HWC 301 C

Spring 2007

Jackie Moore	Hunt Tooley
Sherman Hall 121	Sherman Hall 109
(office) 813-2262	(office) 813-2292
jmoore@austincollege.edu	htooley@austincollege.edu
Office hours: M and F 12-1, TTH 1-2 and by appt.	Office hours: M 10:30-12, T and W 4:30-5, TH 1:45-2:45 and by appt

Schedule

Miscellaneous Information Pages

Required Readings

Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, Filiquarian Publishing, LLC, 2006
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, Anchor Books, 1994
Robert J.C.Young, Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2004

Additional readings online, on reserve, and on e-reserve

This will be an HWC 301 course on the role of Imperialism in the Western world. By imperialism we mean the process by which Europeans, and more generally Westerners, dominated or conquered other regions of the globe and treated these areas as colonies—regions in some way subservient or ancillary to the "metropole." We will deal briefly with the "old imperialism" of the absolutist age, but we will chiefly investigate the nationalist age of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The class will focus in particular on the "new imperialism" in Hobson's famous phrase, that is, the late nineteenth-century scramble for territorial acquisitions across the globe. To follow up this enormous historical episode, we will discuss the administration of the newly expanded empires, as well as the reaction of the "colonized" peoples (both indigenous populations and settler communities). We will explore the nature of nationalism, liberalism, and socialism as central factors to understanding the complicated world of colonies in the early twentieth century. Finally, we will focus on the "decolonization" which began with the end of the Second World War and the "post-colonial" world that emerged. Well-known issues of dependency, nation-building, development, and others will be central to this discussion.

Course Components

2 documentary exercise papers @ 20%	40%
Daily Reading Quizzes	20%
Midterm	20%
Final	20%
Total	%100

A = 94-100	C = 74-76
A- = 90-93	C- = 70-73
B+ = 87-89	D+ = 67-69
B = 84-86	D = 64-66
B- = 80-83	D- = 60-63
C+ = 77-79	F = 50-59

If you do not turn in any major assignment in a timely fashion we will drop you from the course. Students may not turn in assignments via email. We only give incompletes resulting from major problems beyond your control and then only if you have conscientiously fulfilled your course commitments up to the point where the major problem occurs.

For the form of the documentary exercise papers, see below.

Attendance Policy

Except in extreme circumstances or in cases of offically excused absences, we will drop any student who misses more than four classes (i.e. more than two weeks of class). If you have to be gone for athletics or other excused absences these will count toward your four absences so you cannot miss additional classes. We will drop you WP or WF depending on your average at the time.

Makeup Policy

Many of the activities we will do in class cannot be reproduced outside of class; therefore we cannot give make-up work for daily assignments. We only give makeup exams by prior arrangement except for extreme, documented emergencies. If you miss an exam due to such an emergency, it is YOUR responsibility to get in touch with us IMMEDIATELY, to discuss the possibility of making up the exam. We are more likely to agree to a makeup exam if you have been in touch with us since the day of the original exam. We have voice mail and email so there's no excuse for saying that you couldn't reach us. If you send us an email and we do not respond then you should send another to make sure we got it.

Academic Integrity

This course will operate under Austin College Academic Integrity Policies. Academic honesty is absolutely essential. This means we will not tolerate cheating or plagiarism or false representation of research of any kind. We find it personally insulting, because it implies that you think we are so stupid that we will never catch you. WRONG. Be warned: we take immense pleasure in tracking down dishonest students. We will strictly follow the guidelines printed in the student handbook. Please read these carefully. If you do not understand these rules we would be happy to discuss them with you so that you do not accidentally break them in your own work.

Course Goals

1. Students will gain a basic understanding of complex concepts such as imperialism, postcolonialism, nationalism, decolonization, socialism

2. Students will learn a basic narrative of western imperialism and decolonization in the 19th and 20th centuries

3. Students will gain experience with critical analysis of primary documents and secondary sources.

4. Students will be exposed to texts of major importance from the period under study.

Expected Student Outcomes

1. Students will demonstrate a basic understanding of concepts on two exams and in their critical analysis

2. Students will demonstrate knowledge of a basic narrative of western imperialism and decolonization in daily reading quizzes and on two unit exams as well as in their documentary analyses.

3. Students will identify and annotate two primary documents using critical analytical skills. They will demonstrate critical analytical skills of both primary and secondary sources on two unit exams.

4. Students will demonstrate knowledge and familiarity with major texts of the period on daily quizzes and on the two unit exams.

Assigned Papers: Documentary Exercises

The assignment requires you first to choose a primary source related to the period we are studying (and specifically on the period covered in the portion of the course during which the assignment is due): for example a letter, an eyewitness account, an excerpt from an autobiography, an official document, a contemporary pamphlet, etc. (the library holds many of these; even more are online). You must get your document approved by one of us. Next, you will want to study the document to make sure you know what it means, to what events or matters it refers, what knowledge it assumes, to whom or for whom it was written, and any other elements which would assist you in drawing on the document for historical knowledge. You should allot plenty of time and effort to this stage. Make a xerox copy of the passage you choose.

You will then annotate the document, that is, choose a number of points in it on which the general reader would require elucidation (these should be consecutive). It is customary for such notes to range from a line or two of biographical information to a short paragraph explaining some concept or obscure allusion. Mark the chosen spots on the xerox copy with a superscript (this means a number written higher than the line of text--which the footnote or endnote function of Word will do automatically, but which you will want to put on your xerox by hand), and write an endnote which elucidates the point, explains it, or supplies the information necessary to make it intelligible. You should choose a passage substantial enough to be served well by at least ten endnotes; and you should choose a passage which you can annotate thoroughly with at least ten. Each note should contain both explanation and citation of the source (if any) upon which you base your explanation.

Caution: sometimes, students fail to read what an annotation should actually be about, and they decided simply to comment on the text, or restate it in different words. Technically, this is kind of note is called a gloss, and this is not appropriate for this assignment. We want you to supply information that the reader needs to understand the allusion. These annotations need not be long; indeed, they should NOT be any longer than they have to be: what reader finds a reference to "Hammurabi" and looks to the back of the book for the notes hoping to find several pages of explanation. Short annotations will do.

Annotations of passages needing elucidation should be consecutive. That is to say, if you find a letter from King Leopold of Belgium a reference to "the Tsar,"a reference to "perfidious Albion," and a reference to the "Berlin Conference," you should annotate all those, explaining what they are. But if you cannot find what "perfidious Albion" means, for example, you can't just skip it. Rather, make your superscript for it, and then write in the annotation section: "I tried to find this but was unable to." In this way, we will know that you know it need annotating, but you just couldn't find it. And then do eleven instead of ten, so that you have ten actual annotations.

Finally, write a short introduction which will serve to introduce the document to the general reader, put it into its historical context, and perhaps point out interesting or useful points about the document. You will be aiming at an educated readership which knows something about history and culture but will probably need help to understand the significance and import of the document about to be read. This introduction must be a minimum of 2 pages (440 words) in length and a maximum of 2.5 pages (550 words), exclusive of footnotes, endnotes, and title.

You should footnote the introduction separately from the annotations (use footnotes for the intro, and put the annotations separate at the end).   The annotations should include the source for each annotation. Wikipedia is not an appropriate source in this case, though Wikipedia articles might point you to a good source.

Put the whole package together: title page, introduction, xeroxed copy of the document (with numbered superscripts marked on the xerox), and the corresponding explanatory notes, typed consecutively.

Proofread carefully once again, and turn in a clear, polished version.