Senior Seminar: Going to War in
American History
History 4990-001 (#02917) Dr.
Reagan
1:25-4:15 Wednesday Fall
2006
HH 114 HH
109
Instructor Information:
Office: Henderson Hall 109
Office Hours: 10-11 a.m. MWF and by appointment
Telephone: 372-3342 (office), 372-3332 (message), 528-3998 (home)
E-mail: preagan@tntech.edu
Professional experience of Dr. Reagan: http://www.tntech.edu/history/cvpdr.html
Course Requirements:
Course web site (work in
progress): http://iweb.tntech.edu/preagan/499syl.html
This course is expected to
provide students, usually senior History majors, the opportunity to demonstrate
reading, research, analytical, and writing skills learned in various history
classes. As a capstone experience, this class will allow students to use these
acquired skills in the form of seminar class discussion and the writing of an
extensive research paper centered on the topic of the particular seminar
offering for the semester.
1 Class attendance and active participation
(100 points)
2. Five of (seven possible) three-five
page papers on weekly readings by Pearlman, Stout, Graubard, and Irons due at start of class time (5@10=50
points)
3. Oral
presentation of your research topic and paper in the context of
course readings and issue followed by written summary due the next class day
after presentation (50 points)
3. Final thirty-page research paper
on a topic chosen in consultation with and approval of the instructor. The
paper should be based on primary and secondary sources identified and approved
by the instructor and using weekly readings and research over the
semester. (200 points)
4. Final Grade based on total points earned:
A
= 360-400 points
B
= 320-359 points
C
= 280-319 points
D = 240-279 points
F = below 240 points
5.
To pass course, all requirements must be met in full and on time.
Disability Accommodations:
Students with a disability
requiring accommodations should contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS)
(http://www.tntech.edu/disability/). An Accommodation Request (AR) should be
completed as soon as possible, preferably by the end of the first week of
classes. The ODS is located in the
Required Books:
Andrew Carroll, editor. War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars.
Michael D. Pearlman. Warmaking and American
Democracy: The Struggle Over Military Strategy, 1700
to the Present.
Harry S. Stout. Upon
the Altar of the Nation: A Moral History of the Civil War.
Stephen Graubard. Command of Office: How War, Secrecy, and
Deception Transformed the Presidency From Theodore Roosevelt to George W. Bush.
Peter Irons. War
Powers: How the Imperial Presidency Hijacked the Constitution.
Larry Schweikart.
Course Themes:
1.
Americans changing views and attitudes about military forces and war
2.
Changes in national policy, military strategy, and public opinion
3.
Civil-military relations (constitutional, legal, political, and
diplomatic)
4.
Social and cultural history of American soldiers and veterans
5.
Political, social, and economic changes on the home front during wars
6.
Impact of military interventions on civil liberties during wartime
7.
Foreign policy, military force, and changing
Reading Assignments with Discussion Schedule:
Assignment: Bring and active interest and intellectual
curiosity to the subject
August 30—Course Syllabus
and Responsibilities and Film: “Why
We Fight”
Assignment: Carroll, War Letters, all
September 6—The Human Face of American Wars
Assignment: Bruce D. Porter, “The Warfare State,” American
Heritage 45, no. 4 (July/August 1994) and Richard Kohn, “The
Social History of the American Soldier: A Review and Prospectus for Research,” American
Historical Review 86 (June 1981): 553-567.
September 13-- War and the
Military Experience in American History
Assignment: Attend
Constitution Day lecture, Derryberry Hall, 7 p.m.
September 19--"Now More
Than Ever": Expanding, Protecting, and Contracting Civil Liberties in
Wartime," Professor Mark Graber,
Assignment: Pearlman, Warmaking and
American Democracy, pp. 1-181
September 20—An Age of Free Security?
Assignment: Stout, Upon the Altar of the Nation, Introduction
and pp. 1-219
September 27—War for
National
Assignment: Stout, Upon the Altar of the Nation, pp.
223-461
October 4—Morality, Modern
War, and Hints of Total War
Assignment: Pearlman, Warmaking and
American Democracy, pp. 182-398
October 11—Global and
Limited Wars: Complications of America’s Rise to World Power
Assignment: Graubard, Command of Office, pp. Preface and
pp. 1-282
October 18—Modern Presidents
and American Wars, I: From TR to Truman
Assignment: Graubard, Command
of Office, pp. Preface and pp. 283-556
October 25—Modern Presidents
and American Wars, II: From Ike to Bush II
Assignment: Irons, War
Powers, all
November 1—War, Politics,
and the Constitution
Assignment: Paper Presentations
November 8—Various topics as related to course readings
Assignment: Paper Presentations
November 15—Various topics related to course readings
Assignment: Paper Presentations
November 22—Various Topics
related to course readings
Assignment: Schweikart, America’s
Victories, Introduction and pp. 1-131
November 29—The Lessons of American Wars?
Assignment: Schweikart, America’s
Victories, Introduction and pp. 132-269
December 6—Economics, Interservice Rivalry, Dissent, and GWOT or WWIV?
Final thirty-page research paper due at start of
class
In both printed and electronic
formats
Helpful Reference Works and Bibliographies:
Prucha,
Francis Paul. Handbook for Research in
American History: A Guide to Bibliographies and Other Reference Works.
Fritze,
Ronald H., Brian E. Coutts. Reference
Sources in History: An Introductory Guide, Second Edition, 334.
Norton, Mary Beth, ed. The American
Historical Association’s Guide to Historical Literature, Third Edition, 2 Vols.
Cayton,
Mary Kupiece, Elliott J. Gorn.
Encyclopedia of American Social History,
3 Vols., 2,653.
Cook, Bernard A., ed. Women and War: A Historical Encyclopedia
From Antiquity to the Present, 2 Vols.
Higham,
Robin and Donald J. Mrozek, eds.
A Guide to the Sources of
Hogan, Michael J.
and Thomas G. Paterson, eds. Explaining
the History of American Foreign Relations.
Hogan, Michael J. America in the World: The Historiography of
US Foreign Relations Since 1941, 624.
Hynes, Samuel. The Soldier’s Tale: Bearing Witness To Modern
War.
Jessup, John E., ed. Encyclopedia Of The American Military:
Studies Of The History, Traditions, Policies, Institutions, And Roles Of The
Armed Forces In War And Peace, 3 Vols., 2, 255.
Jessup, John E. An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Conflict and
Conflict Resolution.
Karsten,
Peter, ed. Encyclopedia of War and American Society, 3 Vols.
Kennedy, Paul M. The Rise and Fall
of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000.
Kutler,
Messenger,
Charles, ed. Reader’s Guide to Military
History.
Parker, Geoffrey, ed.
The
Paret,
Peter, and and Felix Gilbert Gordon A. Craig, eds. Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli
to the Nuclear Age. Princeton:
Porter, Glenn, ed. Encyclopedia of American Economic History:
Studies of the Principal Movements and Ideas, 3 Vols., 1, 286.
Resch,
John P., ed. Americans at War: Society,
Culture, and the Homefront, 4 Vols.
Schulzinger,
Robert D., ed. A Companion to American Foreign Relations.
Useful Web Sites for the Course:
The
Price of Freedom: Americans at War
http://americanhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/
Military
History
http://www.tntech.edu/history/military.html
http://www.tntech.edu/history/usa.html
Mershon Network of
International History
(
Preparing
to Write a Research Paper
http://www.tntech.edu/history/library.html
Libraries
and Archives
http://www.tntech.edu/history/libs.html
Selecting Sources for Military History Research Paper