Course Syllabus

HIST 0864: War and Peace

Instructed by Ethan Cohen
tuk90327@temple.edu
Course meets TR 9:00-9:50am

Course Description

This class studies genocide, ethnic cleansing, colonialism, and revolution. We progress chronologically from the sixteenth to twenty-first centuries, following the path of European colonialism from Latin America to Haiti, Algeria, and Israel/Palestine. We will engage with a mix of scholarly texts, primary sources, journalism, and films. You will think critically about current conflicts and analyze how past wars still affect us today. Although the material may seem to dwell more on “war” than “peace,” you will meet historical actors like Tupac Amaru and Toussaint Louverture who defended their people from slaughter, as well as nonviolent activists like Shireen Abu Akleh.

Course Materials 

The following books are required and available to you through the library and linked on the Home page:

C. L. R. James, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution (New York: Vintage Books, 1989 [1938]). 

Additionally, you will make your choice of film for the Movie Project. You may be able to access that through the library or interlibrary loan. All other readings can be found linked in the syllabus or on Canvas under Modules.

Technology Requirements

This course requires the use of Canvas. You will need access to a computer with WiFi. You will also need to check your Temple e-mail regularly. Temple offers computers for student use in the library and Tech center.

Gen Ed

This course is part of the General Education (GenEd) program and meets the World Society Area requirement.

The course help students develop abilities to think, problem-solve and communicate effectively. It encourages students to become active in the process of learning, not only absorbing facts, but finding, evaluating and using information to create new knowledge. More specifically, the course promotes six GenEd learning competencies:

  • Critical thinking
  • Contextualized Learning
  • Interdisciplinary Thinking
  • Communication
  • Information Literacy
  • Lifelong Learning

In addition, the course meets five goals of the World Society Area requirement. These are:

  • Understand the influences (e.g., political, social, historical, cultural, artistic, literary, geographic, economic) on world societies or processes (e.g., globalization) that link them
  • Access and analyze materials related to world societies and cultures, including war and peace as products and local, national, and global processes
  • Develop observations and conclusions about selected themes in world societies and cultures, especially with respect to the influence of war and peace on lived lives
  • Construct interpretations using evidence and critical analysis; and
  • Communicate and defend multiple interpretations of war and peace

Grading

A Range

B Range

C Range

D Range

F Range

 

B+ 87 – 89

C+ 77 – 79

D  60 – 69

F 0 – 59

A  93 – 100

B  83 – 86

C  73 – 76

 

A- 90 – 92

B- 80 – 82

C- 70 – 72

 

 

Week One Questions…………………………………………………………………………10%

Haitian Revolution Reflection…………………………………………………………………20%

French Algeria Questions……………………………………………………………………10%

Israel/Palestine Thoughts………………………………………………………………………15%

Critical Moment Essay………………………………………………………………………10%

Movie Project…………………………………………………………………………………10%

Wisdom From Peers………………………………………………………………...…………10%

Attendance and Participation…………………………………………………………………15%

Week One Questions
Please use the readings and videos to address the following questions with 150 words EACH. This assignment is due Mon, Jul 7, 5pm.

  1. What exactly does Las Casas criticize about the European colonization of the Americas; what behavior does he say should stop?
  2. What does Las Casas cite as the main cause of the violence he is witnessing?
  3. What do you think Las Casas means by “nay forgetting that they were born men?”  
  4. What were the problems that caused the Tupac Amaru rebellion?
  5. What were the goals and actions of Tupac Amaru?
  6. What did Micaela Bastidas, wife of Tupac Amaru, urge her husband to do differently?
  7. How did the Spanish respond to the Tupac Amaru rebellion?

Haitian Revolution Reflection
The ex-slaves who led and fought the Haitian Revolution faced the most unforgiving challenges as they liberated one half of one island from slavery. Use specific scenes and quotes from the James and Ferrer readings, along with your own analysis, to write 750 words addressing the following questions. This assignment is due Mon, Jul 21, 5pm.

  1. Why do you think the white planters and their supporters in France engaged in what James describes as “self-destructive” behavior? For example, why attempt to reestablish slavery four times, when the new Haitian leaders welcomed whites to stay if they would simply accept abolition? Was it only about making money?
  2. How did the French and Haitian Revolutions affect each other? Do you think one story can be told without the other?
  3. Which characters in this story do you sympathize with and resent?
  4. In the chapter about the Black Auxiliaries, who was using who? Would you say that Spain was using Haitian revolutionaries to its advantage, or the other way around? 

French Algeria Questions
Use my video and the readings to write 750 words addressing the following questions. This assignment is due Mon, Jul 28, 5pm.

  1. When and how did the French govern Algeria?
  2. When and why did a revolution break out?
  3. What were some strategies of the revolutionaries and the oppressors?
  4. Frantz Fanon, a psychiatrist from the French colony of Martinique, treated French and Algerian patients during the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962). What differences and similarities did he observe between those two groups of patients?
  5. British poet Rudyard Kipling was not writing about France or Algeria, but he speaks in a relevant way about European colonialism in general. What do you think he meant by “savage wars of peace?”

Israel/Palestine Thoughts
Create a 5-10min voice recording of yourself following a theme of your choice, listed below, through as many of the Week Five and Week Six readings as possible. The guidelines for this assignment are loose; use your creativity and the content of our learning to create a compelling product full of information and ideas. This assignment is due Fri, Aug 8, 5pm.

~ Erasure of history
~ The meeting of violence and nonviolence
~ Parallels with other cases of colonialism from our class

Critical Moment Essay
What is a critical moment from history that you wish had gone differently? Choose one event from our course and write 500 words mixing your imagination with at least one class reading. This assignment is due Fri, Aug 1, 5pm.

Movie Project
Choose one of these movies and write 750 words explaining what story the movie tells, where and when it takes place, who the characters are, and how it relates to our class learnings. This assignment is due Mon, Aug 4, 5pm.

1966, The Battle of Algiers
1988, Chocolat
2006, Days of Glory
2013, Omar
2022, The Woman King

Wisdom From Peers
Write 250 words discussing a moment when your classmates introduced an exciting idea that you appreciate. Perhaps someone answered an unresolved question of yours or helped you recognize an important point. This assignment is due Fri, Aug 8, 5pm.

Attendance and Participation
No need to turn your camera on for Zoom meetings, but you must speak at least once pretty much every class.
Each unexcused absence takes 1.5% off your final grade. Each unexcused late arrival takes .5% off your final grade. Four unexcused absences will result in failing the class. 
Excused absences include parental leave, bereavement leave, medical issues preferably with a doctor’s note, and extenuating circumstances. Please communicate with me in advance to receive an excused absence.

General Policies

All Temple University Academic Policies will be upheld.
The General Education Policies and Requirements details program expectations.

Student Support Services

If you are experiencing food insecurity or financial struggles, Temple provides resources and support. See the Cherry Pantry and the Emergency Student Aid Program. Also see the Office of Student Affairs.  

Statement on Academic Rights & Responsibilities

The University has a policy on Student and Faculty Academic Rights and Responsibilities (Policy #03.70.02) which can be accessed in full through the following link: http://policies.temple.edu/getdoc.asp?policy_no=03.70.02

Academic Honesty

Do not plagiarize. Read about it in the University Code of Conduct

Disability Disclosure Statement

Students with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Disability Resources and Services (DRS) at drs@temple.edu. In most cases, simply having DRS send me your accommodation letter will do the job. Still, I welcome you to discuss your accommodations with me; the sooner, the better!

Privacy Policies

Course Schedule

Week One – Latin America, from Conquest to Rebellion  

Tues, Jul 1 ***NO CLASS MEETING

1552, Bartolomé de las Casas, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies
Excerpts in Canvas 

***Watch my video on the Latin America readings:

Thurs, Jul 3

Clements R. Markham, A History of Peru (Chicago: C. H. Sergel, 1892).
Chapter VIII, “Rebellion of Tupac Amaru”

Letter from Micaela Bastidas, wife of Tupac Amaru 

***Week One Questions due by Mon, Jul 7, 5pm.

Week Two – Haitian Revolution I

Tues, Jul 8

C. L. R. James, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution (New York: Vintage Books, 1989 [1938]). 
Prefaces, Prologue, “The Property,” “The Owners”

Thurs, Jul 10

James, The Black Jacobins, “The San Domingo Masses Begin,” “And the Paris Masses Complete”

***Watch my video on the French and Haitian Revolutions.

Week Three – Haitian Revolution II

Tues, Jul 15

James, The Black Jacobins, “The Rise of Toussaint,” “The White Slave-Owners Again”

Thurs, Jul 17

Ada Ferrer, Freedom’s Mirror: Cuba and Haiti in the Age of Revolution (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014). Chapter Three, “An Unlikely Alliance – Cuba, Santo Domingo, and the Black Auxiliaries.”

***Haitian Revolution Reflection due Mon, Jul 21, 5pm.
***Watch my video about French Algeria. 

Week Four – French Algeria

Tues, Jul 22

Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (New York: Grove, 1963).
“Colonial War and Mental Disorders”

Thurs, Jul 24

1899, Rudyard Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_White_Man%27s_Burden#Text

Concerning Violence (2014) narrated by Lauryn Hill
https://archive.org/details/concerning-violence-documentary 

***French Algeria Questions due Mon, Jul 28, 5pm.
***Watch my video on the history of the Israel/Palestine Conflict.

Week Five – Combat Journalism in Israel/Palestine

Tues, Jul 29

Tantura (2022)
https://archive.org/details/tantura.-1080p.-hc.-web-dl.-aac-2.0.x-264_202312 

Women’s Nakba testimonies from Zochrot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCRwLt8xD8I

Thurs, Jul 31

5 Broken Cameras (2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcTN3g-b0iA&t=2268s

East Jerusalem children film their everyday life after settlers move into part of their house (2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksnLom8OD9E

Al Jazeera, “The killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaJ8_5MJHAs

***Critical Moment Essay due Fri, Aug 1, 5pm.
***Movie Project due Mon, Aug 4, 5pm. 

Week Six – Israel/Palestine, a case of ethnic cleansing and genocide?

Tues, Aug 5

1896, Theodor Herzl, “The Jewish State”

Handout on Gertie Boyarski of Dereczyn, Poland

Ilan Pappé, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Oxford: Oneworld, 2006).
Chapter Two

Thurs, Aug 7

Ilan Pappé, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Oxford: Oneworld, 2006).
Chapter Five

Handout in class– 2005, Palestinian Civil Society, “Call for BDS” 
https://bdsmovement.net/call

***Israel/Palestine thoughts due Fri, Aug 8, 5pm.
***Wisdom from Peers due Fri, Aug 8, 5pm.

***ALL assignments due Fri, Aug 8, 5pm. No work will be accepted after that! No exceptions!