Prof. Andrew Donson

505 Herter Hall

Tel. 545-6676

Email:

Office Hours:Mon & Fri 10:00-11:30

and by appointment

Fall 2011

German/History 323

Modern Germany, 1750 to the present

This course surveys the troubled history of the modern German nation-state. It traces how the loose federation of German monarchies and duchies coalesced in the late nineteenth century into a European powerhouse and how the monarchy, the aristocracy, the middle class, and the world’s largest and best organized workers’ movement shaped its subsequent development. Topics include absolutism, the old regime, the Enlightenment, the Napoleonic occupation, the 1848 revolution, unification and rule under Bismarck, German Jews before 1914, mass politics under Wilhelm II, the First World War, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi dictatorship, the Second World War and the Holocaust, the divided Germanys, and the Federal Republic since 1989.

This course fulfills the 4-credit HS-Gen Ed requirement. As a 300-level history course, it is also reading-intensive, about 80 pages per week of challenging material. We will be reading mostly primary source texts: excerpts of a full-length monograph, autobiographies,speeches, political pamphlets, and magazine articles from the distant German past. Students have to submit weekly written answers to questions on these texts. In the spirit of gen-ed goals, these assignments help develop the main skill of the historian:placing events and ideas in their historical context and drawing conclusions about causes and consequences. The exercises sometimes ask students to take a position in a debate and, more importantly, offer reasons for their opinion. These answers then become the basis for class discussions and prepare students for the writing essay assignments: five one-paragraph essays. In each, students must take a position in a debate or interpretation and support conclusions using at least six pieces of evidence from the primary source texts.

To purchase at Amherst Books (8 Main St, tel. 256-1547) or use the reserves:

*Allen, William. The Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town 1922-1945. New York: Scholastic, 1984. ISBN: 0-531-05633-3.

**Fulbrook, Mary. A Concise History of Germany. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2004. ISBN: 0-521-54071-2.

**Frank Tipton, History of Modern Germany since 1815 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003) ISBN 0-520-24049-9

*One copy on 2-hr reserve and fifteen copies for checkout in the 5-college library

**Available on 2 hour reserve at DuBois Library.

To purchase a Copycat Copies (37 E. Pleasant St., tel. 549-2854)

Coursepack for History / German 323: Modern German History: Prof. Andrew Donson.

Moodle

This course is part of the pilot program of Moodle, the learning management system that will be replacing Spark on campus in 2012. Login at The Moodle site contains this syllabus, a grade calculator, lecture outlines, the reading and essay assignments, links to submit these assignments, feedback on your essays, and, eventually, question pools for the midterm and final exams. You can also check your grades on Moodle. Note that Moodle works best with the Google Chrome browser.

Student-generated FAQ

Rather than emailing me with general questions about either the content or the assignments, post them to the student-generated FAQ on Moodle. The answers will be then available to everyone. Students should also try to answer their peers’ questions.

Undergraduate teaching assistants

Five seniors who took this course last year are serving as undergraduate teaching assistants this semester. They will be facilitating the class discussions and leading exam review sessions. They will also be available for consultation on the essays. Although they will take attendance, they will not do any grading. Each student will be assigned to one undergraduate TA.

Michael Minafo / Mia Shimokawa / Avery Fuerst
Al / Patrick Whittle

Lecture notes

So-called guided notes for all the lectures are available on Moodle. Print them out, bring them to class, and add your own notes to them.

Final grade composition
Percentage of final grade
Sixteen reading assignments (ungraded) / 35
Five one-paragraph essays / 35
Midterm examination / 15
Final examination / 15
Bonus on reading assignments / 2

Letter grade equivalencies: A=92.5-100; A-=89.5-92.4; B+=87.5-89.4; B=82.5-88.4; B-=79.5-82.4; C+=77.5-79.4; C=72.5-78.4; C-=69.5-72.4; D+=67.5-69.4; D=62.5-68.4; D-=59.5-62.4; F=below 59.5.

Essays

Students must write five one-paragraph essays based on the primary source readings. Topics, guidelines, and expectations are available on Moodle. The first draft of the first essay will be graded pass/fail. Students must then rewrite it for a letter grade. Students may rewrite their one-paragraph essays for a higher grade as many times as they wish. The final grade on the paper will at a minimum be the average of the first grade and the highest rewrite grade, although it may be higher.

Reading assignments

The reading assignments are ungraded—that is, students will receive 100% if they submit them on time and make a good-faith effort to answer all the questions. Students have to submit the assignmentsbefore class via Moodle. In addition, they must bring to classa paper copyor a copy on a laptop or tablet. Students without a copy of their assignment will get only half-credit for that day’s attendance.

One purpose of these assignments is to give students incentive to prepare for discussion in class. Hence, assignments turned in late without a legitimate excuse will be marked down 40 points for the reading assignment grade. In terms of your final grade, a late reading assignment will be calculated as a 75. Why a 75 and not a 60? Each assignment is weighted proportionately to its length, and to get 100 on the reading assignment portion of the final grade, students need to have a weighted average of 80 percent or above on all the reading assignments. Students who have less than 80 percent will receive a reading assignment grade calculated into the final gradeaccording to the following formula: (weighted average on all reading assignments)/80. Students with a weighted average over 80 percent will receive 100 on their final reading assignment grade. In addition, they will have bonus points added to their final grade according to the following formula: [(weighted average on all reading assignments)-80]/10. Examples:

Reading Assignment / Weighted average
of assignment / Grades, Student A / Grades, Student B / Grades, Student C / Grades, Student D
1 / 4% / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100
2 / 5% / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100
3 / 6% / 100 / 60 / 60 / 60
4 / 6% / 100 / 100 / 0 / 0
5 / 7% / 100 / 60 / 60 / 60
6 / 2% / 100 / 100 / 100 / 0
7 / 5% / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100
8 / 3% / 100 / 100 / 0 / 0
9 / 3% / 100 / 100 / 100 / 0
10 / 6% / 100 / 100 / 60 / 60
11 / 4% / 100 / 100 / 60 / 60
12 / 11% / 100 / 60 / 100 / 0
13 / 11% / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100
14 / 9% / 100 / 100 / 0 / 0
15 / 11% / 100 / 100 / 60 / 60
16 / 7% / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100
Weighted average / 100 / 93.3 / 68.2 / 51.8
Final Reading Assignment Grade / 100 / 100 / 85.2 / 64.8
Bonus Points (for Final Grade) / 2.0 / 1.3 / 0 / 0

An additional incentive to complete the reading assignments: Close to half of the questions on the exams will come from the reading assignments.

Grade calculator

A grade calculator is available on Moodle for determining grades according to the above formula.

Turnitin

Students must submit a computer file of their essays and reading assignments to “Turnitin” via Moodle.

Midterm and final exams

The exams will consist of seven short-answer questions. Three or four these will be the actual questions from the reading assignments. The rest will be based on the lectures. Students chose fourto answer. The final exam is not cumulative: It covers only the reading and lecture material after October 21st.

Attendance and participation

Attendance is mandatory and includes being prepared by bringingthe readings and completed assignments to class. Students will have their grade lowered by two points for every additional missed class beyond five without a legitimate excuse. Please be sure that you sign in everyday with your TA. If you have a legitimate reason to miss class, please show good faith by contacting four TA before class. Some examples of a legitimate excuse are illness or death of a friend or family member (there are others as well). Having too much homework is not a legitimate excuse.

Workload affidavit

Please agree to the affidavit by selecting “true” on Moodle: “Although History / German 323 fulfills a Gen Ed HS requirement, it is a four-credit upper level history course that assumes nine hours of work outside of class. In addition, because of the weekly writing assignments, this work requires more work than other 4-credit upper-level classes, according to past students. The grading structure is designed to reward diligent students generously who complete the reading assignments and punish those who do not.”

Late Papers, Missed Exams, and Other Student Responsibilities

  • All students must sign the affidavit at the end of this syllabus.
  • Use of non-course materials on a laptop or smart phone is not permitted during class. Students who do not follow this rule will be asked to leave the room and will not receive credit for attendance.
  • Late papers: A late paper without a legitimate excuse may be marked down five points for each day it is late. Students who speak to me promptly about late papers will have fewer points deducted than those who avoid the issue.
  • Plagiarizing or cheating is a serious violation of academic integrity.

If you are panicked and can’t finish your paper or assignment, plan to hand it in late and take a penalty of a few points. I can often aid students who are panicked about their exams as well. I happily work with students who are having trouble.

A student caught plagiarizing or cheating on any assignment will get a minimum of a 0 on the assignment or ten points off their final grade, whichever is greater. Students will also be reported to the academic integrity board. I will advise that students who commit more than one act of academic dishonesty be expelled from the university.

Calendar of Lectures, Papers, Exams, and Reading Assignments

  • Readings are suggested material from the textbook (not the coursepack) that correspond to the lectures. Primary source readings are listed in the individual reading assignments, available on Moodle
  • “RA #” means reading assignment number
  • Tipton = Frank Tipton, A History of Modern Germany;
  • Fulbrook = Mary Fulbrook, A Concise History of Germany

1 / Wed, Sep 7 / Lecture: Intro; The Old Regime
Readings: Tipton, 1-26, 39-45, 69-73, 145-150; Fulbrook, 1-8
Music: Bach,Cello suite
Complete workload affidavit on Moodle.
Fri, Sep 9 / Lecture: Absolutism; Prussian Militarism; Southern Germany; The Enlightenment
Readings:Tipton, 49-54; Fulbrook, 69-84
Music: Schubert,Trout Quintet
2 / Mon, Sep 12 / Lecture: The French Revolution
Readings:Fulbrook, 94-104
Music: Handel,Music for the Royal Fireworks
RA #1 due: Enlightened Absolutism
Wed, Sep 14 / Lecture: The Congress of Vienna; 1848
Readings: Tipton, 73-89; Fulbrook, 104-122
Music: Beethoven, Symphony no. 5
RA #2 due: Conservative and Progressive Trends in the Early 19th Century
Fri, Sep 16 / Lecture: The Iron Chancellor of Prussia; The Prussian-German Constitution
Readings: Tipton, 111-128, 156-163; Fulbrook, 122-131
Music: Richard Wagner, Flight of the Valkyries
3 / Mon, Sep 19 / Lecture: The Kulturkampf; The Social Democratic Party; Social Legislation
Readings: Tipton, 107-111, 163-169; Fulbrook, 131-137
Music: Amadeus Mozart, Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Wed, Sep 21 / Music: Franz Schubert, An die Musik
RA #3 due: Bismarck’s Germany
Fri, Sep 23 / Paper workshop. Please review essay questions and bring your coursepack.
4 / Mon ,Sep 26 / Lecture: Jews in the Middle Ages, Enlightenment, and the Napoleonic Occupation
Readings:None
Music: Felix Mendelssohn, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Symphony No. 4
Wed, Sep 28 / Lecture: Jews before and during the Kaiserreich
Readings:Tipton, 100-102, 110-111, 165-166, 226-229; Fulbrook, 131-132.
Music: J.S. Bach, Goldberg Variations
Pass/fail draft of firstessay due
Fri, Sep 30 / Music: Franz Liszt, Hungarian Rhapsody
RA #4 due: Jews and Anti-Semitism in 19th-Century Germany
5 / Mon, Oct 3 / Lecture:Economics and Social Effects of Industrialization
Readings:Tipton, 61-66, 94-100, 150-152, 184-196
Music: Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 3
Wed, Oct 5 / Lectures:Working-class consciousness; Revisionism in Social Democracy
Readings:Tipton, 234-237;
Music: Albert Berg, Sonata, Opus 1, Flowing
Fri , Oct 7 / Music:Schubert, Lieder (various)
RA #5 due: Social Democracy and the Working Class
Letter-grade draft of first essay due
6 / Mon, Oct 10 / No class.
Tue, Oct 11 / Lecture:Kaiser Wilhelm and the Mismanagement of Politics; Social Reform
Readings:Tipton, 175-179, 223-226, 240-249; Fulbrook, 137-148
Music: Johannes Brahms, Waltz in A Flat, Trio for Piano, Violin, and Horn, Opus 40
Wed, Oct 12 / Lecture:German Military Culture
Music: Robert Schumann, Lieder der Mignon, op. 98a
RA #6 due: Social reform
Fri, Oct 14 / Lecture:Imperialism; The Crisis of the Monarchy
Readings:Tipton, 249-258; Fulbrook, 148-150
Music: Richard Wagner, Parsifal
Second essay due
7 / Mon, Oct 17 / Music: Kurt Weil and Bertholt Brecht, Mackie Messer (Mack the Knife)
RA #7 due: The Crisis of the Monarchy
Wed, Oct 19 / Midterm exam. Arrive early.
Fri, Oct 21 / Lecture:The Origins of WWI; The Campaigns and Occupations of WWI
Readings:Tipton, 258-283
Music: Arnold Schoenberg, Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31
8 / Mon, Oct 24 / Lecture:The Home Front; The Polarization of German Politics; The Origins of the 1918 Revolution
Readings:Tipton, 284-319; Fulbrook, 150-154
Music: Josephine Baker, Bye Bye Blackbird, Stormy Weather, Confessin’
Wed, Oct 26 / Lecture:Four Directions of the 1918 Revolution
Reading:Tipton, 319-322, 373-377
Music: Kurt Schwitters, Simultanged
RA #8 due: The First World War
Fri, Oct 28 / Lecture:The Weimar Constitution; The Versailles Treaty
Readings:Tipton, 391-401
Music: Comedian Harmonists, Blumentopf, Veronika
RA #9 due: The 1918 Revolution
9 / Mon, Oct 31 / Lecture:Women and Gender in Kaiserreich; Inflation, 1914-1922
Readings:Tipton, 152-155, 199-201, 306-307, 326-340, 352-357; Fulbrook, 155-156
Music: Marlene Dietrich, Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt
Wed, Nov 2 / Lecture:Hyperinflation; Women during WWI and the Weimar Republic
Readings:Tipton, 352-358
Music: Joseph Hayden and August Heinrich Hoffmann, Deutschlandlied
RA #10 due: Women and Sexuality during the Kaiserreich
Fri, Nov 4 / Lecture:the Weimar Republic Failure of Leadership
Readings:Tipton, 377-391, 401-410; 156-172
Music: Webern, Piano Variations Op. 27
RA #11 due: Women and Sexuality during the Weimar Republic
10 / Mon, Nov 7 / Lecture:Weimar Popular Opposition; Weimar Culture
Readings:Tipton, 340-349, 358-369
Music: Paul Whiteman, Happy Feet, I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise
Wed, Nov 9 / Lecture:The Rise of the Nazis; Nazi Revolution
Readings:Tipton, 410-426; Fulbrook, 172-179
Music: Sidney Bechet, 12th Street Rag ,‘Taint Nobody’s Business If I Do
Fri, Nov 11 / Music: Fred Bird Orchestra, Lene Lehman Ging Einmal Spazieren, Bouquet
RA #12 due: Nazi Seizure of Power, Part I
11 / Mon, Nov 14 / Lecture:Theories of Nazism; Night of the Long Knives; Operation Barbarossa
Readings:Tipton, 427-451, 457-485; Fulbrook, 179-187
Music: Richard Strauss, Violin Sonta op. 18 in E-Flat Major
Wed, Nov 16 / Lectures:Eugenics; Jews in Nazi Germany
Readings:Tipton, 349-352, 451-456, 486-495; Fulbrook, 197-204
Music: Fettes Brot, Emanuela
Fri, Nov 18 / Lecture:Public opinion in Nazi Germany
Readings:none
Music: Herbert Roth, Rennsteiglied
RA #13 due: Nazi Seizure of Power, Part II
12 / Mon , Nov 21 / Lecture:Open
Music: Nico and the Velvet Underground, Femme Fatale
RA #14 due: Hitler’s Rule in the Third Reich
Wed, Nov 23 / No class. Thanksgiving
Fri, Nov 25 / No class. Thanksgiving
13 / Mon, Nov 28 / Lecture:Cold War and Democratization; The stable 1950s
Readings:Tipton, 496-521, 529-534, 540-545, 547-557; Fulbrook, 205-212, 212-215 (West Germany only)
Music: Nina Hagen, Die Wind hat mir ein Lied erzählt
Wed, Nov 30 / Lecture:West Germany in the 1960s; Foreigners in West Germany
Readings:Tipton, 558-570, 573-576, 582-584, 594-600; 215-243 (West Germany only)
Music: Funny van Dannen, Als Willy Brandt Bundeskanzler war…
Fri, Dec 2 / Music: Nena, 99 Luftballons
RA #15 due: Foreigners and West German Democracy
14 / Mon, Dec 5 / Lecture:The Stability of East Germany; Sex in the East
Readings:Tipton, 525-529, 545-547, 592-594, 584-588; Fulbrook, 212-243 (West Germany only)
Music: Hanns Eisler, Auferstanden aus Ruinen
Wed, Dec 7 / Lecture: 1989 Revolution; Post-1989
Readings:Tipton, 570-573, 580-582, 614-667; Fulbrook, 243-261.
Music: Die Pudhys, Sommernacht, Langstreckenlauf
Fri, Dec 9 / Music: Die Prinzen, Gabi und Klaus, Mein bester Freund
RA #16 due: The Stability of East Germany
TBA / Final exam
At the final exam / Third, fourth, and fifth essays due

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