Listed in: History, as HIST-156
Andrew Bell (Sections 01, 01F and 02F)
[US/TE/TR] This course is an introduction to the major trends and developments in United States foreign relations from the nation’s rise from a loose coalition of colonies on the Atlantic seaboard to a continental and world power by the beginning of the twentieth century. This course will seek to understand the effect of expansion on the nation’s values, institutions, and history, and examine the methods used to extend the nation’s borders, trade, and influence. It engages “foreign relations” in broad terms to incorporate ideology, race, gender, technology, economics, geopolitics, and culture as important forces in shaping the United States’ understanding of and behavior toward the world. The country’s domestic character critically determined the ways in which the nation’s power took shape on the world stage, even as global interactions shaped nascent U.S. institutions and identities. This course will examine how economic and security needs shaped foreign policy goals, while social norms and domestic values informed the ways Americans interacted with other societies. Three class meetings per week.
Fall semester. Limited to 40 students. Fifteen spaces reserved for first-year students. Professor Bell.
How to handle overenrollment: Preference given to History majors, by seniority if necessary
Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Close analysis of historical evidence, which may include written documents, images, music, films, or statistics from the historical period under study. Exploration of scholarly, methodological, and theoretical debates about historical topics. Extensive reading, varying forms of written work, and intensive in-class discussions.
Section 01
M 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM CHAP 201
W 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM CHAP 201
Section 01F
F 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM CHAP 203
Section 02F
F 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM CHAP 203
| Section(s) | ISBN | Title | Publisher | Author(s) | Comment | Book Store | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776 | Oxford University Press, 2011 | George C. Herring | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| All | Diplomacy in Black and White: John Adams, Toussaint Louverture, and Their Atlantic World Alliance | University of Georgia Press, 2014 | Ronald Angelo Johnson | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| All | The Cause of All Nations: An International History of the American Civil War | Basic Books, 2017 | Don H. Doyle | Amherst Books | TBD | ||
| All | Fighting for American Manhood: How Gender Politics Provoked the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars | Yale University Press, 2000 | Kristin L. Hoganson | Amherst Books | TBD |
These books are available locally at Amherst Books.