The Historical Evolution of Power and the Human Psyche
HIST 392
Spring 2010 not offered
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In this course we will study the evolution of imperial power through several disciplinary lenses. The history texts examine the escalating arms races among mainly European powers and the United States. European and North American imperialism shaped the modern world. The arms races and mobilizations of vast armies eventually had several paradoxical consequences, as did the economic integration of the globe under European and U.S. expansion. We will study how empires produced projects of liberation and, conversely, how revolutionary liberation projects turned into empires. On the psychohistorical side, we will explore theories about the psychological dynamics of groups underlying various kinds of human pseudospeciation. In connection with group dynamics and pseudospeciation, we will examine paranoid political movements and their expression in different historical settings. Students will select topics in fields of their interest, present their ongoing work to the seminar toward the end of the semester, and produce a research paper. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Speaking, Writing
Students will write several short essays and present them to the seminar. They will also present a research proposal, refine it, develop the project, present a draft version, and the final paper.
You will present your ideas in the short essays to the seminar and discuss them. You will also serve as discussant for the papers of the other students in the seminar. Toward the end of the semester you will give a more extended oral presentation of your reserach project for comment and critique and be a discussant and critic for the others as well.
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
Major Readings:
Niall Ferguson, EMPIRE: THE RISE AND DEMISE OF THE BRITISH WORLD ORDER AND THE LESSONS FOR GLOBAL POWER
Sigmund Freud, GROUP PSYCHOLOGY AND THE ANALYSIS OF THE EGO
Dominic Lieven, EMPIRE, THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE AND ITS RIVALS
William McNeill, THE PURSUIT OF POWER
Kenneth Pomeranz, THE GREAT DIVERGENCE: CHINA, EUROPE, AND THE MAKING OF THE WORLD ECONOMY
Andrew Schmookler, THE PARABLE OF THE TRIBES
Robert Wright, NON-ZERO
Fareed Zakaria, FROM WEALTH TO POWER: THE UNUSUAL ORIGINS OF AMERICA'S WORLD ROLE
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Examinations and Assignments:
Several two-page discussion papers, a research proposal, a preliminary and final bibliography, a draft of the research paper, an oral presentation of the project, and a final research paper of 25-30 pages will be required. |
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