revolutions of 1848
Reading: Hobsbawm, Chapter 16
Sperber, Chapters 1 and 2
SPRING BREAK
11 March – Outbreak of
Revolution, 1848
Reading: Sperber, Chapter 3
Presentation of a Committee of
the Hungarian Diet to Ferdinand. http://www.h-net.org/~habsweb/sourcetexts/hungdiet.html
Karl Marx, The Class Struggles in
France, Chapter 1. http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1850/class-struggles-france/ch01.htm
13 March – Revolutionary
Experience, 1848-1849
Reading: Sperber, Chapter 4
Alphonse de Lamartine, History of
the Revolution of 1848 in France. http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/mod/1848lamartine.asp
18 March – The Revolutions
Collapse, 1849-1851
Reading: Sperber, Chapters 5 and
6
Alexis de Tocqueville,
Recollections, Chapter 9. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/37892/37892-h/37892-h.htm#CHAPTER_IXa
Karl Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire
of Louis Bonaparte, Chapter 1. http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1852/18th-brumaire/ch01.htm
20 March – The Franco-Prussian War
BOOK REVIEW DUE
Reading: Marx, The Civil War in France, Introduction,
the Beginning of the Franco-Prussian War, Prussian Occupation of France, France
Capitulates & the Government of Thiers
25 March – The Origins of the
Commune
Reading: Marx, The Civil War in France, Paris Workers'
Revolution and Thiers' Revolutionary Massacres, The Paris Commune
John Leighton, One Day under the
Paris Commune. http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/mod/1871leighton-commune.asp
Manifesto of the Paris Commune. http://www.marxists.org/history/france/paris-commune/documents/manifesto.htm
27 March – Radical Politics in
the Commune and the Defeat of the Commune
Reading: Mikhail Bakunin, The
Paris Commune and the Idea of the State. http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/bakunin/works/1871/paris-commune.htm
Vladimir Lenin, State and
Revolution. http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/ch03.htm
Marx, The Civil War in France, The Fall of Paris
1 April – The Origins of the
Russian Revolution
Reading: Fitzpatrick,
Introduction and Chapter 1
3 April – The Events of 1917
Reading: Fitzpatrick, Chapter 2
Declaration of the Rights of the
Toiling and Exploited Peoples. http://www.dur.ac.uk/a.k.harrington/decright.html
8 April – Civil War in Russia
Reading: Fitzpatrick, Chapter 3
Organization of an Extraordinary
Commission to Fight Counter-Revolution. http://www.dur.ac.uk/a.k.harrington/cheka.html
Leon Trotsky, The History of the
Russian Revolution, Chapter 36 – The Bolsheviks and the Soviets. http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1930/hrr/ch36.htm
10 April – Forming the Soviet
State
Reading: Fitzpatrick, Chapters 4,
5, and 6
Alexandra Kollontai, Communism
and the Family. http://www.marxists.org/archive/kollonta/1920/communism-family.htm
Joseph Stalin, Trotskyism or
Leninism? http://marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1924/11_19.htm#s3
15 April – Developments in
Interwar Europe
Reading: Isherwood, A Berlin
Diary (Autumn 1930), Sally Bowles
Rabindranath Tagore and H.G.
Wells. http://www.schoolofwisdom.com/history/teachers/rabindranath-tagore/tagore-and-hg-wells/
17 April – 1930s culture
Reading: Isherwood, On Ruegen
Island, The Nowaks
Katie Sutton, "We Too
Deserve a Place in the Sun': The Politics of Transvestite Identity in Weimar
Germany," German Studies Review 35,
no. 2 (May 2012): 335-354.
22 April – Peer review day in
class
24 April – 1930s society and the
rise of Nazism
Reading: Isherwood, The Landauers
and A Berlin Diary (1932-33)
Rüdiger Graf, "Either-Or:
The Narrative of 'Crisis' in Weimar Germany and in Historiography," Central European History 43, no. 4
(December 2010): 592-615.
1 May – RESEARCH PAPER DUE
History
2411 – Film in European History
Temple
University
Fall
2014
Course
overview
The renowned film historian Anton
Kaes once wrote: "Historical films interpret national history for the
broad public and thus produce, organize, and, to a large degree, homogenize
public memory. Surpassing schools and universities, film, and television have
become the most effective (and paradoxically least acknowledged) institutional
vehicles for shaping historical consciousness." This course seeks to right
that imbalance by acknowledging and studying the way that films (and other
visual media) teach us about history. Using prominent American and European
films (primarily), students will learn to critically analyze visual media,
examining them for content, bias, and interpretation. The course will cover key
episodes in modern European history and will provide historical
background/context for the period necessary to evaluate and study films as
historical documents.
Student
learning objectives
·
critically examining written materials and
historical sources
·
understanding primary sources in their
historical context
·
analysis of multiple historical causal factors
·
identification and comprehension of historical
arguments
·
formulating analytical questions about
historical events
·
demonstrating the ability to write an analytical
historical essay
·
developing speaking and presentation skills
·
gaining the ability to use the library and other
technologically appropriate sources for research
Required
texts
Timothy Corrigan, Short Guide to Writing about Film, 9th
ed. (London: Longman, 2014). Available at Temple bookstore.
Nick Hodgin, Screening the East: Heimat, Memory and Nostalgia in German Film since
1989 (New York: Berghahn Books, 2011).
Robert O. Paxton, The Anatomy of Fascism (New York: Random
House, 2005). Available at Temple bookstore.
Other course readings will be
available through course reserves or the library website.
Assignments
and grading breakdown
Your grade will be made up of the
following elements:
-
Five short reaction essays,
each of which should reflect on how a particular film or set of films reflects
historical reality and how it reflects the concerns of the time it was made.
Each essay should be 600-800 words. One of these essays will be based on your
classmates' presentations. 50 points each.
-
One oral presentation worth a
potential 100 points.
Each student will
present the historical, social, economic context of a particular moment or
event in European history as illustrated in a film (using only excerpts)
individually selected by the presenter with the instructor’s approval. This
presentation will constitute the foundation of your final paper. The
presentation will be graded by class participants and the instructor. The
presentation and discussions will take up exactly 40 minutes.
-
One paper worth a potential
200 points. The paper should be between 7 and 10 pages,
double-spaced, and must conform to the Chicago-style, footnote format. You must
incorporate the assigned readings and at least three outside books, in addition
to articles in refereed journals.
-
Class participation and engagement. We will discuss the
films and readings at the end of each unit. You are responsible for being
prepared for these discussions and meaningfully contributing to them. 100
points.
Late assignments will be penalized 10% for every day
they are late.
Schedule
This schedule is provisional and
subject to change.
25 August – Introduction
Unit 1: Historical Films as
Socialist Critique
27 August – begin Miklós Jancsó, The Round-Up (Hungary, 1965)
3 September – finish Jancsó
Reading: Corrigan, chapters 1 and
2
Robert Bideleux, A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and
Change (London: Routledge, 2007), chapters 30 and 31. Available on course
reserves through blackboard.
8 September – Sergei Eisenstein, The Battleship Potemkin (USSR, 1925)
Reading: Sergei Eisenstein,
"Constanţa (Whither 'The Battleship Potemkin')," in Selections, ed. Richard Taylor (London:
I.B. Tauris, 2010).
http://lib.myilibrary.com.libproxy.temple.edu/Open.aspx?id=288194&loc=67
10 September – begin Andrzej
Wajda, Danton (Poland/France, 1983)
Reading: Corrigan, chapters 3 and
4
Bideleux, chapters 32 and 33
15 September – finish Wajda
17 September – discussion
FIRST REFLECTION ESSAY DUE
Reading: Corrigan, chapters 5 and
6
Unit 2: Trying to Understand the
Origins of Fascism
22 September – begin begin
Bernardo Bertolucci, The Conformist (Italy/France/West
Germany, 1970)
Reading: Benito Mussolini,
"What Is Fascism?,"
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/mussolini-fascism.asp
Paxton, chapters 1-4
24 September – finish Bertolucci
29 September – begin Michael
Haneke, The White Ribbon (Germany/Austria/France/Italy,
2009)
Reading: Paxton, chapters 5-8
1 October – finish Haneke
6 October – discussion
SECOND REFLECTION ESSAY DUE
Unit 3: The History of West
Germany
8 October – begin Rainer Werner
Fassbinder, The Marriage of Maria Braun
(West Germany, 1979)
Reading: Martin Kitchen, A History of Modern Germany: 1800 to the
Present (Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell, 2006), chapters 14 and 15. http://lib.myilibrary.com.libproxy.temple.edu/ProductDetail.aspx?id=317843
13 October – finish Fassbinder
15 October – begin Uli Edel, The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany/France/Czech
Republic, 2008)
Reading: Kitchen, chapters 16 and
17
Alan Rosenfeld, "Anarchist
Amazons': The Gendering of Radicalism in 1970s West Germany," Contemporary European History 19, no. 4
(November 2010): 351-374.
20 October – finish Edel
22 October – discussion
THIRD REFLECTION ESSAY DUE
Unit 4: The History of East
Germany
27 October – begin Wolfgang
Becker, Good Bye Lenin! (Germany,
2003)
Reading: Hodgin, chapters 1-3
29 October – finish Becker
3 November – begin Florian
Henckel von Donnersmarck, The Lives of
Others (Germany, 2006)
Reading: Hodgin, chapters 4-6
5 November – finish Donnersmarck
10 November – discussion
FOURTH REFLECTION ESSAY DUE
12 November – presentations
17 November – presentations
19 November – presentations
FIFTH REFLECTION ESSAY DUE
1 December – presentations
3 December – presentations
8 December – presentations
FINAL PAPER DUE
History 0824 – Gender and World Societies
Temple University
Spring 2013
Course overview
Learn about the history of feminine and masculine gender roles from comparative and international perspectives. Using case studies from Ancient Greece, Medieval Europe, West Africa, Victorian Britain, Modern Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, and/or Latin America, we will explore certain themes -The State, The Sacred, Work, The Family, The Body and Sexuality, Modern Revolutionary Movements - to investigate how gender and gender roles have changed over time, and their significance today. Readings include primary sources written both by men and by women, secondary sources, novels, and films.
NOTE: This course fulfills the World Society (GG) requirement for students under GenEd and International Studies (IS) for students under Core. Duplicate Credit Warning: Students may take only one of the following courses for credit; all other instances will be deducted from their credit totals: History 0824, 1708, C065, Women's Studies 0824, 1708, or C065.
Student learning objectives
The General Education program sets learning goals for World Society general education courses. At the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Understand the influences (e.g political, social, historical, cultural, artistic, literary, geographic, economic) on world societies or processes (e.g. globalization) linking world societies;
- Access and analyze materials related to world societies and cultures;
- Develop observations and conclusions about selected themes in world societies and cultures;
- Construct interpretations using evidence and critical analysis; and
- Communicate and defend interpretations.
Methods of instruction
The primary means of instruction in this course will be:
· Lecture
· Large group discussion of course readings, lectures, and films
· Films and other non-print media
· Small group discussion of assignments
Required readings for the course (available on blackboard or through library website):
Additional primary source readings will be handed out in class weekly
Assignments
Your grade will be made up of the following elements:
Short assignment
|
15%
|
Final
|
25%
|
Book review
|
25%
|
Quizzes (5% each)
|
25%
|
Participation
|
10%
|
Grading breakdown
Each unexcused absence in excess of three will result in a 10% penalty toward one’s participation grade. Any student who has more than seven unexcused absences will fail the course.
Late assignments will be penalized 10% for every day 24-hour period after the meeting they are due during which they are not turned in. Ask for an extension early in the assignment period to avoid any penalties.
Schedule
This schedule is provisional and subject to change
Reading should be completed before the Tuesday meeting each week.
Week 1 (22&24 January) – Course introduction
Joan Scott, "Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis," American Historical Review 91, no. 5 (December 1986): 1053-1075.
Jeanne Boydston, "Gender as a Question of Historical Analysis," Gender& History 20 (2008): 558–583.
Week 2 (29&31 January) – What is gender history?
Sonya Rose, What is Gender History (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2010), chapters 1-5. (bookstore)
Judith Butler, Gender Trouble (London: Routledge, 1990), Introduction. (e-reserves)
Establishing Gender Norms in 19th-century Europe
Week 3 (5&7 February) – Inventing separate spheres
4 FEBRUARY – LAST DAY TO DROP A COURSE
Deborah Cohen, Household Gods: The British and their Possessions (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), 89-121. (e-reserves)
William Acton, "The Functions and Disorders of the Reproductive Organs," 103-137. Available through Google books: http://tinyurl.com/bal5lc3.
Mary Louise Roberts, "Gender, Consumption, and Commodity Culture." American Historical Review 103, no. 3 (1998): 817-44.
Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Psychopathia Sexualis, 255-281. Available through Google books: http://tinyurl.com/ammjowz.
Week 4 (12&14 February) – The modern man
Oscar Wilde trial transcripts – Wilde’s testimony at the following links: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/wilde/Wildelibeltranowcross.html
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/wilde/Wildelibelowfact.html
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/wilde/Crimwilde.html
Christopher Forth, The Dreyfus Affair and the Crisis of French Manhood (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006), 21-60. (e-reserves)
Seth Koven, Slumming: Sexual and Social Politics in Victorian London (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004), 259-275.
George Mosse, The Image of Man: The Creation of Modern Masculinity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 17-39. (e-reserves)
Week 5 (19&21 February) – Challenging the gender order
Judith Walkowitz, City of Dreadful Delight: Narratives of Sexual Danger in Late Victorian London (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), 41-80. (blackboard)
Florence Nightingale, Cassandra. (bookstore)
QUIZ 21 FEBRUARY
Imperialism and the Body
Week 6 (26&28 February) – Empire and adventure
Lora Wildenthal, "When Men Are Weak': The Imperial Feminism of Frieda von Bülow," Gender and History 10, no. 1 (April 1998): 53-77.
Rudyard Kipling, Kim, chapter 1-5, 14, 15. Available online through Project Gutenberg at: http://tinyurl.com/c9bovaw and other places.
Week 7 (5&7 March) – Race and gender
Ann Laura Stoler, Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002), 41-78. (blackboard)
Antoinette Burton, Burdens of History: British Feminists, Indian Women, and Imperial Culture 1865-1915 (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1994), 127-170.
SHORT ASSIGNMENT DUE 7 MARCH
QUIZ 7 MARCH
SPRING BREAK 10 MARCH – 17 MARCH
The Family under Fascism and Communism
Week 8 (19&21 March) – Fascism
Victoria de Grazia, How Fascism Ruled Women: Italy, 1922-1945 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992), 77-115.
Dagmar Herzog, Sex after Fascism: Memory and Morality in Twentieth-Century Germany (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005), 10-63.
Week 9 (26&28 March) – Communism
26 MARCH LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW FROM A COURSE
Clara Zetkin, "Lenin on the Women's Question." Available at: http://tinyurl.com/a2lwlba.
Alexandra Kollontai, "Communism and the Family." Available at: http://tinyurl.com/bhzl3bq.
Richard Stites, "Women and the Revolutionary Process in Russia," in Becoming Visible: Women in European History, edited by Renate Bridenthal, Claudia Koonz, and Susan Stuard (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998), 417-436. (e-reserves)
Wendy Goldman, "Women, Abortion, and the State," and Barbara Evans Clements, "Trends in Soviet Women's History," in Russia's Women: Accomodation, Resistance, Transformation, edited by Barbara Evans Clements, Barbara Alpern Engel, and Christine D. Worobec (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991), 243-278. (e-reserves)
QUIZ 28 MARCH
Sex and Postwar Europe
Week 10 (2&4 April) – Reestablishing order
Dagmar Herzog, Sex after Fascism: Memory and Morality in Twentieth-Century Germany (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005), 101-140.
Robert G. Moeller, Protecting Motherhood: Women and the Family in the Politics of Postwar West Germany (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), 38-75.
Week 11 (9&11 April) - Americanization
Uta Poiger, Jazz, Rock, and Rebels: Cold War Politics and American Culture in a Divided Germany (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2000, 168-205. (e-reserves)
Film: Werner Fassbinder, The Marriage of Maria Braun
QUIZ: 11 APRIL
Work in Colonial and Postcolonial Africa
Week 12 (16&18 April) – Women's work
1st half of Ousmane Sembène, God's Bits of Wood.
Luise White, The Comforts of Home: Prostitution in Colonial Nairobi (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990), 126-146. (e-reserves)
Lynn M. Thomas, "Love, Sex, and the Modern Girl in 1930s Southern Africa," in Love in Africa, edited by Jennifer Cole and Lynn M. Thomas (Chicago University of Chicago Press), 31-57.
Week 13 (23&25 April)
Stephan Miescher, Making Men in Ghana (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005), 84-114. (e-reserves)
Luise White, "Separating the Men from the Boys: Constructions of Gender, Sexuality, and Terrorism in Central Kenya, 1939-1959," The International Journal of African Historical Studies 23, no. 1 (1-25).
2nd half of Ousmane Sembène, God's Bits of Wood.
Film: Gini Reticker, Pray the Devil Back to Hell.
QUIZ 25 APRIL
Week 14 (30 April&2 May) – Review
BOOK REVIEW DUE 2 MAY
FINAL 14 MAY
Summary of Teaching Evaluations
History
2411: European History through Film
Fall
2014
Me
|
Department average
|
|
I came well prepared for class
|
4.5
|
4.1
|
The instructor clearly
explained the educational objectives of this course
|
4.4
|
4.3
|
The instructor was well
organized and prepared for class
|
4.3
|
4.3
|
The instructor was
conscientious in meeting class and office hour responsibilities
|
4.4
|
4.4
|
The instructor promoted a
classroom atmosphere in which I felt free to ask questions
|
4.3
|
4.3
|
The instructor provided useful
feedback about exams, projects, and assignments
|
4.1
|
4.1
|
So far, the instructor has
applied grading policies fairly
|
4.4
|
4.3
|
The instructor taught this
course well
|
4.1
|
4.2
|
The course content was
consistent with the educational objectives of this course
|
4.5
|
4.4
|
The course increased my ability
to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view
|
4.3
|
4.2
|
I learned a great deal in this
course
|
4.3
|
4.3
|
"He was knowledgeable about
the subject matter and made us think critically about the films shown in
class."
"The professor did a fine
job of tying the assigned readings to the movies we watched. In addition, the
attention to detail in regards to historical context, not only concerning the
time period of the movies setting but also to when the movie was made, was
illuminating."
"the instructor received
personal feedback from his students regarding how the course could be improved
in the future, and took notes to boot."
History
3342: Revolutionary Europe
Spring 2014
Me
|
Department average
|
|
I came well prepared for class
|
4.0
|
4.1
|
The instructor clearly
explained the educational objectives of this course
|
4.2
|
4.3
|
The instructor was well
organized and prepared for class
|
4.7
|
4.4
|
The instructor was
conscientious in meeting class and office hour responsibilities
|
4.5
|
4.4
|
The instructor promoted a
classroom atmosphere in which I felt free to ask questions
|
4.8
|
4.3
|
The instructor provided useful
feedback about exams, projects, and assignments
|
4.8
|
4.1
|
So far, the instructor has
applied grading policies fairly
|
4.7
|
4.3
|
The instructor taught this
course well
|
4.8
|
4.3
|
The course content was
consistent with the educational objectives of this course
|
4.7
|
4.4
|
The course increased my ability
to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view
|
4.5
|
4.2
|
I learned a great deal in this
course
|
4.8
|
4.3
|
"The small classroom
discussions that opened up each class were helpful in both promoting a dialogue
as well as encouraging the class to do the readings."
"Strong environment for
learning"
"The class was very
discussion-oriented which allowed for various opinions and takes on the
information which was very informative. Prof. Unangst did a masterful job of
guiding discussions and choosing appropriate readings that were unique and
perfect for discussion."
History
2411: European History through Film
Spring
2014
Me
|
Department average
|
|
I came well prepared for class
|
3.2
|
4.1
|
The instructor clearly
explained the educational objectives of this course
|
3.8
|
4.3
|
The instructor was well
organized and prepared for class
|
4.6
|
4.4
|
The instructor was
conscientious in meeting class and office hour responsibilities
|
3.8
|
4.4
|
The instructor promoted a
classroom atmosphere in which I felt free to ask questions
|
4.6
|
4.3
|
The instructor provided useful
feedback about exams, projects, and assignments
|
3.8
|
4.1
|
So far, the instructor has
applied grading policies fairly
|
4.2
|
4.3
|
The instructor taught this
course well
|
3.8
|
4.3
|
The course content was
consistent with the educational objectives of this course
|
3.8
|
4.4
|
The course increased my ability
to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view
|
3.8
|
4.2
|
I learned a great deal in this
course
|
3.8
|
4.3
|
"Great professor. Great
course planning."
Sample Assignments
Final
Paper Assignment
History 2411
– European History through Film
DUE 8
DECEMBER
The renowned film historian Anton
Kaes once wrote: "Historical films interpret national history
for the broad public and thus
produce, organize, and, to a large degree, homogenize public memory. Surpassing
schools and universities, film, and television have become the most
effective (and paradoxically
least acknowledged) institutional vehicles for shaping historical
consciousness." Kaes tells
us to think critically about films as secondary sources for the ways in which
people understand historical events, equivalent to more traditional forms of
histories.
This assignment asks you to
critically analyze the film(s) on which you presented as secondary historical
sources. Your paper will explore the content, bias, and interpretation of the
film(s) in comparison to other interpretations. How do(es) the film(s) present
the events it depicts? How does that presentation differ from other historical
accounts (compare the film's presentation with that of historians)? How does
the filmmaker use history to create a message? How does the context in which
the film was made affect its content and form?
Your analysis should focus on
particular aspects of the film – you will not have space to discuss every
aspect of the film in any depth. Assume that your reader has seen the film (I
will have), so you do not need to spend time on summary. Choose the
scenes/aspects of the film that fit the argument you want to make about it as a
historical document.
To familiarize yourself with the
historical contexts of both the events in the film and the era in which the
film was made, you should find several scholarly sources through Temple's
libraries. Your paper should provide context for the film derived from your
sources. I am happy to assist you with finding sources if you would like help.
Your paper should run 7-10 pages,
double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins. You must cite
your sources as you use them and include a bibliography of the sources you use
at the end of your paper (your bibliography does not count as one of your 7-10
pages). It is due in class on 8 December.
Strong
|
Satisfactory
|
Unsatisfactory
|
|
Argument
(35%)
|
Clearly
stated, meaningful ideas expressed at appropriate points in the paper.
|
Paper
occasionally goes off topic. Thesis is too narrow/broad for a paper of this
length.
|
Paper
narrates the film more than it analyzes it as a historical source. Thesis is
not relevant.
|
Use
of Evidence (30%)
|
Ample,
well-chosen evidence supports points. Scholarship presented represents the
best available.
|
Some
use of well-chosen evidence but lacking in either quality or quantity
compared to an "outstanding" paper. Paper ignores significant
elements of evidence.
|
Essay
lacks relevant evidence. Paper does not have specific examples to support the
writer's argument. Evidence is missing.
|
Organization
(15%)
|
Clear,
logical organization. Well-crafted and concise introduction and conclusion.
Impeccable paragraph structure.
|
Lapses
in focus or coherence. Unclear topic sentences. Conclusion merely repeats
introduction.
|
Unclear
organization interferes with understanding. Failure to construct logical
paragraphs.
|
Citations
(10%)
|
Flawless
citations
|
A
few minor mistakes in citations.
|
Several
mistakes in citations.
|
Spelling
and Grammar (10%)
|
Zero
spelling or grammatical mistakes.
|
No
more than one or two spelling or grammatical mistakes. Obvious care in
proofreading.
|
Spelling
or grammatical errors interfere with understanding or flow of paper. Failure
to proofread.
|
Historiography
Assignment
History
3342 – Revolutionary Europe
Spring
2014
DUE 20
MARCH
We discussed the historiography of
the French Revolution in class. Historians of the Revolution produced
drastically different arguments about it based on their own beliefs and the
contexts in which they were writing. Scholars have attributed different weight
to different events in the French Revolution based on how ideas about the
"modern Europe" that the Revolution produced have changed over the
last 200 years. Different arguments about the Revolution's importance have
entailed different ideas about its purpose, its key actors, and even its
timeline.
The French Revolution is the most
blatant example of historiographical debate, but all historical events are
subject to such debate. When researching a topic, historians begin by exploring
what other scholars have written on it. They review the scholarly literature for
how other scholars have interpreted the course of events and what was important
to the process of historical change. This review of previous scholarship is
historiography, a sort of history of the history of a particular historical
event, not the event itself.
This assignment asks you to put
together your own historiography of an aspect (of your choosing) of one of the
revolutions of Europe's 19th or 20th century. How narrow
your topic is will depend on the revolution you choose and how much has been written
about it. You will read the relevant scholarship and construct your own
argument about what aspects of the revolution in question historians have
highlighted and why. You should of course familiarize yourself with the basic
course of events in the period, but you are looking at interpretations of facts
rather than providing your own narrative – assume your reader knows the basic
narrative of events.
Take some time in figuring out
your topic – this historiography can lay the groundwork for your final research
paper and will be the primary topic of your research for the rest of the
semester – you want to choose something you will not resent in two months'
time.
You should begin your work by
consulting the course books – most of them include a section of suggested
readings that can serve as an excellent starting point for finding books and
articles. The bibliographies of those books can then lead you on to other
sources. Take advantage of the library databases for book reviews, as well. Do
not just go on Google Books – you will find mostly books that are out of date
and not especially useful.
Your historiography should run
5-7 pages, double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font. Your sources should be
cited using the Chicago Manual of Style format. This assignment is due in class
on 20 MARCH.
Strong
|
Satisfactory
|
Unsatisfactory
|
|
Argument (30%)
|
Clearly stated, meaningful ideas expressed at appropriate points in
the paper. Historiography engages
with the books being reviewed and explores their arguments in depth.
|
Historiography goes off topic. Historiography explores the arguments
of the books, but sometimes superficially/includes too much narrative.
|
Historiography narrates events more than it analyzes the scholarship.
Historiography misses the books' arguments and the authors' evidence
|
Use of Evidence (35%)
|
Ample, well-chosen evidence supports points. Scholarship presented
represents the best available.
|
Some use of well-chosen evidence but lacking in either quality or
quantity compared to an "outstanding" paper. Paper ignores
significant segments of the historiography.
|
Essay lacks relevant evidence. Historiography does not have specific
examples to support the writer's critiques. Evidence is out of date/missing.
|
Organization (15%)
|
Clear, logical organization. Well-crafted and concise introduction
and conclusion. Impeccable paragraph structure.
|
Lapses in focus or coherence. Unclear topic sentences. Conclusion
merely repeats introduction.
|
Unclear organization interferes with understanding. Failure to
construct logical paragraphs.
|
Citations (10%)
|
Flawless citations
|
A few minor mistakes in citations.
|
Several mistakes in citations.
|
Spelling and Grammar (10%)
|
Zero spelling or grammatical mistakes.
|
No more than one or two spelling or grammatical mistakes. Obvious
care in proofreading.
|
Spelling or grammatical errors interfere with understanding or flow
of paper. Failure to proofread.
|
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