AMH 3931:09EC and ASH 3931:09EF

Professor Jacobs

Please note that this syllabus is available to current students in the class through UF’s e-learning site. That site includes live links to lecture outlines, readings and other course material.

Time and Location

Tuesday, period 7 (1:55-2:45) and Thursday, periods 7-8 (1:55-3:50)
Keene-Flint 0105

Contact Information

Description and Goals

This is an unusual history course in certain ways. Its basic purpose is two-fold: to help students understand that developing a solid understanding of the present necessitates coming to terms with the past, and to better acquaint them with the world in which they live. To those ends, the course is intended to help students connect the past, present, and perhaps even the future by thinking through the historical development of a range of current issues that help define the contemporary world and the United States’ role in it. We will therefore spend our time thinking about the connections between the past and the present in ways that students may not have encountered in other history classes they have taken at UF, including those that I have offered. We will not be following a traditional historical narrative in this class, which is to say that we will not begin at a certain point in the past and then carry the story forward to the present. Rather, we will take as our starting point the basic premise that each of the main topics identified in the course schedule below is an issue of international political significance today, and then try to analyze and understand each issue’s historical development up to the present. The students will then have the opportunity to draw on their understanding of the past and present of each issue as they think through its implications moving forward.

There are two other points worth mentioning. First, as this course is being offered for the first time, to some degree students should consider it to be a bit of an experiment and should therefore come to class willing to be a bit more flexible than they might otherwise expect to be. Students should feel free to make respectful suggestions to me regarding the readings and assignments or if they have more general concerns about how the class is going. Second, as this class is cross-listed as both an AMH and an ASH course this semester (as opposed to its likely future designation as a WOH course), we will spend more of our time on issues related to Asia than I might in future semesters. To achieve the objectives stated above, the course is divided into three sections: the Middle East, Asia, and international issues.

Organization and Assignments

Each class will contain some lecturing and some discussion, with discussion playing a particularly important role in the double-period Thursday classes. Students should be sure to do the assigned reading for each day before class so that they can be prepared to participate. Participation will include both an in-class and an online component, as I will be establishing a class discussion list through the e-learning website. I also want to make clear that though the formal readings listed on the syllabus will seem like a light load, that is by design, as I will regularly send out via a class email list links to blog posts and other short articles that come to my attention. Unless I specifically state otherwise, these readings are considered required. In addition to the participation requirement, students will have to write three 5-7 page papers.

Grading

The assignments listed above will carry the following weights in the final course grade:

• Participation: 25% (roughly split equally between in-class and online participation)
• Paper One: 25%
• Paper Two: 25%
• Paper Three: 25%

Letter grades on papers will be based on three major, closely related criteria:

• Evidence–how good is the command and deployment of the relevant course material, and is the student employing the best evidence available to make his/her points;
• Interpretation–has the student developed an argument or point of view that is pertinent to the issue at hand, and that has breadth, coherence, and insight; and
• Expression (style)–is the prose (writing) clear, concise, and engaging?

These criteria will be weighted equally, and will translate into letter grades as follows:

• A—Excellent: Your work is outstanding in all three areas. It offers an integrated, insightful argument based on ample, sound evidence and is written in clear and engaging prose.
• B—Good: Your work is strong in all three areas, or is outstanding in one area while having significant weaknesses in another.
• C—Average: Your performance is adequate in one or more areas, but also has significant weaknesses in others, leaving the presentation fragmented, murky, or narrow.
• D—Poor: Your work demonstrates notable weaknesses in all three areas. Remedial work may be needed to improve substantive understanding or basic communication skills.
• E—Unacceptable: Your work has serious flaws in all areas, or demonstrates limited engagement in the assignment.

Participation grades will rest on discussions of the readings and other course material. Adequate participation will indicate that a student did the readings and was actively engaged in discussion. Some, though not all, of a student’s participation credit may come from contributions to a class discussion list that will be set on e-learning website. If students have questions about how participation is being evaluated, or if students feel uncomfortable speaking in front of others, they should see the professor as early in the semester as possible. Lastly, I reserve the right to hold pop quizzes if participation in class discussion or class attendance is not satisfactory. Any such quizzes will be factored into the participation grade.

Letter grades for papers and for final course grades will be assigned according to the following numerical scales:

• A: 93 and above, 4.00 gpa
• A-: 90-92, 3.67 gpa
• B+: 87-89, 3.33 gpa
• B: 83-86, 3.00 gpa
• B-: 80-82, 2.67 gpa
• C+: 77-79, 2.33 gpa
• C: 73-76, 2.00 gpa
• C-: 70-72, 1.67 gpa
• D+: 67-69, 1.33 gpa
• D: 63-66, 1.00 gpa
• D-: 60-62, 0.67 gpa
• E: Student failed academically, 59 and below, 0.00 gpa
• E0: Student never attended class or completed any assignments, 0.00 gpa
• E1: Student stopped attending class and/or completing assignments, 0.00 gpa

Policies and Expectations

History classes are most rewarding when students interact with the texts, each other, and the professor on a sustained and regular basis. While lectures and readings provide the raw material for the class, much learning will take place in discussions. Effective class participation (see above) is therefore essential.

Students are expected to attend all classes and to be respectful of themselves, other students, the grader, and the professor at all times. In addition to arriving in a timely manner, this includes, but is not limited too, refraining from text messaging, playing cell phone or computer games, checking email, surfing the web, reading newspapers or other non-course related material, and other distracting behavior. Students should also expect an atmosphere in which opinions are expressed, and received, in a thoughtful and respectful manner. It also is important to note that many students will hold very strong opinions about the issues we will be discussing during the term. Disagreement and lively debate are encouraged as long as all students remain respectful of one another. I would also encourage all students to be willing to challenge their own preconceptions about the contemporary world and to have other students challenge them as well. The professor or the grader will ask students who do not observe these general guidelines to leave class, and students who persist in such behavior will receive grade penalties.

Students are expected turn in hard copies of papers, but I am well aware that various problems can arise when printing papers, etc. If students encounter such problems, they should email a copy of the paper to both me and the grader by the appropriate due date and time, then bring a hard copy to the next class. If we do not have at least an electronic version of the paper at the proper due date, the paper will be considered late. Papers will be accepted up to one week after the due date, but with a significant penalty for each day they are late. No make-up quizzes will be allowed unless you have a valid and verifiable excuse. Student requests for exceptions to these policies will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Concerns about grades on specific assignments will be handled in the following manner. We will observe a “twenty-four hour rule” when papers are returned. In short, this means that we are happy to entertain questions about grades and comments on papers, but students must wait twenty-four hours from when they receive their paper back to contact us. This rule allows those who graded the papers to get some much needed rest and distance, while also allowing potentially disappointed or upset students time to calm down. Students with concerns about how their papers have been graded should first speak with the individual who graded that assignment. If the student still has questions following that conversation, s/he should feel free to see me, but please bring both the graded paper and a clean version of it to your meeting with me. After speaking with the student, I will read the clean copy first and then read the comments and evaluation of the original grader. Students should not worry that they will be penalized for engaging in this process, as I will not reduce a grade that has been appealed (though I may or may not raise it). Students with grade concerns should initiate the process by contacting the original grader of the assignment within one week of when the assignment is returned.

Cheating in any form undermines the integrity and mutual trust essential to a community of learning and places at a comparative disadvantage those students who respect and work by the rules of that community. It is understood that any work a student submits is indeed his/her own. Plagiarism—that is, lifting without giving credit from something someone else has written such as a published book, article, or even a student paper—is forbidden and is, in most cases, fairly easily detected. There are other, more obvious forms of academic dishonesty, such as turning in work completed by someone else, bringing inappropriate notes into an exam, and offering or receiving whispered, signaled, or other forms of assistance during an exam. Working with fellow students in exam study groups is not only acceptable but also encouraged, as long as one is refining ideas that are essentially his or her own. Included within this definition of academic integrity is the assumption that all documents and excuses provided as explanations for late or missed assignments have not been falsified. Please review the University’s policies regarding student conduct and conflict resolution, available through the Dean of Students Office website.

Please do not hesitate to contact the professor or the grader at any point during the semester with any individual concerns or issues you may need to discuss. Students encountering any problems along the way should see me or the grader as soon as possible. Problems are much easier for us to address if we know about them sooner rather than later, and can be particularly difficult to handle if left until exam week or after final grades have been submitted.

Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the professor when requesting accommodation. For more information regarding University policies on this issue, please visit the Disability Resource Center’s website.

Required Readings

There are no books required for purchase for this course. Readings will be assigned either as files posted to the UF e-learning site for the course or as internet links. Students are also encouraged to keep up with current events, both in terms of general awareness and analysis. They should also expect to receive from the professor on a fairly regular basis links to interesting articles or blog posts that are relevant to the course.

Course Schedule

8 January: Course Introduction

10 January: “Thinking in Time” and the Policy Use of History and Historical Analogies

15 January: The Arab-Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Readings:
Barry Posen, “Pull Back: The Case for a Less Activist Foreign Policy,” Foreign Affairs 92, 1 (Jan./Feb. 2013): 116-128
Stephen Brooks, John Ikenberry, and William Wohlforth, “Lean Forward: In Defense of American Engagement,” Foreign Affairs 92, 1 (Jan/Feb 2013): 130-142

Unit I: The Middle East

17 January: The Arab-Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Readings:

22 January: The Arab-Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Readings:

24 January: The Arab-Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Readings:

29 January: Iran and Nuclear Weapons
Readings:

31 January: Iran and Nuclear Weapons
Readings:

5 February: Iran and Nuclear Weapons
Readings:

7 February: The Arab Spring and Syria
Readings:

12 February: The Arab Spring and Syria
Readings:

14 February: The Arab Spring and Syria
Readings:

PAPER ONE DUE IN CLASS ON 19 FEBRUARY

Unit II: Asia

19 February: China Rising
Readings:

21 February: China Rising
Readings:

26 February: China Rising
Readings:

28 February: India and the Challenges of South Asia

5-7 March: No Class–Spring Break

12 March: India and the Challenges of South Asia
Readings:

14 March: India and the Challenges of South Asia
Readings:

19 March: The Asia Pivot
Readings:

21 March: The Asia Pivot
Readings:

PAPER TWO DUE IN CLASS ON 26 MARCH

Unit III: International Issues–Note, students will have some input into the topics we cover during this last segment of the course, though we will spend some time on the international economy.

26 March: The International Economy
Readings:

28 March: The International Economy
Readings:

2 April: The International Economy
Readings:

4 April: TBA
Readings:

9 April: TBA
Readings:

11 April: TBA
Readings:

16 April: TBA
Readings:

18 April: TBA
Readings:

PAPER THREE DUE IN CLASS ON 23 APRIL

23 April: Course Conclusions–What have we learned, and what should we change?

©2013 Matthew F. Jacobs