Interdisciplinary Studies XXX[cr1]

Constructing War and Peace

Northern Europe – Fall 2017

War is the father of all, and the king of all.

Heraclitus, frag. 44 (professor’s translation)

To plunder, butcher, steal, these things the Romans misname empire:

they make a desolation and they call it peace.

Tacitus, Agricola 30.5 (Loeb Classical Library)

Course description[cr2]

A study of the concepts, concerns, practices, and commemoration of war and peace in Northern Europe in specific periods of history.

Expanded description

The earliest written and visual records of life in the ancient Mediterranean refer to war, and the concerns of war and search for peace remain a constant presence in the news today. The technology and politics of war and peace have changed drastically between the reliefs at Karnak or the Mari letters or Homeric epic and our own world, but in some ways we’re having the same conversation: How do we define “war” and “peace”? Who makes the decisions that lead to war, the end of war, or peace? Who has to fight in a war, and who gets to fight? Who has (or gets) to sit on the sidelines, watching and awaiting the outcome? How do soldiers and commanders deal with the stress of committing violence and enduring danger? Are non-combatants off limits, or are they appropriate objects of violence – what’s allowed, and what’s beyond the pale? What are the effects of warfor non-combatants?What about geography and landscape? The threads of war and peace run through time, and continue to dangle, entangle, and fray around us.

The course begins with a detailed study and analysis of war and peace in the first and second centuries C.E., addressing the (hi)story, historiography, and propaganda of Roman practices of war, colonization, military rule, and the pax Augusta/Romana. We will read Roman historiographers and military manuals, questioning their generalconstructions of war and peace and their histories of specific wars, surrenders, and the “peace” of colonial rule through the study of military records, personal letters from soldiers and their families, funerary stelae, and the physical realia of the Roman occupation (forts, camps, weapons, artifacts of daily life). We will also explore particular themes of war and peace in Roman understanding: the definition of self and other (“barbarian”), the “laws” of war, the gendering of warfare, the effects of war on non-combatants.

“When it comes to matters of violence, and how societies cope with conflict, the parallels [between ancient Greece and modern America] are many and range from the literary to the artistic, from the psychological to the personal… The human experience with violence, culture, and survival is one that transcends time” (Lawrence A. Tritle, From Melos to My Lai, xi-xii). This course takes on Tritle’s comparative methodology to connect the Roman conquest of Britain and Germany to the contemporary history of war and peace in Northern Europe. Our intensive study of Roman constructions of war and peace will act as a springboard for the analysis of more recent experiences of war and peace in the places we will travel together: the Troubles in Northern Ireland, World War II in England and Germany, the Cold War in Germany and Slovakia, and the ongoing refugee crisis across Europe.How have constructions of war and peace changed?How do more contemporary understandings echo ancient Rome? How might we use the analysis of the realities and rhetoric of war and peace in Roman antiquity to interrogate the realities and rhetoric of war and peace in our own time and space? What is our responsibility as citizens of this world with respect to the practice, study, and interpretation of war and peace?

General education

Constructing War and Peace satisfies the following general education requirements:

Thinking Historically: This course addresses and analyzes the history, practices, and propaganda of war and peace in the Roman worldthrough significant work with primary sources (including Roman historiographies and literature; military manuals and official records; personal documents like letters; and physical artifacts, including military installations, remains and reconstructions of weapons and armor, tombstones, coins, and monuments) and secondary resources (contemporary studies of Roman historiography and the history of Roman Britain and Germany, and interpretations of the archaeological evidence). Students will gain skill in reading and interpreting primary sources in their historical, geographic, political, and cultural contexts. They will analyze Roman historiography, learning to identify the methods, values, and interpretation involved inmaking and commemorating history in imperial Rome.

Finally, students will compare and contrast the constructions of war and peace in Roman antiquity and contemporary Northern Europe. The analysis of historiography, physical realia, and propaganda of war in ancient Rome will help students identify and explore similar themes in more recent history, addressing both the varying cultural, social, and historical constructions of war and peace in contemporary Europe (World War II, Cold War, and the Troubles in Northern Ireland) and the ways this comparison helps us identify our own interpretations and understandings of war and peace.

Writing Intensive:This course asks students to write for different purposes, with different styles – daily reading notes, short primary source analysis papers, and a research paper. The research paper will be a semester-long project carried out in conversation with the professors, with progressive stages of the project due at different points of the semester.The research paper in particular will give students practice with developing, refining, drafting, and finalizing a major paper; finding and incorporating primary and secondary research; citing properly; and writing in an academic style.

Course learning outcomes

In this course, students will:

  • Analyze the practices, definitions, laws, stories, and propaganda of war and peace in the Roman Empire in the service of identifying and evaluating Roman constructions of war and peace;
  • Compare, contrast, and critique the contextualized constructions of war and peace in Roman antiquity and contemporary Northern Europe;[cr3]
  • Communicate in written form for a variety of purposes and audiences across the curriculum.[cr4]

Please see the Learning Outcomes: Instruction and Assessment Summary for an overview of the ways these outcomes will be developed and assessed over the course of the semester.

Instructors

Caryn Reeder and Sarah Stanley

Course details

Class meeting times will be identified here, along with the professors’ office hours.

Course texts[cr5]

Primary sources: Ancient Rome[cr6]

Julius Caesar. Gallic War. Translated by Carolyn Hammond. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Tacitus. Agricola and Germany. Translated by Anthony Birley. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Selections from Greco-Roman antiquity: Course reader with histories of war, texts representative of themes related to war and peace, and texts representative of broader social and cultural concerns

Museum and site visits: Hadrian’s Wall and the German Limes, British Museum, Altes Museum

Secondary sources: Ancient Rome[cr7]

Catherine M. Gilliver. 2001 (1999). The Roman Art of War. Tempus.

Kurt A. Raaflaub, ed. 2007. War and Peace in the Ancient World. The Ancient World: Comparative Histories. Blackwell.

Caryn Reeder. Chapters on gender, siege warfare, and tropes of war from Women, Children, and War in the Gospel of Luke. Unpublished (as yet!) manuscript.

Additional articles and book chapters (see attached list)

Primary sources: Contemporary Northern Europe[cr8]

Geneva Conventions (

House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee. 2009. The Report of the Consultative Group on the Past in Northern Ireland (

Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Selections from Meditations on the Cross and Letters and Papers from Prison.

World War II primary sources collected at Fordham University (

The Cold War in Germany: Primary sources collected at Brigham Young University (

Richard T. Gray, ed. 1995.Germany Unification and Its Discontents: Documents from the Peaceful Revolution. University of Washington Press.

Museum and site visits: Imperial War Museums (London), Jewish Museum (Berlin), Stasi Museum, Berlin Wall memorial, Miltärhistorisches Museum, Ravensbrück Concentration Camp, Iron Curtain memorial (Bratislava)

Historiography and the study of history[CR10] (methodological concerns)

The Roman siege of Jerusalem: Selections from Josephus, Jewish War; Tacitus, Annals; Cassius Dio, Roman History; Lamentations Rabbah; and (competing) contemporary reconstructions and interpretations of the siege

Selections from Greco-Roman antiquity: Greek and Roman writers on the practices, rhetoric, values, and concerns of historiography

Greg Dickinson, Carole Blair, and Brian Ott, eds. 2010.Places of Public Memory: The Rhetoric of Museums and Memorials. University of Alabama Press.

Andrew Feldherr, ed. 2009. The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Historians. Cambridge University Press.

I. M. Ferris. 2000. Enemies of Rome: Barbarians Through Roman Eyes. Sutton.

Mary Kaldor. 2006 (1998). New & Old Wars. 2nd ed. Stanford University Press.

John Keegan. 1993. A History of War. Hutchinson.

Scott L. Moeschberger and Rebekah A. Philips DeZalia. 2014. Symbols That Bind, Symbols That Divide. Springer.

Lawrence A. Tritle. 2000. From Melos to My Lai: War and Survival. Routledge.

Class policies

Attendance

Attending class means being present physically and mentally: during class, you should be in your seat on time, with all assigned readings completed, prepared to contribute to class discussions. Habitual tardiness, absence of body or mind, and failure to bring assigned readings may result in a lowered final grade.

Technology

Laptops, smart phones, and other devices can be great aids in class. However, these devices also offer many temptations… to check your email, text, Facebook, shop, watch movies, play games, etc. Using your phone or laptop for non-class purposes causes you to miss out on an exciting discussion. You distract all the people who can see your screen, and it’s rude to the people who are participating and trying to learn (not to mention rude and distracting to your professor!).

Here’s something else to consider: some studies suggest that taking notes by hand helps us remember, integrate, and engage with the material better than typing notes. Consider trying it yourself – but in any case, please turn off your phones, and limit your use of technology to accessing course materials or note taking.

Academic honesty

As reflected in the policies on academic integrity on the provost’s page, Westmont College is committed to the highest standards of academic honesty. Please reflect this commitment in your work: avoid cheating on exams, borrowing classmates’ work, falsification, and plagiarism. It is particularly important to clearly and appropriately cite your sources (primary and secondary). Academic dishonesty will be rewarded with a failing grade and an official report to the Provost’s Office. Serious or repeated offenses may result in failure of the course.

Academic accommodations

Students should be aware of Westmont College’s Office of Disability Services, located on the second floor of the library (ext. 6186). The following statement is provided by the director, Sheri Noble ():

Students who have been diagnosed with a disability are strongly encouraged to contact the Office of Disability Services as early as possible to discuss appropriate accommodations for this course. Formal accommodations will only be granted for students whose disabilities have been verified by the Office of Disability Services. These accommodations may be necessary to ensure your equal access to this course.

Grade definitions

Westmont has an extensive description of what it means to get an A, B, C, D, or F. If you haven’t read it, it may be helpful ( Here is my own brief summary of the policy:

  • A: Exceptional. Engages with course material critically, grasps its wider implications, and applies it creatively. Submitted work is superior in content and presentation.
  • B: Very good. Demonstrates interest in and comprehension of the material and the underlying scholarship. Submitted work is neat and mostly free of errors.
  • C: Satisfactory. Meets the course requirements and shows adequate knowledge and understanding of the material. Submitted work is presented according to expectations.
  • D: Poor. Completes course requirements, but submitted work does not show understanding of the material.
  • F: Failing. Course requirements are not met and submitted work indicates a lack of understanding.

Grading scale

A 95-100B 84-86C 74-76 D 64-66

A- 90-94B- 80-83C- 70-73D- 60-63

B+ 87-89C+ 77-79D+ 67-69 F 0-59

Class components

1. Preparing and Participating (30%)[cr11]

This class will operate in part as a seminar. To make the class profitable for you and everyone else, you should be prepared to participate. This means that you need to complete readings and assignments before class, bring all readings with you, and be ready to contribute to class discussions in a meaningful way. Your grade will be negatively impacted by lack of preparation and participation, systematic tardiness, and excessive absence of mind or body.

Being prepared to discuss an assigned reading requires deep thought. Read assignedprimary texts carefully and intentionally, noting literary elements; key words and ideas; and the construction of the concepts of war and peace. You should be able to summarize and critically evaluate secondary readings. Is the argument logical? Is the supporting evidence adequate? Are alternate interpretations considered? Also consider how the particular readings assigned for the dayconnect with other class readings and discussions, other courses you’ve taken, program speakers, and your own experience of conflict, violence, reconciliation, and peacemaking.

To help you prepare for class discussions, please complete the following brief analysis of the assigned readings for each day: (a) summarize the main point of each assigned reading in 1-2 sentences; (b) list 3 questions, concerns, or critiques you have after completing all readings; and (c) connect the day’s readings to the class as a whole (conceived of in very broad terms!). Save your analyses in a single file on Google docs, shared with your professors, in the following format:

Class date and assigned readings:

(a) Summary of each reading:

(b) 3 questions, concerns, or critiques:

(c) Connections:

There may be occasional quizzes or in-class writing assignments to test and develop your comprehension of course readings.

2. Primary source analyses (30%)[cr12]

In this class, we will be working extensively with primary sources: ancient and modern historiographies and literature, stelae, coins, monuments, artifacts of war, military installations. These five papers give you the opportunity to develop your skill in locating, analyzing, and interpreting these sources, taking into consideration their composition, form, and original contexts and functions (as much as they can be reconstructed). Your analyses should consider major course concepts in relation to your sources: definitions of war and peace; concern with fighters and non-combatants; gender and age; violence; propaganda; etc.

Three of your sources should be related to the Roman Empire, and two sources should relate to contemporary conflicts in Northern Europe. Each paper should be approximately two pages long.

3. Research paper (40%)[cr13]

The research paper offers you the opportunity to engage deeply with the central concerns of the course. You should address one of the core concepts of the course in both first century and contemporary contexts, comparing and contrasting particular constructions of war and peace in their historical, social, cultural, and political contexts. You should draw on primary and secondary sources from class as well as libraries, archives, and museums; contemporary media and oral histories; and secondary resources.

Writing a major research paper is a process. This project involves a series of steps:

  • A research proposal and initial meeting with your professors to hone your ideas;
  • An annotated bibliography of at least five primary and five secondary sources;
  • An outline of your research and argument and second meeting with your professors;
  • A first draft of your paper with peer review;
  • A final paper (10-12 pages).

Course plan[cr14]

Part 1: Historiography and hermeneutics[cr15]

To introduce the core concerns of the class, we will address:

  • Historiography in Roman antiquity (from the horse’s mouth and from contemporary classics scholarship)
  • Roman interpretations and propaganda of war and peace (from Roman historiography and epic, funerary monuments, coins, and imperial monuments)
  • Contemporary methodologies in the interpretation of Roman antiquity(classics and classic archaeology)
  • An introduction to the effective use of libraries, museums, and archives for historical research
  • The methodologies of John Keegan and Lawrence Tritle (the past and present in conversation around the central concerns of war)
  • Perspectives on peace and war: Analysis of alternate histories of the siege of Jerusalem from the first and twenty-first centuries

Part 2: War and peace in the Roman world[cr16]

Topics will include:

  • The history of the Roman Empire from Augustus to Domitian, with a focus on Britain and Germany
  • Roman military theory, practice, and violence
  • The paxRomana of the Empire
  • Tacitus, Agricola and Germany: analysis of military occupation and colonialism from the perspective of the colonizer
  • Hadrian’s Wall, the British Museum, the German limes, and the Altes Museum: Learning to interpret therealiaof war and peace
  • War and peace in Roman antiquity: Understanding the constructions, concerns, politics, propaganda, and civil presence of war and peace

Part 3: War and peace in Northern Europe

Topics will include:

  • The peoples, events, and stories of the troubles in Northern Ireland; World War II in London, Berlin, and Dresden; divided Berlin and Germany; the Iron Curtain and the Cold War
  • The landscape of war (destruction of cities, battlefields, military installations, post-war reconstruction)
  • The commemoration of war (especially monuments and holidays of victory and defeat)
  • The refugee crisis in contemporary Europe: social and political responses to the victims of war
  • Acts of terrorism as acts of war in contemporary Europe

Part 4: Constructing war and peace[cr17]