Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Destresser Dogs
In case the situation with the syllabus is driving you slightly crazy, here's a couple pictures to calm you: my two dogs Annie, who is yawning, and Charlie. They will be appearing every now and then...
First two sections 455
Again from Computer Hell Central, here are the first two assignments--good for the first two or three weeks--for 455. i PROMISE to get this situation fixed as soon as I get the new machine. I hope the demons in this one don't transfer to the newbie!
1. Europe before the apocalypse, l870-l9l4
Readings: Gilbert, Introduction + chapters 1-2; Thomas Hardy, "Channel Firing," Penguin Book of First World War Poetry.
Recommended readings: Vladimir Dedijer, The Road to Sarajevo. If you want to understand the mentality of the teenaged assassins of Franz Ferdinand, this is an essential read. They were the Al-Quaeda of their day, though necessarily more localized since they didn’t have modern communications, suitcase nukes or airplanes to hijack in their day.
Recommended film: Mayerling(l969), starring Catherine de Neuve. If not for Crown Prince Rudolf's suicide at the Mayerling hunting lodge in the early l880s, Franz Ferdinand would never have become heir to the Habsburg throne and Austria-Hungary's tragic last years might have turned out very differently.
2. Not your six-week wonder: the coming of global war, June -December l9l4.
Readings: Gilbert, chapters 3-6(l9l4); Penguin book, Anna Akhmatova, "July l9l4," Englund, 1-76, l9l4.
Recommended readings: Barbara Tuchman, The Guns of August. This is an impressive chronicle of how the powers basically stumbled into this conflict. President John F. Kennedy read it just prior to the Cuban Missle Crisis and was guided by some of its conclusions as he attempted to reach a resolution with Khrushchev in October l962.
Recommended website: The British Army in the Great War, www.1914-l9l8.net. A great and comprehensive site covering the British and dominion armies in World War I.
Remember, Great Britain was an empire and drew troops from all corners of the globe. India was particularly well represented. See an overview of their activity at www.king-emperor.com. There are also Irish, Australian, New Zealand, Newfoundland and Canadian sites aplenty. They are too numerous to list, but you can find them with a simple google search.
Tier III plus required books
Folks, computer hell is continuing here, I am deep in about the 7th circle, and so will surrender and get a new machine today. Meantime, here's the required books:
Martin Gilbert, The First World War(text)
The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry
Peter Englund, the Beauty and the Sorrow.
You can get Gilbert from Amazon or Powells or interlibrary loan in hard copy; the other two you have the option of getting for Kindle/Ipad/your tablet of choice.
Here's the garbled info for the tier III assignment:
Evaluation: History 455 is a tier III course. This means in part that you have to undertake a significant project covering one or more topics related to the course content and ideally reflecting a diversity of disciplines. This should reflect your interests and strengths, because it will require a lot of effort. You have two options: a bricks-and-mortar term paper, using a variety of sources, or a work using other forms, other media. This might be a website spotlighting an important aspect of the war, an oral presentation on someone you feel deserves more attention, a concert of relevant music if you are a musician, an illustrated talk on innovations in warfare. I particularly remember two presenters: the student who did a remarkable powerpoint covering the development of air warfare and airplanes in the war, and a talented musicianwho researched and presented a concert of Great War popular songs in which she played piano and her granddaughter sang. We even brought in seniors from the local assisted living facility for that!
Whatever you do, I want everyone in class to present this work, or a part of it, to the Student Liberal Arts symposium in December, because people do not know this war.
You have three weeks to think about it, after which you must submit to me a description of what you want to do and a preliminary list of sources.
A listing of possible subjects might include the following: the changing nature of warfare in the Great War, WMD in WWI, theory and practice of trench warfare, role of women in the war, propaganda, film and the Great War(then and now), commemoration, colonial or Dominion soldiers and the Great War, America’s impact on the war, the war on the American homefront, the making of new nations(Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Iraq), impact of the Russian revolution, accounting for and memorializing the missing, shell shock, “shot at dawn” cases, battlefield medicine and plastic surgery, the origins and history of the “unknown” soldier, poetry and poets in the Great War, Balfour declaration and the making of the postwar Middle East, the Armenian genocide(for example, how was this covered in America?)
Aside from this, we will have one midterm, in early October and another just before dead week. You will always know all the possible questions and items at least two weeks in advance; what you do not know is which ones will appear on the exam paper, so you should prepare everything.
Monday, August 20, 2012
History 569 assignment 1
September 10: Origins
Required reading: Michael Neiberg, Dance of the Furies; Norman Angell, “The Great Illusion” online http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Norman_Angell%27s_The_Great_Illusion
Reading from me: Joachim Remak, Sarajevo: Story of a Political Murder.
569 syllabus--class info
History 569: Great War
B. Farley/541-276-6962/baf007@gmail.com. I’m not at campus that often, because I live with health-challenged 86 and 90 year olds, but I have a massive communications empire at home and you should feel free to email any time.
Welcome to this term’s field course on the Great War. Whatever your area of specialization, you won’t be wasting your time getting to know this conflict “up close and personal” because it produced so many of the most consequential issues and problems associated with the 20th century and beyond. A partial list would include Communism in Russia, the modern middle East(fake states like Iraq and Syria, the Israel-Palestine conflict), the first genocide, industrial-strength slaughter and the cheapening of life, air power/tank warfare, the first shots in the Cold War(arguably)and(also arguably)the “worst peace treaty in modern history,” the Versailles settlements. That’’s just for starters.
Class M.O…This is my first grad course, so it will necessarily be a work in progress, but I am sure that our joint efforts will make it a success. Here’s what I am thinking about organization : I will lead off each session with some brief remarks about the subject in question and/or show some relevant video—there’s too much good stuff out there not to. Then, one of you will present the week’s book and we’ll discuss the issues in question. On occasion, I will pitch in and present a book that’s hard to find or outrageously expensive. In addition, I will present from time to time video clips or and/ commentary to stress a point that might not be obvious from the reading. The Great War is SUCH a rich vein…
I will come to Pullman at some point in the semester and have class with you there, preferably over some nice food. This will definitely be before the snow flies.
In terms of written assignments, you will choose two required books, any two, on which to write a 2-3 page review identifying the major issue(s)they treat and evaluating how the authors succeeded or failed. And each person will identify an area of interest to explore in depth—as in, read 5-10 books—and write a New York Review of Books-style essay reviewing the topic(s) in question and the ways in which the authors approach it. Some possible areas of inquiry include: the changing nature of warfare, WMD in WWI, gender/role of women, propaganda and film(then and now), commemoration, impact of colonial or Dominion soldiers, during and after the war, the war on the American homefront, the making of new nations(Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Iraq), impact of the Russian revolution, accounting for and memorializing the missing, shell shock, “shot at dawn” cases, battlefield medicine and plastic surgery, the origins and history of the “unknown” soldier, poetry and poets in the Great War, Balfour declaration and the making of the postwar Middle East, the Armenian genocide(for example, how was this covered in America?)
When you undertake this assignment, bear in mind that the centennial of this war is nearly upon us—August 2014 is less than two years away, so there will be a market for books, articles and briefer op-eds in the local newspapers. Why shouldn’t you get in on the action?
My goals for this term are, in random order: a) to explore with you some of the major issues and controversies of the Great War; b) to introduce the newest materials and media on this conflict, so that you can teach this phenomenon competently and well, if you dare; c) to inspire you to do some great work on this period, whether it’s a book, article or just personal enlightenment; d) to convince you of the virtues of visiting the battlefields of the Great War, so as to personalize and deepen your connection with this most fundamental event in modern history.
History 455 syllabus part I, basic info...
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