POS 136S: World Politics, Spring 2009
Class meeting: Roberts 101, 9:15 – 10:20
Scott Erb, Roberts 302; Phone: ext. 7486
E-mail: scotterb@maine.edu
Office Hours: MWF, 10:30 – 11:30, TuTh 10:00 – 11:00
Course Description:
The goal of this course is to help students understand the wide variety of problems and possibilities in the world outside the United States. The emphasis of the course is on real world conditions – a human face, rather than just an academic face (though you’ll get plenty of political science theories and concepts!) Many of you will not go on to major in political science, you are taking this course out of interest, or you are future teachers who believe you need to know more about the world before you go into the classroom. Some of you couldn’t find space in your schedule and are just fulfilling a distribution requirement. My goal is to help you get something valuable from this course, come away understanding the world a bit better, being able to follow the events in the news with more comprehension, and to actually care about world events and continue trying to learn and understand them when the course is finished. One key is to learn to understand the social science perspective in dealing with real world issues. This emphasizes critical thought, analyzing the components of a problem, hypothesizing, considering various perspectives, and recognizing the limits of social science and academic inquiry.
Course Requirements:
1. Rwanda Reaction journal
You will respond daily to class and the book, giving detailed reactions to Dallaire’s experiences, and responding as well to the films and class discussion. These should be turned in each day; small penalties for those which are late. All must be turned in by February 9 (including ones already returned to you with comment).
2. Daily reaction journal to the Hedges and Godwin books
You will critically assess the Hedges book War is a Force that Gives us Meaning, taking into account his argument, and information given in class. These should be turned in each day; small penalties for those which are late. All must be turned in by April 1st (including ones already returned to you with comment.) You should do the same for When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, with all entries turned in no later than April 27th. Note: you should integrate material talked about in class with these journals.
3. Final Paper (due finals week)
This paper will integrate ideas from the Cambodian genocide into wider themes in this class. More details will be given closer to the end of the semester.
4. One Midterm exam. One March 13th there is an in class Midterm exam over the material in unit one. This is the only traditional exam in this course.
On-line lecture notes
Online notes can be found at: http://academic.umf.maine.edu/~erb/
You are responsible for all information covered in class; these notes are not inclusive of all you are required to know, but offered to help you either get more from class or get a sense of the basic issues covered in the case of a missed class.
Office Hours and Grading policy
The office hours are listed at the top of the syllabus. I am also around most days with my door open. If you stop by at a non-office hour time, it’s possible I’ll be very busy on a deadline and need to set up an appointment to see you, but usually I’ll have time. Grades 90% or above will be the A range, reflecting superior understanding of the material and an ability to creatively use the material to analyze issues. 80-89.9% represents the B range, reflecting above average knowledge of the material, and good analysis of the issues. 70-79.9% is the C range, representing average knowledge and adequate analysis. 60%-69.9% is the D range, meaning the student has learned just enough to pass, but has not performed well or shown a good ability to use the material to analyze. Below 60% is an F. I grade on a 40 -100, meaning that the lowest grade on any exam is 40%. Not doing an assignment, however, earns you a “O.” A plus or minus grade is within two percentage points of the cut off (e.g., 90% to 91.99% is an A minus; 88% to 89.99% is a B+). I reserve the right to reward improvement and attendance.
Basic information:
1. If you want comments about your work, please submit a printed version (journals may be handwritten or typed). Electronic submission is allowed, but I will not be printing these out, so expect only an e-mail with the grade and more general comments.
2. In addressing me, please call me “Scott,” or “Professor Erb.” Never address college professors with Ms., Miss, Mrs. or Mr. Use “Dr.” or “Professor.” Not every professor appreciates students using their first name if you have not been invited to do so, so in general use Dr. or Prof. However, I’m inviting you to call me “Scott.”
3. Keep track of due dates, I will not be constantly reminding you when something is coming up; I assume you check the syllabus or appropriate hand out.
4. Most handouts will be on line if you miss class. If you are not in class when an original handout is given, you are expected to go on line to retrieve it.
5. If you arrive late, come in quietly and find a seat. Do not try to apologize or explain, since that would be disruptive. If you are going to be chronically late (e.g., your are coming from phys ed. and you simply can’t make it in time), let me know.
6. My goal is to get assignments back to you the next class period. If you disagree on a grade, please put in writing the reason for your disagreement, and what you think you deserve. It is extremely rare that any grade gets changed.
7. Issues in a course like this are often controversial. Do not be afraid of stating your positions, but learn that you need to support and back up statements. Please treat all students with respect, both in and outside the class room. Any student showing disrespect due to political positions taken by others may be asked to leave. No student’s grade will be at all hurt or helped by their position on issues; important is how well one develops arguments and analyzes data.
8. Last semester I missed some student e-mails due to the massive amount of e-mail I’ve been getting. If I do not respond to you, don’t assume I’m brushing you off, try again!
Required Readings:
Shake Hands with the Devil by Romeo Dallaire
First they Killed my Father by Loung Ung
War is a Force that Gives us Meaning by Chris Hedges
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, by Peter Godwin
Other required readings will be electronic files placed on blackboard.
Unit One: The Rwandan Genocide
This unit will have a lot of video. That’s because I want you to simply lose yourself in both the story as told by Gen. Dallaire, and the images, and think about what this means to you, how you react. Don’t try to so much learn facts or analyze – we’ll do that after this unit! – instead, I want this first unit to simply be to let yourself think about how you feel about this case, what questions you have, and your reactions.
January 21 – Introduction
January 23 – Background: Rwanda, read Dallaire: Forward, preface, 8 – 56
January 26 - Film: Hotel Rwanda, read Dallaire, 57 -134
January 28 – Finish Hotel Rwanda, read Dallaire, 135 – 198
January 30 – The United Nations, read Dallaire, 199 – 262
February 2 – International Law, organization and human rights, read Dallaire, 263 – 327
February 4 – Film: Shake Hands with the Devil, read Dallaire, 374 - 460
February 6 – Finish Shake Hands with the Devil, then discuss Rwanda, finish Dallaire
Unit Two: The Development of the International System
February 9 – Thinking theoretically (E-reading, Kegley)
All notes on Rwanda reaction due!
February 11 – The rise of the International System (read on line notes and links)
No class on February 13 or February 23: alternate assignment to be given
February 25 – The Rise and Fall of the Concert of Europe (e-reading, Elrod)
February 27 - World War I and its aftermath (E-reading, Tuchman)
March 2 - World War II and the birth of the Cold War (E-reading Kegley 2)
March 4 – Why the Cold War? (E-reading, LeFeber)
March 6 – Main events in the Cold War (E-reading, Magstadt)
March 9 - The Vietnam War (E-reading, Stoessinger)
March 11 – The end of the Cold War, a systemic break (E-reading, Zelikow and Rice)
March 13 – Midterm Exam 1
Unit Three: War and International Conflict
March 16 – War! (E-reading, Mingst)
March 18 -- Case Study: The Balkans, (E-reading Erb)
March 20 -- Case Study: The Balkans, P II, Hedges, 1-61
March 23 – Case Study: Israel Palestine, Hedges 43-82
March 25 – Case Study: Finish Israel and Palestine start Iraq, Hedges 83-121
March 27 - Case Study: Iraq, Hedges 122-end
March 30 – Terrorism (E-reading Pillar)
April 1 - Discussion of Hedges, War, terrorism, and the threats of today
Hedges Journals due
Unit Four: The International Political Economy
April 3 – Two worlds (1st and 3rd), read Godwin 1-42
April 6 – Development of the world economy, read Godwin 42-88
April 8 – Colonialism and third world economics, Godwin 88 - 130
April 10 – Zimbabwe’s plight, Godwin 130-182
April 13 – Compare North and South, Godwin 182-232
April 15 – Other issues: Energy and the Environment, Godwin, 233-300
April 17 – Lessons? (finish Godwin)
Unit 5: The Killing Fields – Genocide and World Politics
April 27 – The Cambodian Genocide, read Ung, pp. 1-49 (Godwin journals due)
April 29 – SYMPOSIUM DAY (no class)
May 1 – FILM: The Killing Fields; read Ung, pp. 50-128
May 4 - FILM: The Killing Fields, Read Ung, pp. 50-128
May 6 - Finish The Killing Fields, p. II, Finish Ung, discuss Cambodian case
May 8 – Reflecting on genocide, humanity and politics (E-reading, Hatzfeld, 217-253)
Equal educational opportunity is offered to students with special needs due to disability. Please notify the instructor of a reasonable accommodation is needed to meet course requirements.