HISTORY 380

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS COURSE DOES NOT USE CANVAS.

Sonoma State University  Department of History
History 380: The 20th Century World, Fall 2024
Tuesday and Thursday, 4-5:15 p.m., Stevenson 1102

Instructor:
Mary Halavais: halavais@sonoma.edu .
Office: Stevenson 3708
Office hours: T Th 5:30-7:00 pm
Please make an appointment  to talk to the prof during these hours.

Library Research Guides and Study Information
The University Library can help you find information and conduct research.   Look here to see what other services the library offers.

SSU Learning and Academic Resources Center
(LARC) offers three academic support programs for students: Tutorial, Supplemental Instruction , and the Writing Center. Visit the LARC website for more information. 

Learning Objectives/What will I learn in History 380 this semester?
Content knowledge:
1. Familiarity with key ideas and important events in the 20th century. 
2. An appreciation for the varied approaches historians use in their work.
3. Awareness of the significance of the past to the present.
Academic skills:  
1. Ability to read a source critically.
2. Improved communication skills.
3. An appreciation for collaboration in academic work.

Grades/ How will my work be evaluated?
You will be graded on a 120 point system, with points available for participation in discussion groups, as well as for quizzes and exams. Your total points erned will determine your grade for the course. We’ll talk about this at the first class meeting.
Wednesday discussion group – 5 points
Wednesday reading quiz – 5 points
Midterm examination – 25 points
Final Examination – 25 points
PLEASE NOTE that this course does not use Canvas.

Reading required for this course:
Weekly reading assignments are listed week by week on the syllabus below. They average about 100 pages/week. The professor expects you to arrive in class with any questions you may have about the assigned reading, and prepared to discuss that reading. You are expected to have the text with you, or available on laptop or other device, in order to reference the material during discussions.  There will be reading quizzes.

Writing required for this course
Midterm and final examinations; reading quizzes.
Please note that you are required to cite all sources used in your written work. This includes the use of A.I. Using a source without providing proper citation is plagiarism.
Plagiarism in this course will result in your failing the course as a whole, in addition to whatever penalties the University imposes. Please see the university catalog for more information.

Class participation required for this course:
Please note that attendance alone does not constitute participation. Participation requires you to speak up in class, and to engage with the material and with your fellow students. This is an academic requirement.

Required Texts
1. Best et al. International History of the 20th Century and Beyond.
2. T. Snyder. On Tyranny: 20 Lessons from the 20th Century. ISBN 978-1-9848-5915-0
3. Keiji Nakazawa. Barefoot Gen. ISBN 978-0-86719-602-3
4. Marjane Satrapi. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. ISBN 978-0-376-71457-3.

Class Protocol
Please remember to treat your fellow students (and your professor!) with respect at all times. This means listening carefully and quietly to what each person has to say.

Your professor will try to speak clearly and slowly (which will be a challenge! Please tell me if I need to speak more slowly.) She asks that you do the same. If at any point you are uncomfortable with what is happening in class, please talk with the professor or someone else in the history department right away. We learn best in a comfortable environment!

Students with Special Needs
If you are a student with special learning needs, your first step is to register with the campus office of Services for Students with Disabilities, 707-664-2677. DSS will provide you with written confirmation of your verified disability, and will notify the instructor of recommended accommodations. Your instructor  will discuss these recommended accommodations with you. 

Other information
Fires, floods, earthquakes, and pandemics, while not likely, are always possible in California, and they may disrupt classes. We can make adjustments so that your progress in the class will not be affected adversely.

SCHEDULE OF CLASSES/READING ASSIGNMENTS
The study of history often leads down unexpected and exciting paths. The schedule below is the expected list of topics and readings for each week. The prof may add any additional topics, links, or readings that we explore together in class each week. Any added material will first be mentioned in the class setting.

WEEK 1: AUGUST 20 AND 22
T Introduction to History 380.
TH The world at 1900.
REQUIRED READING due AUGUST 27:
1. On Tyranny, Prologue and #1
2. Fussell, “The Troglodyte Years,” the Great War and Modern Memory (Oxford, 2013) 39-84.

WEEK 2:  AUGUST 27 AND 29
T The Great War
TH Versailles; disucssion
REQUIRED READING due September 3:
1. International History, 6-63;
2.On Tyranny, #2
3. Westney, “The Military,” Japan in Transition: From Tokugawa to Meiji (Princeton, 1986) 168-194,

WEEK 3: SEPTEMBER 3 AND 5
T China’s Long 19th Century
TH Japan’s Long 19th Century
 REQUIRED READING due September 10: 
1. International History, 63-84;
2. On Tyranny, #3
3, Imperialism. Crash course in world history, #35. (You Tube) 13.45. (Enable subtitles.)
4. NY Times Magazine, “The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.”
RECOMMENDED READING:
Perdue and Sebring, “The Boxer Uprising: The Gathering Storm in North China, 1850-1900″
MIT Visualizing Cultures

WEEK 4: SEPTEMBER 10 AND 12
T Mandates – Palestine
TH Colonies – Ireland
REQUIRED READING  due September 17:
1. International History, 84-143;
2.On Tyranny, #4 and #5;
3. Payne, “Fascism: A Working Definition,” A History of Fascism, 1914-1945 (U. Wisconsin, 1996) 3-22.

WEEK 5: SEPTEMBER 17 AND 19.
T Europe’s 1930s
TH the rise of fascism
REQUIRED READING due September 26:
1.International History, 165-199;
2. On Tyranny, #6 and #7;
3. Homan and Vera, “The Comic Hitler,” Hitler in the. Movies (Fairleigh Dickinson, 2016) 1-27
4. Globe scene from Chaplin’s “The Grreat DIctator.” (Enable subtitles.)

WEEK 6: SEPTEMBER 24 AND 26
T Second World War
TH OnTyranny
REQUIRED READING due OCTOBER 1:  
1. International History, 199-229;
2. Barefoot Gen, pages 1- 288.

WEEK 7:  OCTOBER 1 AND 3
T War in the Pacific
TH On Tyranny – to lesson 7
REQUIRED VIEWING due October 8:
(PLEASE NOTE CHANGE)
film: “The Atomic Cafe” (1982) 1.29 minutes

WEEK 8: OCTOBER 8 AND 10
Midterm exam week|
Your midterm prompts will be sent to your sonoma.edu email account on Sunday, October 6. Your two completed essays should be emailed to halavais@sonoma.edu by 11:59 pm Sunday, October 13. You may use any of the required readings, the internet, and any other material you find useful in writing your two essays, but YOU MUST CITE YOUR SOURCES. Note that a URL alone is not a sufficient citation.)Further directions and a grading rubric will arrive with the prompts in your email. There will be NO class meetings during exam week. If you have any questions, please email halavais@sonoma.edu.

WEEK 9: OCTOBER 15 AND 17
T after WWII
TH The Cold War: Europe – and the U.S. – after WWII
REQUIRED READING due October 22 
1. International History, 229-311;
2. On Tyranny, #8
3. Wang, “The Origins of Technological Skepticism, 1945-1950,” In Sputnik’s Shadow. Rutgers Unversity, 2008.

WEEK 10: OCTOBER 22 and 24
T China after WWII
TH The rise of the Third World
REQUIRED READING due October 29:
1. International History, 311-385
2. Video: Vox, “Mao’s Cultural Revolution.” 6.24 minutes. Enable subtitles.

WEEK 11: OCTOBER 29 AND 31
T Iran
TH Japan as a developmental state
REQUIRED READING due November 5:
1.Persepolis
2. WW Rostow, “The Stages of Economic Growth,”Economic History Review, Vol XII, No 1., 1959, 1-16.

WEEK 12: NOVEMBER 5 AND 7
T Mexico in the 20th century
TH The US and Latin America
REQUIRED READING due November 12:
1. International History, 143-165 and 411-439;
2. On Tyranny, #9 and 10
3. Mikiya Koyagi, “The Vernacular Journey: Railway Travelers in Early Pahlavi Iran,”
Intl. J. Middle East Stud. 47 (2015) 745-763.

WEEK 13: NOVEMBER 12-14
T Congo and the 1st and 2nd African Wars
TH Decolonization in Africa
REQUIRED READING due November 19:
1. International History 439-467;
2. On Tyranny, #11 and 12

WEEK 14; NOVEMBER 19 AND 21
T Israel and the Arab world after 1948
Th Israel and the Arab World, continued
REQUIRED READING due November 26: I
1. International History, 467-501;
2. On Tyranny, #13 & 14

WEEK 15: NOVEMBER 26 AND 28
T Political Islam
TH THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY – NO CLASS MEETING

WEEK 16: DECEMBER 3 AND 5
T Human rights in the contemporary world
Th Conclusion and final exam directions
REQUIRED READING
1.International History, 501-529;
2.UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights

FINAL EXAMINATION
THESDAY, DECEMBER 10, AT 3:30 PM – STEVENSON 1102