HISTORY 499: SENIOR SEMINAR, FALL 2007
THE UNITED STATES AND THE COLD WAR
Instructor: Dr. Hugh Wilford Office: FO2-216
Phone: 562-985-4422 Email:
Office Hours: MW 11:00-12:00; by appointment
Course: History 499: The U.S. and the Cold War Term: Fall 2006
Times: MW 2:00-3:15 Class Location: LA3-205
Introduction:
History 499 is a seminar for graduating seniors and requires that students demonstrate baccalaureate-level mastery of historical processes and historical literature. This section will draw on recent scholarship and newly available primary sources to examine in detail the causes and consequences of the United States’ entry into the Cold War. Discussion will focus in particular on the relationship between foreign relations and domestic political culture, highlighting such factors as ideology, gender, and race in the shaping of America’s place in the Cold War world. It is assumed that participants have had two upper-division courses in U.S. history as well as having completed History 301 and 302. This seminar rests upon student discussion of readings, in-class oral presentations relating to the research project and short papers, and the research paper.
Expected Student Learning Outcomes:
· Increased knowledge and understanding of the causes and consequences of U.S. entry into the Cold War, based on a critical engagement with a wide range of recent historical scholarship.
· Enhanced ability to analyze primary and secondary sources within their historical and historiographical contexts.
· Improved research skills, enabling students to undertake an independent research project.
· Enhanced ability to present historical material, both orally and in writing.
Required Texts:
· Christian G. Appy, ed., Cold War Constructions: The Political Culture of United States Imperialism, 1945-1966 (University of Massachusetts Press, 2000) (Appy)
· Robert McMahon, Thomas Paterson, eds, The Origins of the Cold War, 4th ed. (Houghton Mifflin, 1999) (McMahon & Paterson)
· Joseph Smith, The Cold War (Blackwell, 1997) (Smith)
· CSULB History Department, Grammar and Style Manual (2003), available at the department office, F02-106.
Reading from these texts is specified below in the Class Schedule. You must complete these readings BEFORE coming to class.
Other Reading:
In addition to the weekly readings from the books listed above, you will be required to read journal articles and essays from edited collections, also listed in the Class Schedule below, before coming to class. All the journal articles can be accessed through JSTOR or America: History and Life, databases available via electronic resources on COAST. The essays in edited collections will be placed on e-Reserve (password HIST499).
The instructor will distribute copies of original historical documents for discussion in the next class.
Finally, you will be asked to choose one book from those listed in the Class Schedule and report on it in class. Your book report will count toward your participation grade. Guidance about preparing your book report will be provided separately.
Please also note that you will find numerous other books, articles, and essays dealing with various aspects of recent U.S. history in the University Library. The History Librarian, Greg Armento, can assist you with specific requests. Contact him at
Assignments and Grading:
Your final grade will be based upon the following:
1. Preliminary portfolio review: 10 percent (due Monday 24 September)
2. Portfolio: 20 percent (Wednesday 12 December)
3. Research proposal: 5 percent (Wednesday 10 October)
4. Annotated bibliography: 10 percent (Monday 5 November)
5. Book review: 10 percent (Monday 26 November)
6. Oral presentation of research project: 10 percent (various dates)
7. Research paper: 25 percent (Wednesday 12 December)
8. Participation, peer review, book report: 10 percent
Assignment Descriptions:
Portfolios: Students must submit a preliminary portfolio for assessment and feedback on September 24th. Students may also show their portfolio to Professor Sharlene Sayegh-Canada (the portfolio advisor) for a “second opinion” or questions about the portfolio. For questions and/or advising about the portfolio, contact Professor Sayegh-Canada at . The purpose of the preliminary evaluation is to provide feedback in preparation for the final assessment. See the preliminary portfolio assessment checklist distributed separately. Students may submit coursework from History 499 (including the research paper) in their final portfolios. Guidelines for the portfolio are attached below and can also be found at the History Department website.
(Note: Each spring the department awards a prize to the 499 student with the best portfolio at the annual Awards Banquet. Please keep that in mind, both for the prize and the event!)
Research paper: Each of you will submit a 20-25 page research paper, based on in-depth analysis of primary sources and informed by extensive reading in secondary sources. The topic, of your choosing, must be connected to course themes. You should start thinking about topics now. Be prepared to discuss your ideas for the topic of your paper at EACH class meeting.
Meets Criteria for Portfolio Guideline B2.
Research proposal: A two-page plan of research, stating the questions you will address and the sources you will use, with copies for circulation among all seminar members.
Meets Criteria for Portfolio Guideline B3.
Annotated bibliography: An annotated bibliography will serve as a progress report/overview of the relevant primary and secondary sources for your project. You must have at least five primary sources and ten secondary sources for your annotated bibliography. The secondary sources should include at least three monograph and three article citations.
Meets Criteria for Portfolio Guideline B1.
Book review: A three-four page essay assessing the following aspects of the chosen book: content, coverage, and argument; historiographical context; sources, evidence, and methodology; overall significance.
Meets Criteria for Portfolio Guidelines B2.
Oral presentation of research project: Students will be responsible for a fifteen-minute presentation of their research projects and conclusions. More detailed guidance will be circulated separately.
Meets Criteria for Portfolio Guideline B4.
Participation, etc.: History majors should be able to communicate their ideas effectively in oral as well as written form. Accordingly, your active, engaged, and thoughtful involvement in class discussions is required. See evaluation form (to be circulated separately) for further criteria; you will submit your completed form at the last class meeting before the final exam.
Meets Criteria for Portfolio Guideline B3.
More detailed guidance about these assignments will be distributed in class and posted on Beachboard.
This course is a capstone for majors. The written work you submit should be of the highest quality. All essays should be free of grammar, spelling, typographical, and form errors. Please consult the style manual for any writing problems. Please follow the following format for all papers: 1) cover page with your name, course number and title, date, and descriptive title. 2) papers must be typed, double spaced, and stapled. 3) use 1” margins and page numbers. You will submit all essays on www.turnitin.com as well. I urge you to save drafts and copies of your papers in order to avoid the excitement of lost work in case of computer problems. All work is due at the beginning of class on the due date. Any unexcused late work will be penalized ten percent for each day late. Portfolios, preliminary portfolios, and research papers must be submitted on the due date.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is defined as the act of using the ideas or words of another person or persons as if they were one's own, without giving credit to the source. Acknowledgment of an original author or source must be made through appropriate references, i.e., quotation marks, footnotes, or commentary. Students are cautioned that, in conducting their research, they should prepare their notes by (a) either quoting material exactly (using quotation marks) at the time they take notes from a source; or (b) departing completely from the language used in the source, putting the material into their own words. In this way, when the material is used in the paper or project, the student can avoid plagiarism resulting from word-for-word use of notes. Both quoted and paraphrased materials must be given proper citations. Students found guilty of plagiarism may receive a failing grade for the class or be referred to the Office of Judicial Affairs for possible probation, suspension, or expulsion. Please ask the instructor if you have any questions.
Withdrawal Policy:
It is the student’s responsibility to withdraw from classes. Instructors have no obligation to withdraw students who do not attend courses, and may choose not to do so. Withdrawal from a course after the first two weeks of instruction requires the signature of the instructor and department chair, and is permissible only for serious and compelling reasons. During the final three weeks of instruction, withdrawals are not permitted except in cases such as accident or serious illness where the circumstances causing the withdrawal are clearly beyond the student’s control and the assignment of an incomplete is not practical. Ordinarily, withdrawals in this category involve total withdrawal from the University. The deadlines to withdraw from classes are listed in the Schedule for Classes for Fall 2006.
Attendance Policy:
Excused absences include:
1. Illness or injury to the student
2. Death, injury, or serious illness of an immediate family member or the like
3. Religious reasons (California Education Code section 89320)
4. Jury duty or government obligation
5. University sanctioned or approved activities (examples include: artistic performances, forensics presentations, participation in research conferences, intercollegiate athletic activities, student government, required class field trips, etc.)
Faculty members are not obligated to consider other absences as excused.
Faculty members may require students to provide documentation for excused absences.
Make-Up Policy:
This course will include some graded in-class activities that it will not be possible to recreate. If you expect to have an extended absence or multiple absences, you should speak to the instructor about the feasibility of keeping up with course work.
If you miss graded assignments other than the in-class activities because you are absent and the absence falls under the conditions for an excused absence, I will work with you to help you make up the work through comparable, but alternative assignments. Be prepared to show documentation.
Disability Policy:
It is the student’s responsibility to notify the instructor of a need for accommodation of a disability that has been verified by the University.
Schedule of Classes, Readings, and Assignments:
Please note that this schedule is subject to change. Be sure to consult your e-mail and Beachboard regularly.
Week 1
9-5 Introduction(s)
Week 2
9-10 Research Paper Sources Library Workshop (Spidell Room, Library)
9-12 Portfolio Workshop
Week 3
9-17/9-19 The Origins of the Cold War
Everyone reads:
McMahon & Paterson, Introduction, essays by the Kolkos, Schlesinger, Leffler (“America’s National Security Policy”), Costigliola, and Gaddis
Discussion:
Debates among American historians about the origins of the Cold War have often returned to the question: what motivated U.S. foreign policy-makers in the years after World War II? How do the historians excerpted in the McMahon and Paterson collection answer this question? Some commentators have identified several different schools of thought about the origins of the Cold War (“orthodox,” “revisionist,” “post-revisionist,” and even “the new diplomatic history”). How do these schools differ in their interpretation of the forces driving American foreign policy during the early years of the Cold War?
Week 4
9-24/9-26 Cold War Anti-Communism: McCarthyism and the “New Evidence”
Book Reports on:
Ellen Schrecker, Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism in America (1998)
Arthur Herman, Joseph McCarthy: Reexamining the Life and Legacy of America's Most Hated Senator (1999)
John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, In Denial: Historians, Communism, and Espionage (2005)
Everyone reads:
Maurice Isserman and Ellen Schrecker, “‘Papers of a Dangerous Tendency’: From Major Andre's Boot to the VENONA Files,” in Ellen Schrecker, ed., Cold War Triumphalism: The Misuse of History after the Fall of Communism (2004)
Ellen Schrecker, “McCarthyism: Political Repression and the Fear of Communism,” Social Research 71 (2004): 1041-86
Michael E. Parrish, “Soviet Espionage and the Cold War,” Diplomatic History 25 (2001): 105-20
PRELIMINARY PORTFOLIOS DUE Monday 24 September
Discussion:
Joseph McCarthy, the junior senator who gave his name to “McCarthyism,” the mood of over-heated, reckless anticommunism that gripped the U.S. during the late 1940s and 1950s, has generally had a very bad reputation among historians. Recently, however, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, new evidence has emerged about American communism which, some argue, has cast a different light on the question of Soviet espionage in the U.S. What is this evidence, and how successful have been the attempts of some historians to rehabilitate McCarthy’s reputation in light of it?
Week 5
10-1/10-3 Individual Meetings to Return Preliminary Portfolios
Week 6
10-8 No Class – Prepare Research Proposal
10-10 Workshop on Research Proposals
RESEARCH PROPOSAL DUE Wednesday 10 October
Week 7
10-15/10-17 Individual Meetings to Return Research Proposals
Week 8
10-22/10-24 Cold War Gender and Sexuality
Reports on:
Robert Dean, Imperial Brotherhood: Gender and the Making of Cold War Foreign Policy (2004)
David K. Johnson, The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government (2004)
Helen Laville, Cold War Women: The International Activities of American Women’s Organizations (2002)
Everyone reads:
Elaine Tyler May, “Cold War – Warm Hearth: Politics and the Family in Postwar America,” in Steve Fraser and Gary Gerstle, eds, The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order, 1930-1980 (1989)
K.A. Cuordileone, “‘Politics in an Age of Anxiety’: Cold War Political Culture and the Crisis in American Masculinity, 1949-1960,” Journal of American History 87 (2000): 515-45
Robert Dean, “Masculinity as Ideology: John F. Kennedy and the Domestic Politics of Foreign Policy,” Diplomatic History 22 (1998): 29-62
Discussion:
Since roughly 1990, some American historians have attempted to trace connections between the Cold War and the history of American gender identity and sexuality. According to Dean and Cuordileone, how did the Cold War shape American attitudes about masculinity and male sexuality – and how did gendered attitudes affect U.S. Cold War foreign policies? What does May tell us about the experience of women in Cold War America, and how apt is her concept of “domestic containment” as a description of that experience?
Week 9
10-29/10-31 Cold War Culture
Reports on:
Frances Stonor Saunders, The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters (2000)
Tom Engelhardt, The End of Victory Culture: Cold War America and the Disillusioning of a Generation (revised 2nd ed., 2007)
Richard M. Fried, The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming! : Pageantry and Patriotism in Cold-War America (1998)