Course Content: Course Goals: Tentative Syllabus

Transcription

1 Dr. Louie Dean Valencia-García Department of History and Literature Office Hours: TBD Sever Hall 112, Wednesday 7:40-9:40 Course Content: Given the political and cultural turmoil confronting Europe today as a result of the Syrian refugee crisis, this course explores the intersecting experiences of exiles and refugees in the European context and beyond since the 19th century. Students will study: international legal systems put in place to manage displaced persons and diasporic communities; migration/immigration in Europe propelled by international conflicts and civil wars; environmental and medical crises; global capitalism; and imperialism. The course will not only study the politics of exile and refuge, but will also consider the construction of national and European identity in the treatment of exiles and refugees in Europe. Students in this course will engage in assessing the political and cultural history of exiles and refugees in Europe through the exploration of primary and secondary sources. Through the lens of exile and refuge, this pro-seminar will cultivate essential skills for graduate study in the fields of history, anthropology, government, and international relations. Course Goals: This course will serve to give students the tools needed to write and research in the social sciences. Students will learn how to pose research questions, read and understand the existing literature in their fields, find primary sources, and formulate academic arguments. By the end of the semester, students will have worked to complete their individual ALM Thesis Proposals.

2 Texts A Crooked Line: From Cultural History to the History of Society, by Geoff Eley. (ONLINE) The Disinherited: Exile and the Making of Spanish Culture, , by Henry Kamen Exiles from European Revolutions: Refugees in Mid-Victorian England, by Sabine Freitag (Editor), Rudolf Muhs (Editor). Europe in Exile: European Exile Communities in Britain , by Martin Conway and José Gotovitch. Intellectuals in Exile: Refugee Scholars and the New School for Social Research, by Claus-Dieter Krohn In War's Wake: Europe's Displaced Persons in the Postwar Order (Oxford Studies in International History), by Gerard Daniel Cohen. (ONLINE) The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): The Politics and Practice of Refugee Protection (Global Institutions), by Alexander Betts, Gil Loescher, James Milner. Home and Exile (The W.E.B. Du Bois Institute Series), by Chinua Achebe. Africans in Europe: The Culture of Exile and Emigration from Equatorial Guinea to Spain (Studies of World Migrations), by Michael Ugarte. Regarding the Pain of Others, by Susan Sontag. Course Requirements 20% Participation 20% Short weekly written responses to readings 20% Book Review (1,000-word book review on academic book of your choice published within the last two years, approved by course instructor.) 30% Thesis Proposal (15-20 pages) 10% Presentation Papers that are turned in late will be receive a penalty of half of a letter grade for each 24-hour period in which it is not turned in. University Policy and Notes The Extension School is committed to providing an accessible academic community. The Accessibility Office offers a variety of accommodations and services to students with documented disabilities. Please visit for more information. You are responsible for understanding Harvard Extension School policies on academic integrity ( and how to use sources responsibly. Not knowing the rules, misunderstanding the rules, running out of time, submitting the wrong draft, or being overwhelmed with multiple demands are not acceptable excuses. There are no excuses for failure to uphold academic integrity. To support your learning about academic citation rules, please visit the Harvard Extension School Tips to Avoid Plagiarism ( where you'll find links to the Harvard Guide to Using Sources and two free online 15-

3 minute tutorials to test your knowledge of academic citation policy. The tutorials are anonymous open-learning tools. The Thesis Proposal Review the ALM Thesis Guide website for critical information about the thesis proposal process. After you ve reviewed the information online, schedule a thesis proposal meeting with your research advisor through online services. For most fields, after receiving direction from your research advisor, you work independently for several months to write a thesis proposal, submitting drafts to your research advisor for comment and revision. The proposal is about 15 to 20 pages and the ordinary structure is: tentative title, research problem, definition of terms, background of the problem, research methods, research limitations, tentative work schedule, and working bibliography. There are variations based on field. You can download your field-specific Thesis Proposal Form from the ALM Thesis Guide website as well as view sample proposals. Week 1 What Does It Mean to Study Culture? o Introduction, by Gabrielle M. Spiegel in Practicing History. PDF. o The concept(s) of culture, by William H. Sewell, Jr. in Logics of History: Social Theory and social transformation. ONLINE. o The Evidence of Experience, by Joan Scott in Practicing History. ONLINE. Week 2 Drawing Lines in Academics A Crooked Line: From Cultural History to the History of Society, by Geoff Eley. o Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture, by Clifford Geertz in The Interpretation of Cultures. PDF. o Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis, by Joan Scott. ONLINE. Week 3 Theorizing the Big Picture, Researching the Specific The Disinherited: Exile and the Making of Spanish Culture, , by Henry Kamen. o Chapters 4 +5, in The Inclusion of the Other: Studies in Political Theory (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought) Reprint Edition, by Jürgen Habermas. PDF. Week 4 Challenging Borders, Finding Context Exiles from European Revolutions: Refugees in Mid-Victorian England, by Sabine Freitag (Editor), Rudolf Muhs (Editor). o Chapter 3: An Era of Emancipation: Slavery and Revolution in the Americas, in Slavery, Freedom, and Abolition in Latin America and the Atlantic World, by Christopher Schmidt-Nowara. PDF. o Cultural Identity and Diaspora, by Stuart Hall in Theorizing Diaspora. PDF. Week 5 Comparisons: Theory in Application o Introduction + Chapter 1: The Scope of Orientalism in Orientalism, by Edward Said. PDF. o The League of Nations and Armenian Refugees. The Formation of the Armenian

4 Diaspora in Syria in Central Eastern European Review, by Edita Gzoyan. Online. o Scandinavian Missionaries, Gender and Armenian Refugees during World War I. Crisis and Reshaping of Vocation in Social Sciences and Missions, by Inger Marie Okkenhaug o Chapter 1: Crucibles of Population Displacement Before and During the Great War in The Making of the Modern Refugee, by Peter Gatrell. PDF. o Chapter 2: Nation-states and the Birth of a Refugee Problem in Inter-war Europe in The Making of the Modern Refugee, by Peter Gatrell. PDF. Week 6 The Frankfurt School and the New School for Social Research Intellectuals in Exile: Refugee Scholars and the New School for Social Research, by Claus-Dieter Krohn o We Refugees, Hannah Arendt. PDF. o Students are to find at least one scholarly response to Arendt s essay. PRELIMINARY IDEAS FOR PROPOSAL DUE (300-word abstract) Week 7 Writing about Nationalism Europe in Exile: European Exile Communities in Britain , by Martin Conway and José Gotovitch o The Origins of National Consciousness, by Benedict Anderson in Imagined Communities. PDF. Week 8 The Monograph: The Craft of Research In War s Wake: Europe s Displaced Persons in the Postwar Order (Oxford Studies in International History), by Gerard Daniel Cohen o Sections from The Craft of Research. PDF. Week 9 Reading Law and Its Applications The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): The Politics and Practice of Refugee Protection (Global Institutions), by Alexander Betts, Gil Loescher, James Milner. o 1951 Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, United Nations Refugee Agency. PDF. BOOK REVIEW DUE Week 10 Practice of Everyday Life: Interdisciplinarity in the Social Sciences Home and Exile (The W.E.B. Du Bois Institute Series), by Chinua Achebe o The practice of everyday life: making do : uses and tactics, by Michel de Certeau in The Practice of Everyday Life. PDF. o Chapter 9: The Place from Which One Deals with Culture, by Michel de Certeau in Culture in the Plural. PDF.

5 Week 11 Transnationalism in the Social Sciences Africans in Europe: The Culture of Exile and Emigration from Equatorial Guinea to Spain (Studies of World Migrations), by Michael Ugarte o The Black Atlantic as a Counterculture of Modernity, by Paul Gilroy in Theorizing Diaspora. PDF. Week 12 Finding the Right Sources When There is No Answer Students are to find and assign articles for reading and in-class discussion relating to European Romani communities. Articles and questions should reflect our own studies and questions thus far in class. LIST OF SECONDARY SOURCES DUE Week 13 THANKSGIVING BREAK Week 14 Writing about Others, Using Primary Sources Selections from Regarding the Pain of Others, by Susan Sontag. PDF. o Why Are We In Kosovo?, by Susan Sontag in The New York Times. PDF. o Students are to find long-form article/news report on Kosovo refugees from the period. Students will share articles with classmates in advance. Week 15 Environmental Studies and Syria Today Selections from Climate Change, Forced Migration, and International Law, Jane McAdam. PDF. o Syria readings to be determined to ensure most up-to-date scholarship. PDF. Week 16 Last Class FINAL PRESENTATIONS, minutes each ALM PROPOSAL DUE IN CLASS