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HI122
& HF200
REEL HISTORY IN THE 20TH CENTURY 1sh
Prof. Jennifer Delton
This honors section, to be taken in conjunction with HI 122, examines
how the film industry and films reflected, and perhaps influenced, the
events and themes of U.S. history in the 20th century, from 1915 to
the present. Films will be selected according to their symbolic and
historical significance to the time period. Films are likely to
include: D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915); The Jazz Singer (1929);
We're in the Money, The Grapes of Wrath (1939), Airforce (1943); Dr.
Strangelove (1964); Green Berets (1968); Joe (1970); Taxi Driver (1976);
and Red Dawn (1984). Students will keep a journal and write an essay
(7-10 p.) analyzing two or more films, focusing specifically on what
they illuminate or hide.
HI221
American History to Civil War
Prof. Jennifer Delton
This
course investigates the contradictions of American freedom and American
slavery by investigating exactly what freedom, equality and liberty
meant to white and black Americans from 1619 to the 1850s. We will trace
how the break from Britain, war, the development of a slave economy
in the South, and a manufacturing economy in the north cast, re-cast
and redefined those ideas, eventually leading to a clash which tested
the principles of democratic self-rule on which the United States had
had been founded. Honors Forum students will read and discuss one short
primary document per week. Students will also read and discuss one novel
over the course of the semester.
HI223:
America and the World (3 cr)
Prof. Jennifer Delton
The
impending war against Iraq raises once again the question of the United
States' role in the world and the dilemma of American power. What is
motivating the United States' current actions? Power? Responsibility?
Is
America best seen as a defender of freedom or an imperialist power?
This course addresses those questions and provides historical context
for the current arguments about the United States' response to both
Islamic terrorism and Iraq. It is organized around the different ways
we explain and understand America's interactions with the rest of the
world. What has defined America's international interests? Can we discern
a continuity to American foreign policy over time, or is it defined
by contingency and reaction? How have Americans defined themselves through
their foreign policy? How has American foreign policy betrayed American
ideals? How has it fulfilled those ideals? The latter part of the course
will focus specifically on events in the Middle East, the Islamic world,
and current U.S. war actions.
HF200: America and the World (1 cr)
The 223 Honors section will be devoted to following domestic debates
about the current military action against terrorism and war against
Iraq. Students will be required to read major editorials about the
Bush administration's policies, and follow the debate on both the
left and the right. We will be reading 2-3 articles per week from
The Nation, The Progressive, The New Republic,
Harper's, The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker,
National Review, The Weekly Standard, and Commentary,
to get the full range of opinion about American policies. Your grade
will be based on weekly participation, a class journal, in which you
record your own views on our weekly discussions, America's current
policies, and their supporters and detractors, and a final paper (8-10
p.). Throughout the semester in discussion and your journals, we will
address the continuities and discontinuities of this debate with earlier
debates about America's overseas actions.
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Skidmore
College
815 North Broadway
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
(518) 580-5000
hf@skidmore.edu
site
design by Prof. Phil Boshoff, Thomas Burke '03, and Rebecca Burnham
site maintained by Leah Elliott
'06 and Rachel Silverstein
'07
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