RAMAPO COLLEGE
SCHOOL OF AMERICAN/INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
History of the Cold War : A Comparative Perspective
RAMAPO COLLEGE
SCHOOL OF AMERICAN/INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
History of the Cold War : A Comparative Perspective
(If these hours are inconvenient feel free to contact me to schedule a meeting time agreeable to both our schedules. If you have any difficulty finding me leave a message in my mail box, send me e-mail at theed@ramapo.edu or tmailto:heed@hvc.rr.comor for call me at home, that is why I post my home phone number on all syllabi.)* Some Wednesday mornings I will be in meetings so ask of my schedule to meet on Wednesday.
Texts:
Melvyn P. Leffler, For the Soul of Mankind: The United States. The Soviet Union, and the Cold War, Hill and Wang, 2007.
Vladislav M. Zubok, A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold war from Stalin to Gorbachev , University of North caralina Press, 2007
Dmitri Volkogonov, Autopy for an Empire: The Seven Leaders who Built the Soviet Regime, Free Press, 1998
Downloads:
Additional readings will posted on the web site for your access and study.
N.B. Several handouts and/or downloads will be used during the semester. These works are an integral part of this course's reading assignments and you are expected to read them as assigned in the schedule of readings. You may expect at least one exam question from each reading.
This course has an extensive web site. It is our plan to place copies of all assigned readings and graphics on the web site. We are placing them at your convenience so you have ready access to as much material from the course as modern technology permits.
We plan to utilize many maps, graphs, illustrations, video and pictures during almost every class session. All the media we will use throughout the semester takes up substantial memory and we should anticipate problems in the accession of the site and the use of the site from certain students home computer systems. If you have problems with the site let me know when you know. If you have problems getting to the site from your home system remember we have many computer labs on campus and they will acquire the site much faster. We also intend to place our course notes, with the daily schedule of readings on the web site.
Remember media files, whether graphs, maps, video or photos take substantial memory, especially true if they are in color; when you download these files you must be patient. Some files will take several minutes to download; if you have a slow modem they could take ten's of minutes. When possible I suggest you download the files from one of the computer labs on campus. The files will download faster.
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Assignments: 1) Each student shall read all assigned readings. Please print out the assigned readings prior to class and have your copy with you during class. 2) Each student shall read a historiographic essay on the Cold War and in a brief, 250 to 300 word essay establish what school of historiography it represents. You may also appraise the interpretation and make your own judgement on how convincing the argrument is. Due T Sept 22 3) Each student shall write midterm and final exam; Midterm Oct. 20 and final exam Dec 16 4) Each student shall write a research paper on an approved topic--3,000-4,000 words. The topics may include any of the themes we will follow over the semester ie the role ideology, the impact of the arms/technology race, the role of personality, the use of Comedy to cope, the competing views of the Cold War through film, etc. All projects must take a comparative perspective and look at least at the two principals. It is encouraged that the project be multi disciplinary and multi media. Due Nov 24 Video: Comparisons: How it is done 5) Each student is advised to review the Student handbook on academic standards and the dangers of plagiarism. Plagiarism is an unethical act and is totally antithetical to the goals and purposes of a Liberal Education. Any student found copying text, or the ideas from another authors work without correctly crediting that work will fail this course and be referred to the College administration for further disciplinary actions.
7. Experiential Component: This course will include a minimum of five (5) hours of unmonitored appropriate experience outside of the classroom. This course will include separately scheduled Library sessions, complete videos available on the course web site and/or visits to historic sites related to the course or History Club meetings as the experiential component. |
Some Rich sites for Cold War History on the Web:
Cold War International History Project
The Cold War-National Archives
Western Allies in West Berlin (1945-1994)
Parallel History Project on Cooperative Security
Cold War web sites--NYMAS selection
Schedule of Readings and Assignments:
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Sept 4 F (session 1) Reading: "Setting the Scene", Origins of the Cold War 1941-1945, Martin McCauley, Pearson (emailed to students prior to semester) |
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Oct 13 T (session 12)
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Leffler, For the Soul of Mankind: ) ; ch 3 a (pp. 151-192) Dallek, ch 10 Schooling of a President (356-372);
ch 11World of Troubles, ; ch 12 Crisis Manager
David Reynolds, Summits: Six Meetings that Shaped the Twentieth Century, Basic Books, 2007, ch 4 Viennna
Zubok, A Failed Empire ;ch 5 b (pp. 138-153) Fursenko, ch 14 Son of a Bitch ; ch 15 Iron Ring ;
Oct 16 F (session 13)
Volkogonov, ch 3 "Anadyn" (235-247)
Oct 20 T (session 14)
Mid Term Exam
Oct. 23 F (session 15)
Oct 27 T (session 16)
Gorbachev Years
Thanksgiving Vacation Nov. 25-30 Have a safe and happy
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6.) If you need a course adaptation or accomodations because
of a documented disability, please make an appointment to see me during my
office hours. 
