Tuesdays/Thursdays, 11:15
a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Swain Hall East 140
Prof. Konstantin Dierks
Website: http://www.indiana.edu/~kdhist/A300-2008B.html
E-mail: kdierks@indiana.edu
Office hours: Ballantine 734, Tuesdays, 1:30-3:30 p.m., or by appointment
Office phone: 855-6288
Associate Instructor: Ms. Sandrine Catris, scatris@indiana.edu, office hours:
Wells Library lobby, Wednesdays, 10:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m., or by appointment
Course description:
This course takes a global and multicultural approach to early American history and focuses on the collision of European, Middle Eastern, Asian, African, and Native American cultures between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries. The first class of each week will scrutinize European attitudes toward and interactions with other cultures before the “discovery” of the “New World” in 1492. The second class of each week will then examine to what degree Europeans altered their attitudes and practices upon encountering the “New World” from 1492 onward. In other words, we will interrogate what is “European” and what is “American” in Early American history. Topics to be covered include cartography, science, ethnography, literature, art, politics, religion, conquest, migration, slavery, and global capitalism. Throughout the course we will use ethical dilemmas of the past to interrogate our modern pretensions to a more “enlightened” present.
At the end of the course, I hope you will have a solid grounding in early modern American, European, Atlantic world, and world history, and a keen appreciation of the complexity of the past as well as the contingencies of historical change. I also hope you will have sharper analytical skills with which to assess evidence and formulate your own arguments, as well as sharper writing and verbal skills with which to organize and articulate your own ideas -- beyond the confines of history, and useful in any field of endeavor.
Course requirements:
CLASS PARTICIPATION. The success of this course depends on your regular attendance and your active participation. Attending every class is thus absolutely mandatory. Prior to attending each class, you must print out and complete the corresponding one-page reaction sheet found on the course website. This reaction sheet will help you prepare for each class, and will also facilitate an in-class writing assignment in each class. These assignments will not be graded, except that failure to demonstrate either completion of assigned reading or presence in class will be penalized as the equivalent of an absence.
If you must be absent at some point, you should have the courtesy to alert either the associate instructor or the professor beforehand. If you are absent more than once over the course of the semester, you must have official written notification from the Dean of Students (Franklin Hall 108) for such absences to be excused. After one grace absence, any unexcused absences will result in steep grade deductions on the next longer writing assignment.
Also important to the success of this class is participation in discussion, as this course will be run half-lecture and half-seminar. Respectful, informed, and constructive participation in discussion will be rewarded. However, since the course is meant to be a lecture course rather than a seminar, not participating in discussion will not be penalized.
READING ASSIGNMENTS. Weekly reading will generally involve a blend of “primary documents” produced by people in the past, and “secondary readings” written by historians. Links to these readings can be found in the course syllabus, from where you can print them out. Be sure to bring print-outs with you for class discussion. In addition, there are three course books to be purchased (listed below).
Specific questions to keep in mind as you do the weekly reading can be found by clicking on the READING GUIDE link in the course syllabus. For general tips on interpreting primary documents and evaluating secondary readings, see the following two guidelines: Strategies for Interpreting Primary Documents; Strategies for Evaluating Secondary Readings.
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS. There will be five written papers, each posted ahead of time on the course website, from where you can print them out. Two papers will be of two pages each, counting approximately 25% toward your final grade, and three papers will be of five pages each, counting approximately 75% of your final grade, although improvement over the course of the semester will be rewarded.
Papers are due at the beginning of the class period. All papers should be double-spaced, in a readable font, and stapled (no folders), with your name (but never your social security number), course number and title, date, and paper title concisely at the top of the first page. Lateness will be penalized, unless excused by official written notification from the Dean of Students (Franklin Hall 108).
Plagiarism will result in failure of and withdrawal from the class, and will become a permanent part of the student's transcript and academic record. Writing must be original, and all quotations, derivative ideas and uncommon facts must be duly footnoted.
See plagiarism guidelines from Writing Tutorial Services. See plagiarism procedures from IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct (II. Student Responsibilities; G. Academic Responsibilities and Misconduct; 3. Plagiarism).
For general assistance with writing papers or other study skills, you are encouraged to visit Writing Tutorial Services, one of the Academic Support Centers, or the Study Smarter Workshops run by the Student Academic Center.
For specific guidelines on how to write thesis statements, how to write topic sentences and organize paragraphs, and how to use evidence, see the relevant pamphlets produced by Writing Tutorial Services.Highly recommended for paper writing strategies is Research and Writing Resources for History J300 and J400.
ASSISTANCE. If at any time during the semester you have questions about the course website, lecture material, reading material, writing assignments, or your performance in this class, please feel free to speak to the professor or the associate instructor before or after class, during office hours, via email, or via telephone to make an appointment.
If you have a disability or learning disability, please provide the professor with official written notification from either Disability Services for Students (Franklin Hall 096, 327) as soon as possible so that any necessary accommodations can be made.
CLASSROOM PROTOCOLS:
Turn off all electronic devices, especially cell phones, prior to entering the classroom. (Laptops may be used, obviously for note-taking purposes only.)
Course books: (available at the college bookstores, via online booksellers, and on reserve at the Wells Library)
Richter, Daniel K. Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001. * E98.F39 R53
Silverblatt, Irene. Modern Inquisitions: Peru and the Colonial Origins of the Civilized World. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004. * BX1740.P5 S55
Horn, James, ed. Captain John Smith: Writings with Other Narratives of Roanoke, Jamestown, and the First English Settlement of America. New York: Library of America, 2007.
Course syllabus:
| January 8 |
WEEK 1
READING
GUIDE Course Introduction |
| January 10 |
Course Themes (reaction sheet #1) |
| Thematic readings: Joseph Kahn, “Where’s Mao? Chinese Revise History Books,” New York Times, September 1, 2006. Dan Eggen, “FBI Agents Still Lacking Arabic Skills: 33 of 12,000 Have Some Proficiency,” Washington Post, October 11, 2006. A.O. Scott, “The World Is Watching. Not Americans,” New York Times, January 21, 2007.
Lakshmi Chaudhry, “Amnesia at the Multiplex,” The Nation,
December 30, 2007. |
|
|
January 15 |
WEEK 2
READING GUIDE
Film (pt. I): Nicholas Roeg, dir., Walkabout (1971) |
| January 17 |
Film (pt. II and discussion) (reaction sheet #3) |
| January 22 | WEEK
3
TIMELINES Revising
Geographies (I) -- Medieval Peripheries; Renaissance Encounters Secondary reading: Richter, Daniel K., Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001), pp. 11-40 (Ch. 1). Silverblatt, Irene, Modern Inquisitions: Peru
and the Colonial Origins of the Civilized World (Durham: Duke University Press, 2004), pp. 3-27 (Prologue), 217-226 (Afterword). |
|
WRITING ASSIGNMENT #1 DUE
(2 pp.) |
|
| January 24 |
Revising Geographies (II)
Blansett, Lisa, “John Smith Maps Virginia: Knowledge, Rhetoric, and
Politics,” in Envisioning an English Empire: Jamestown and the Making
of the North Atlantic World, Robert Appelbaum and John Wood Sweet,
eds. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005), pp. 68-91. |
| January 29 |
WEEK
4
TIMELINES
READING GUIDE Revising
Sciences (I) -- Mastering Technology; Collecting Nature
Optional reading:
Parag Khanna, “Waving
Goodbye to Hegemony,”
New York Times,
Sunday Magazine,
January 27, 2008. |
| January 31 |
Revising Sciences (II) (reaction sheet #7) Primary source: Alexander Garden, letters from Charleston, South Carolina, to British scientists, 1753, 1759 Secondary source:
Horn, James,
“The
Conquest of
Eden:
Possession
and Dominion
in Early
Virginia,” in
Envisioning
an English
Empire:
Jamestown
and the
Making of
the North
Atlantic
World,
Robert
Appelbaum
and John
Wood Sweet,
eds. (Philadelphia:
University
of
Pennsylvania
Press,
2005), pp.
25-48. |
| February 5 |
WEEK 5 Special panel (I) --
international visitors in the United States: |
| February 7 |
Special panel (II) -- American abroad: Alex Harrington (to China, Tibet, Nepal, India) (reaction sheet #9) |
| February 12 |
WEEK 6
TIMELINES
READING
GUIDE Revising Ethnographies (I)
-- Assigning "Barbarism"; Assigning "Civilization" Primary source: Secondary reading: Richter, Daniel K., Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001), pp. 1-10 (Prologue), 237-253 (Epilogue). |
|
WRITING ASSIGNMENT #2 DUE (2
pp.) |
|
| CAMPUS EVENT: Martha Nussbaum, Patten Lectures, Tuesday and Thursday night, 7:30-9:00 p.m. | |
| February 14 |
Revising Ethnographies (II) (reaction sheet #11) Primary source: Lawson, A New Voyage to Carolina (1709) Secondary reading: Tim Johnston, “Australia to Apologize to Aborigines,” New York Times, January 31, 2008. Timothy Egan, “Indians Win Major Round in Fight Over Trust Accounts,” New York Times, February 23, 1999. Joel Brinkley, “American Indians Say Documents Show Government Has Cheated Them Out of Billions,” New York Times, January 7, 2003. Optional reading about Fort Wayne, Indiana: Susan Saulny, “After Darfur, Starting Anew in the Midwest,” New York Times, April 2, 2007. Optional viewing: sculptor Ron Mueck: Washington Post slideshow (#12 is priceless) Brooklyn Museum film (30 mins.) |
| February 19 |
WEEK 7
TIMELINES
READING GUIDE New Literatures; New Imageries
(I) -- Discovering
“Europe”; Discovering
“Others” Secondary reading:
Banerjee, Pompa, “The White Othello: Turkey and
Virginia in John Smith’s True Travels,” in
Envisioning an English Empire: Jamestown and the
Making of the North Atlantic World, Robert
Appelbaum and John Wood Sweet,
eds. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 2005), pp. 135-151. |
| February 20 - March 1 |
Artsweek
2008 at
Indiana
University Highly recommended: Susan Meiselas, lecture, Wednesday, February 20, 7:30 p.m., Woodburn 100 |
| February 21 |
New Literatures; New Imageries (II) (reaction sheet #13) Primary source: |
| February 26 |
WEEK 8
TIMELINES
READING
GUIDE Politics of Conquest and
Conversion (I) -- Ceremonies and Dissensions Primary sources:
Requerimiento (1513) Secondary reading: Silverblatt, Irene, Modern Inquisitions: Peru and the Colonial Origins of the Civilized World (Durham: Duke University Press, 2004), pp. 99-115 (“Globalization and Guinea Pigs”). Optional secondary reading: |
| February 28 |
Politics of Conquest and Conversion (II) (reaction sheet #15) Primary sources:
Gilbert, letters
patent (1578) Secondary reading:
Fitzmaurice,
Andrew,
“Moral
Uncertainty
in the
Dispossession
of Native
Americans,” in
The
Atlantic
World and
Virginia,
1550‑1624, Peter
C. Mancall,
ed. (Chapel
Hill:
University
of North
Carolina
Press,
2007), pp.
383-409. |
| March 4 |
WEEK 9
READING GUIDE
Film (pt. I): Bruce Beresford, dir., Black Robe (1991) Secondary reading: Silverblatt, Irene, Modern Inquisitions: Peru and the Colonial Origins of the Civilized World (Durham: Duke University Press, 2004), pp. 187-213 (“Becoming Indian”). Richter, Daniel
K., Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001), pp.
69-109 (Ch. 4). |
| March 6 |
Film (pt. II and discussion) (reaction sheet #17) |
| WRITING ASSIGNMENT #3 DUE (5 pp.) | |
| March 10-14 |
spring break |
| March 18 |
WEEK 10 TIMELINES
READING GUIDE Negotiating Gender (I) -- Assigning Femininity; Assigning
Masculinity Primary sources: John Donne, To his Mistris Going to Bed (1633) Secondary reading: Silverblatt, Irene, Modern Inquisitions: Peru
and the Colonial Origins of the Civilized World (Durham: Duke University Press, 2004),
pp. 161-185
(“The
Inca’s
Witches”). |
| March 20 |
Negotiating Gender (II) (reaction sheet #19) Primary sources:
Lawson, A New Voyage
to Carolina (1709) * note: same text from week 6 |
| March 25 |
WEEK 11 TIMELINES
READING GUIDE Negotiating Status (I) -- Consumer Revolutions Secondary reading: Richter, Daniel
K., Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America
(Cambridge:
Harvard
University
Press,
2001), pp.
41-68 (Ch.
2). |
| March 27 |
Negotiating Status (II) (reaction sheet #21) |
| April 1 |
WEEK 12 TIMELINES
READING
GUIDE New Economies (I) -- Global
Capitalism Secondary reading: Elliott, J.H., “The Iberian Atlantic and Virginia,” in The Atlantic World and Virginia, 1550‑1624, Peter C. Mancall, ed. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007), pp. 541-557. Griffin, Eric, “The Specter of Spain in John Smith’s Colonial Writing,” in Envisioning an English Empire: Jamestown and the Making of the North Atlantic World, Robert Appelbaum and John Wood Sweet, eds. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005), pp. 111-134. |
| April 3 |
New Economies (II) (reaction sheet #23)
Primary sources: |
| April 8 |
WEEK 13 TIMELINES
READING GUIDE Entrenching Slavery (I) -- Coercion and Resistance
|
| WRITING ASSIGNMENT #4 DUE (5 pp.) | |
| April 10 |
Entrenching Slavery (II) (reaction sheet #25) Secondary reading: Guasco, Michael J., “Settling with Slavery: Human Bondage in the Early Anglo-Atlantic World,” in Envisioning an English Empire: Jamestown and the Making of the North Atlantic World, Robert Appelbaum and John Wood Sweet, eds. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005), pp. 236-253.
[Little 500, April 11-12] |
| April 15 |
WEEK 14 READING GUIDE Film (pt. I): Michael Winterbottom, dir.,
In This
World (2003) Secondary reading: Richter, Daniel
K., Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America
(Cambridge:
Harvard
University
Press,
2001), pp.
151-188 (Ch.
5). |
| April 17 |
Film
(pt. II and discussion) (reaction sheet #27) Secondary reading: Richter, Daniel
K., Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America
(Cambridge:
Harvard
University
Press,
2001), pp.
189-236
(Ch. 6). |
| April 22 |
WEEK 15
READING
GUIDE Course Themes |
| Thematic readings: Russell Banks, “Who Will Tell the People,” Harper’s Magazine, June 2000, pp. 83-88. |
|
| April 24 |
Course
Conclusion (reaction sheet #29) |
| Thematic readings: David Grossman, “Writing in the Dark,” New York Times, Sunday Magazine, May 13, 2007. |
|
| May 1 |
Take-home final examination due by 2:30 p.m., Thursday, May 1 |