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Professor: Steve Estes
E-mail: steve.estes@sonoma.edu
Office: Stevenson 2070 D
Phone: 707.664.2424
Office Hours: M 1-2:00 pm & T/TH 11-12:00 am
Class Meets: 2:00-5:40 Mondays
Course Objectives:
This graduate seminar explores connections between race and nationalism in the
modern world. We begin with an overview of race and racism with some brief forays
into critical race theory as it has been interpreted by historians. Then we
begin a loosely chronological march through the late-nineteenth and twentieth
centuries, beginning with an investigation of European colonialism and its legacies
in Africa and Latin America. We move on to look at the competing forms of racial
nationalism that fired much of the conflict during the Second World War and
the anti-colonial struggles that rose in the wake of the war. Finally, we end
with an examination of race and nationalism today. It is often difficult for
historians in America to step outside of the racial paradigm dominant in the
United States. The comparative nature of the readings in this class is intended
to help us get a more global perspective on the evolution of race and nationalism.
Texts:
Nancy Applebaum, et al., Race and Nation in Modern Latin America
Christopher Browning, Ordinary Men
John Dower, War Without Mercy
George Fredrickson, Racism
Adam Hochschild, King Leopold's Ghost
Robert Kaplan, Balkan Ghosts
Anthony Marx, Making Race and Nation
+ Reserve Readings
Course Requirements:
Classroom Participation & Reading: As a graduate history seminar, meeting
once a week on Monday afternoons (2:00 pm -5:40 pm), this course requires that
students keep up with the reading and participate in class discussions. At the
beginning of the term students will choose one week to read both the required
and two of the optional readings so that they can lead the discussion for half
of the allotted class time. (30% of final grade) You must come to consult with
me the week before you lead the discussion.
Papers & Presentations: There are three papers in this class. First, students will do a five-page historiographical essay on the readings (including two optional readings) for the week in which they are leading the discussion. Second, students will choose one other book from the required readings on which they will write a three-page (AHR style review). The third paper, 20-25 pages in length, will be based on primary and secondary source research. Students will present this work in the last two weeks of the semester. (Paper 1: 20% of final grade; Paper 2: 10% of final grade; Paper 3: 40% of final grade—including grades on drafts and a 10-minute research presentation at the end of the semester.)
Week I: Introduction 9.08
Required Reading: None
Part 1: Student Introductions & Discussion of Reviews / Research Topics
Part 2: View & Discuss American History X and Hate
Week II: Racism in a Historical Perspective 9.15
Required Reading: George Fredrickson, Racism: A Short History
Part 1: Discuss Reading
Part 2: View Black and White (clip)
Week III: Race Theory and the Practice of History 9.22
Required Reading: Barbara Jeanne Fields, "Ideology and Race in American
History," in Kouser and McPherson, eds., Region, Race, and Reconstruction
and Martha Hodes, "The Mercurial Nature and Abiding Power of Race,"
American Historical Review 2003 108(1): 84-118.
Optional Reading: David Goldberg, Racial Subjects; Thomas Holt, "Marking:
Race, Race-Making, and the Writing of History," American Historical
Review 1995 (100): 1-20; and Ann Laura Stoller, "Racial Histories
and Their Regimes of Truth," Political Power and Social Theory
1997 (11): 183-206; or Richard Delgado, Critical Race Theory.
Part 1: Student-led Discussion & Reviews
Week IV: Race and Colonialism 9.29
Required Reading: Adam Hochschild, King Leopold's Ghost
Optional Reading: Georges Brausch, Belgian Administration in the Congo;
Mary Hastings Bradley, Caravans and Cannibals; Joseph Conrad, Heart
of Darkness; Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible; Thomas
Pakenham, The Scramble for Africa; or James Hingston Tuckey, Narrative
of an Expedition.
Part 1: Student-led Discussion & Reviews
Part 2: Colonialism Debate
Week V: Colonialism and Its Legacies in Latin America 10.06
Required Reading: Nancy Applebaum, et al., Race and Nation in Modern Latin
America, vii-131.
Optional Readings: Patrick Bryan, The Jamaican People; Sarah Chambers,
From Subjects to Citizens; Frederick Cooper, et al., Beyond Slavery;
Ada Ferrer, Insurgent Cuba; Ann McClintock, Imperial Leather;
or Greg Grandin, The Blood of Guatemala.
Part 1: Student-Led Discussion & Reviews
Part 2: View Burn (clips)
Week VI: Race and Nation in Modern Latin America 10.13
Required Writing: Research proposal (1-page on thesis & sources) due Friday,
10.10.
Required Reading: Nancy Applebaum, et al., Race and Nation in Modern Latin
America, 132-277. You should also read your classmates’ proposals.
Optional Reading: Ada Ferrer, Insurgent Cuba; Richard Graham, The
Idea of Race in Latin America; Louis A. Pérez, Jr., The War
of 1898; Thomas E. Skidmore, Black into White; or Nancy Leys Stepan,
"The Hour of Eugenics".
Part 1: Student-led Discussion & Reviews
Part 2: Paper Proposal Workshop
Week VII: Nazi Nationalism 10.20
Required Reading: Christopher Browning, Ordinary Men. (Reserve)
Optional Reading: Christopher Browning, The Path to Genocide; Michael
Burleigh, The Racial State; Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, Hitler's Willing
Executioners; Raul Hilberg, Perpetrators, Victims, Bystanders;
or Ika Hugel-Marshall, Invisible Women.
Part 1: Student-led Discussion & Reviews
Part 2: View Triumph of the Will (clips)
Week VIII: Race and Power in the Pacific 10.27
Required Reading: John Dower, War Without Mercy
Optional Reading: Haruko Taya Cook, Japan at War; John Dower, Embracing
Defeat; Marc S. Gallicchio, The African American Encounter with Japan
and China; or Joseph Henning, Outposts of Civilization.
Part 1: Student-led Discussion & Reviews
Part 2: Race and Nation-Building Discussion
Week IX: Racing the Cold War 11.03
Required Writing: Draft of research paper introduction (2 pages) due Friday,
10.31.
Required Reading: Thomas Borstelmann, "Hedging Our Bets and Buying Time,"
Diplomatic History 2000 24(3): 435-463 and Gerald Horne, "Race
from Power," Diplomatic History 1999 23(3): 437-461. (Reserve)
Optional Reading: Thomas Borstelmann, The Cold War and the Color Line;
Mary Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights; Kenneth Kusmer, "Hot War,
Cold War, and Civil Rights," Journal of Policy History 2002 14(4):
431-438; or Renee Romano, "No Diplomatic Immunity," Journal of
American History 2000 87(2): 546-579.
Part 1: Student-led Discussion & Reviews
Part 2: Research Paper Intro Discussion & Writing Workshop
Week X: A Comparative Political Perspective (Part I) 11.10
Required Reading: Anthony Marx, Making Race and Nation, 1-190.
Optional Reading: Peter Beattie, The Tribute of Blood; Basil Davidson,
The Black Man's Burden; Carl Degler, Neither Black Nor White;
Mark Mathabane, Kaffir Boy; or Thomas Skidmore, Black
Into White.
Part 1: Student-led Discussion & Reviews
Part 2: View Mandela (clips)
Week XI: A Comparative Political Perspective (Part II) 11.17
Required Writing: Draft Excerpt (any 3-4 pages of your research paper, except
the introduction) due Friday, 11.14.
Required Reading: Anthony Marx, Making Race and Nation, 191-278; and
writinng group drafts.
Optional Reading: Charles V. Hamilton, Beyond Racism; Grant H. Cornwell,
et al., Global Multiculturalism; Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom;
Richard Wilson, The Politics of Race and Reconciliation in South Africa;
or Howard Winant, The World is a Ghetto.
Part 1: Student-led Discussion & Reviews
Part 2: View or Uncommon Ground (clips) and Rough Draft workshop.
Week XII: Research and Writing Week 11.24
No Class Meeting
Week XIII: Ethnic Cleansing and the Post-Modern State 12.01
Required Reading: Robert D. Kaplan, Balkan Ghosts
Optional Reading: Thomas Friedman, From Beirut to Jerusalem; Philip
Gourevitch, We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our
Families; Robert Kaplan, Soldiers of God; or Norman Naimark, Fires
of Hatred.
Part 1: Student-led Discussion & Reviews
Part 2: Intervention Debate: Balkans, Liberia, and Israel/Palestine.
Week XIV: Student Presentations 12.08
Required Writing: Research Paper Draft (Due Friday, 12.05)
Required Reading: Read the rough drafts of all students in your writing group.
Part 1: Student Presentations
Part 2: Critique Drafts
Week XV: Final Exam Period 12.15 (2:00 pm – 3:50 pm)
Required Writing: Complete Final Draft of Research Paper.
Part 1: Student Presentations