STETSON UNIVERSITY



STETSON UNIVERSITY

Department of American Studies

Paul Jerome Croce Fall 2008

Office Hours: MW 10-12 and TuTh 11:30-1 AS 370-01 (CRN#: 3469)

Sampson 218 TuTh 1-2:15

822-7533; pcroce@stetston.edu Elizabeth 319

War and Peace in American Culture

a Special Topics course in American Studies and an Ethical Decision-Making Course (an E Course)

Goals of the Course

This course will examine American culture through a special focus on the practices and policies of American military ventures and bids for peace from Native American warfare through the Civil War, American imperial outreach, the hot and cold wars of the twentieth century, and the contemporary “War on Terror.” Because the territory is so vast, we will take a page from General Douglas MacArthur’s strategy when fighting the Japanese in the Second World War: we will island hop through topics rather than try to cover every military engagement and every peace movement. The course will emphasize the question of characteristically American encounters with organized violence and the ways the past informs the present. As a result, the last few weeks will be devoted to the contemporary American global reach with its foreign policy of the pre-emptive strike and the anti-war reaction that it has fostered. Through your work with the books and other texts, library research, films, class projects, lectures, and discussion, emphasis will be placed on your development of thinking, reading, writing, and speaking skills. Please fill out a card so I can begin to get to know your academic interests right away.

Course Requirements and Grading

--Attendance in class, involvement in discussions } 20% of final grade

and projects, and journal entries }

--One Research Report 20%

--Two Mid-Term Exams 20% each

--Final exam 20%

Extra Credit

-Attend campus and community events, write a journal-type entry, and report your experiences to class.

-Arrange to make a class presentation on your research report, especially if there is a connection to the day’s topic.

I assume academic honesty. It is simply part of life in a learning community. Anything less will be taken seriously at the department and university levels.

Students with special physical needs or learning disabilities should let me know and also contact Karen Cole in the Academic Resource Center, 101 CUB (822-7127; academicresources@stetson.edu).

There are many resources to help you do your best in this course and your whole college career. The Academic Resource Center can provide help with study skills, time management, and future planning; the Writing Center can help with writing, thinking, and study skills.

Because you have the privilege of enrolling in a small class with an emphasis on enough interaction to help ensure that everyone understands the material, your attendance and participation are crucial, during all the class time and especially with presentations. In the course, there are many forms of participation, including careful listening, reviewing notes after class, and of course questions and discussion in class. More than three unexcused absences will be reported to the administration and will put your grade in jeopardy.

The journal is a place for you to capture your thoughts, practice writing, and prepare for class; in class, it can also be a place to write notes for projects and group work. The entries can serve as first drafts for papers; they can allow you to test out ideas you are exploring; they can be a platform for comments in class or starting points for discussion. I encourage you to write, even if only briefly, every time you do some work for the class (before or after class, after reading, or after a project or film). In addition to this general advice, you are required to have one journal entry prepared almost every week. Write a paragraph on one typed page in response to the class material of that day’s material and recent work. Please turn in 10 journal entries, which will be counted toward you attendance grade.

For the research report, I am asking you to read a book on one of the topics that we are covering together in class, or a related topic. As part of your research, also examine material related to the subject of the book, in particular, with some exceptions, at least one of each of these: book review of your book, encyclopedia entry, scholarly journal article, government documents, web pages, and audio or visual material. See the Schedule of Topics and Readings below for due dates of steps on this report; the final research report, due Dec. 2 (or earlier!), should be 8-10 double-spaced pages.

The mid-term will be essay questions that ask you to analyze the material of the course. The final exam will also be in essay format; one part of it will be a "second mid-term" and the other will be comprehensive.

In grading oral and written work, I will emphasize your understanding of the material, the persuasiveness of your argument, and your clarity of presentation. I encourage you to print on used paper or on two sides and to turn in only your paper, stapled, without any folders or binders. Please see the writing handouts on the American Studies Web page.

American Studies Web Page: The department web page has many documents designed to help you do your best work in the course and in life in general. In particular, see the Learning By Doing page; at the link Work to Learn/Learn to Work (), go to the guides on learning in the classroom, on writing, on public speaking, and on grading. Then, at the Learn to Work section, there are also a few documents that reach beyond this course and may contribute to your future work: an overview of What Students Can Learn from American Studies and the American Bar Association’s Guide to Legal Education. The rest of the Learning by Doing page () has information and links for a variety of internships and other experiential learning opportunities.

On Blackboard: This computerized bulletin board will be a place to post course information throughout the semester.

Books for Purchase

Gregory E. Dowd, A Spirited Resistance

Max Boot, The Savage Wars of Peace

James McPherson, What They Fought For

Robert Zieger, America’s Great War (recommended)

Michael Adams, Best War Ever

Elaine Tylor May, Homeward Bound (recommended)

George Herring, America's Longest War

Kenneth Pollack, The Threatening Storm (recommended)

On Reserve in Library

Lawrence LeShan, “Why We Love War, and what we can do to prevent it anyway,” Utne Reader (January-February 2003): 53-58 [summarizing the argument in LeShan’s The Psychology of War: Comprehending its Mystique and its Madness]

Charles DeBenedetti, samplings of The Peace Reform in America (pp. ix-xvii, 3-7, 16-21, 32-37, 56-61, 90-95, 118-123, 138-143, 164-169, 196-201)

Robert Zieger, ch. 2: “War, Peace, War,” ch. 3: “Mobilizing for War,” and ch. 8: “Questions for Americans” in America's Great War (pp. 27-84, 227-237, 240-243, and 248-249)

Elaine Tylor May, "War and Peace," in Homeward Bound (pp. 58-91 and 254-259)

Kenneth Pollack, Contents through Introduction: “The Problem of Iraq” and Conclusions: “Not Whether, but When” in The Threatening Storm (pp. xvi-xxxi, 410-27, 429-30, and 472-273)

George Soros, “The Bubble of American Supremacy,” Atlantic Monthly (December 2003): 63-66 (and the original magazine is in the library and available on line).

Resources on the web: Please see the Guide to Web-Based Readings on Blackboard, especially the crucial policy speeches by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, a report on war contracts by the Center for Public Integrity report, and an article by James Barber, “Democracy Cannot Coexist with Preventive War.”

Schedule of Topics and Readings

Date Topics Requirements

Aug. 21 Introductions exploring topics

Aug. 26 The Lure of War LeShan, Boot, pp. xii-xx; and

DeBenedetti, pp. ix-7

Aug. 28 Revolutionary Wars Dowd, through ch. 3

Sep. 2 Search for Unity Dowd, chs. 4-6

DeBenedetti, pp. 16-21

Sep. 4 Defeat and Renewal Dowd, chs. 7-afterword

Submit research topics

Sep. 9 Learning How to Conquer Boot, part 1

DeBenedetti, pp. 32-37

Sep. 11 War for Union McPherson, through ch. 1; Croce selection (Blackboard)

week of Sep. 15: the movie “Glory”

Sep. 16 War to End Slavery McPherson, chs. 2-3

Submit sources for research project

Sep. 18 Our Backyard, Bloodied Boot, chs. 5-6

DeBenedetti, pp. 56-61and 90-95

Sep. 23 Great War Zieger, America’s Great War chs. 2, 3, and 8; and

DeBenedetti, pp. 118-23

Sep. 25 Appetite for a Good War Adams, through ch. 4 and Boot, chs. 8-10

Sep. 30 Expanding Power film: The Perilous Fight

Midterm Exam

Oct. 2 World Transformed Adams, chs. 5-6-afterword and

DeBenedetti, pp. 138-43

week of Oct. 6: the movie “Casablanca”

Oct. 7 Total Cold War May, Homeward Bound, pp. 58-91 and 254-259

Refine and revise research topics

Oct. 9 Columbus Day (observed) no class meeting

Oct. 14 Sowing Dragon’s Teeth Herring, through ch. 3

in Vietnam

Oct. 16 Escalation Herring, chs. 4-6

Oct. 21 Exit Strategies Herring, ch. 7-end

Oct. 23 War For What Purpose? film: TBA

Oct. 28 Legacies of Vietnam Boot, ch. 12-13 and DeBenedetti, pp. 164-69

Oct. 30 Small Wars Boot, ch. 14 and a contemporary article

Updates on research

Nov. 4 On the Demands of War Bush and Cheney Speeches (web)

Nov. 6 ROTC officers soldier articles

Nov. 11 On the Call for Peace Soros (reserve) and Barber (web)

Nov. 13 Peace Activists DeBenedetti, pp. 196-201; Center for Public Integrity Report (web)

Nov. 18 Contemporary History Unfolding read five more contemporary articles

Nov. 20 At Peace—and Ready for War Boot, ch. 15

Nov. 20 ** 7pm, Stetson Room: lecture by History Channel historian Steve Gillon: "It’s the 60s, Stupid."

Nov. 25 A Case for Pre-emptive Strike Pollack, Threatening Storm, intro and conclusion

Dec. 2 contemporary news review

research report due

Dec. ___ Aug. 21-Dec. 3 final exam

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