History 433:
Globalization and Empire in American History
Virginia Wesleyan College
Fall 2006
Dr.
Dan Margolies
Office: Blocker 15
Office
Hours: M, 4:30-6; W, 4:30-6; TH, 4:30-6
or by appointment. Come on by!
Email: dmargolies@vwc.edu
Webpage:
http://facultystaff.vwc.edu/~dmargolies/
Phone: 455-5716
Class Meeting: Monday, Wednesday, 3:00-4:415
This course is a study of the impact of the
complex international process of globalization on United States history. We evaluate the American pursuit of empire
and power in the capitalist world system.
The class also concentrates on the legal, administrative, political,
ideological, cultural, and military systems and strategies created over time by
policymakers in the United States to shape and dominate an increasingly
interconnected and interdependent world.
The class discusses and
dissects the different theoretical approaches developed by foreign policy and
legal historians to explain the meaning of globalization and empire in American
history.
This course is designated an Institutional and Cultural Systems (S) course
under the VWC General Studies program.
We will proceed chronologically and emphasize
historical change, while focusing on systemic analysis and interdisciplinary
theoretical modeling of interrelated historical events and socio-political
institutions.
Required Books: (on sale at the college bookstore)
Doron S. Ben-Atar, Trade Secrets: Intellectual Piracy and the Origins of American Industrial Power (2004)
Christina Duffy Burnett
and Burke Marshall, eds., Foreign in a Domestic Sense: Puerto Rico, American Expansion, and the
Constitution (2001)
Jeffrey Friedan, Global Capitalism: Its Rise and Fall in the Twentieth Century (2006)
Walter LaFeber, Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism
(2002)
Lloyd C. Gardner and
Marilyn Young, The New Empire: A 21st Century Teach-In on U.S.
Foreign Policy
Jack Goldsmith and Tim
Wu, Who Controls the Internet? : Illusions of a Borderless World (2006)
Gary Lawson and Guy
Seidman, The Constitution of Empire: Territorial Expansion and American Legal
History (2004)
Frank Lechner, ed. The
Globalization Reader 2ND
edition (2004)
Thomas J. McCormick, America's
Half-Century: United States Foreign Policy in the Cold War and After
Thomas Schoonover, Uncle
Sam's War Of 1898 And The Origins Of Globalization (2003)
Eileen P. Scully, Bargaining
with the State from Afar: American
Citizenship in Treaty Port China, 1844-1942 (2001)
Steve Striffler and Mark
Moberg, eds., Banana Wars: Power,
Production, and History in the Americas (2003)
Course Requirements and Expectations
Attendance and
Participation:
Regular attendance in
class is, of course, mandatory, as is prompt completion of all readings and
assignments. Your active participation
in all aspects of the class is expected, and your final grade will reflect your
level of involvement and commitment.
Late
assignments will be graded down one grade per day and are
accepted only at the discretion of the professor.
If your cell phone rings
during class (unless authorized by the professor) your final grade will be
lowered by one-half letter grade.
You are expected to abide
by the College's Honor Code without exception.
The Globalization and
Empire Group Blog:
As a central component of
this class, we will maintain a group blog to which each member is expected to
contribute regularly if not daily.
Student blog members are expected to reflect on the course content,
discussions, and readings as well as to explore the broader context and impact
of the themes we cover by linking to and discussing web resources. The focus, content, and frequency of each
students’ contribution will be explained the first day of class. Selected written assignments will also be
posted on the blog.
Written Assignments:
There will be several
papers due throughout the semester covering the readings as well as
explorations in the current literature on the internet and in library
databases. These written exercises will
help prepare you for class discussion and will improve your analytical and
writing skills. The due dates for them
will be announced and discussed in class as we go along.
Primary Documents Research Paper and Presentation:
Each
student will chose an aspect of American empire, imperial governance, or
American-led globalization, or any significant event/commodity/theme in the
history of American empire and globalization (subject to the approval of the
professor) and will research this topic and produce a 10-15 page paper. Each
student will hand in a first draft and present their findings to the class in a
brief scholarly presentation. After the
presentations, and questions and comments from the class and professor, each
student will revise their paper.
Grades will be
determined as follows:
Participation in
discussion: 20%
Blog: 20%
Written Assignments: 25%
Paper: 35%
The following grading point scale will be used in
determining your grade, subject to the discretion of the instructor: A=
93-100; A- = 90-92; B+ = 88-89; B = 83-87; B- = 80-82; C+ = 78-79; C = 73-77;
C- = 70-72 D= 65-69; D - = 60-64; F = less than 60
ACCOMMODATION FOR
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
In accordance with Title 5, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and
the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, reasonable accommodation will be
provided to any student who has followed the College's procedures as outlined
in the current Academic Bulletin. It
is best to begin this process by contacting the disability services
coordinator, Fayne Pearson (455-3246) at the beginning of the semester. Once
the need for accommodations has been officially established, the student should
consult with the instructor to insure that the student's needs can be met as
effectively as possible.
Email policy:
I do not respond to or read emails that lack
capitalization, proper punctuation, or a salutation. Email is a vital tool
of communication for educators and scholars and all students must be familiar
with its effective use. I encourage you
to contact me via email whenever you have questions or comments about the
course or the assignments.
Schedule of Readings and Topics:
Each section below lists
the major topics discussed during the week.
Any changes will be announced in class.
Please be sure to bring your books to class when we discuss them.
Week 1 Introduction
to the historical study of globalization and empire
Readings: Globalization
Reader, part 1-2 (selections)
Remarks by Chairman Ben S. Bernanke at the
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's Thirtieth Annual Economic Symposium, Jackson
Hole, Wyoming, August 25, 2006 (handout)
Week 2: The
Market Economy and the World System
Reading: Globalization Reader, part 2-4
Week 3: Early Globalization
Readings: Friedan,
parts 1-2
Readings: Friedan, parts 3-4
Week 5: Ideas, Inventions, Commerce, and Power
Reading: Ben-Atar
Readings: Lawson
and Seidman
Week 7 Extraterritoriality and Jurisdiction
in Globalization
Reading: Scully
Week 8 Empire, and Jurisdiction
Reading: Burnett and Marshall
Readings: Striffler
and Moberg
Week 10 Insular Empire and Globalization
Reading: Schoonover
Week 11 The American Century?
Reading: McCormick
Week 12 American
Cultural Imperialism and Globalization
Readings: LaFeber
Week 13 Varieties of Globalization
Readings: Globalization Reader, parts 5-7
Week 14 Reactions
to Globalization
Reading: Globalization Reader, parts 8-10
Week 15 Empire
and Globalization in the 21st Century
Reading: Gardner and Young