Proposed Fall 2015

Proposed Fall 2015

Proposed Fall 2015

HIS 177—Transnational America

The Social, Cultural, and Political Effects of
Migration and Exchange, 1880-present

Instructor:Rachel Rains Winslow, Ph.D.

Office: Deane Hall 208

Phone: 805-565-6793

E-mail:

Time/Room: TBD

Office Hours: TBD

Course Description

This reading and discussion seminar explores how transnational connections have shaped the United States politically, cultural, and socially throughout the long twentieth century. By analyzing representations of migration and exchange in popular culture and memoir, we consider shifting American ideas about transnationalism and the ways this has shaped national identities. The course is divided into three thematic units: consumer culture; reform and social movements; and migration, policy, and the state. Topicsin these units include, for example, tourism, civil rights, movies, feminisms, international adoption,diasporas, and immigration. Throughout the course, we stress how studying transnational exchange challenges nationalist and bordered interpretations of American history while also shaping questions about globalization in our current society.

Course Learning Outcomes

Students can expect to learn how to:

  • Analyze, synthesize, and evaluate historical evidence. This requires interpreting different types of evidence, detecting and appraising bias and point of view in primary and secondary sources, drawing conclusions and inferences from examined evidence, and formulating historical questions. [This meets the history department standard that students should be able to read primary sources historically and use them effectively.]
  • Allow Global Perspectives to Heighten Awareness.In the process of exploring the scope of a transnational America, students will gain a greater understanding, appreciation, and respect for the significance of other nation’s contributions to American politics, economics, and culture. Students will also trace these contributions within historical context. [This satisfies the institutional goals of global awareness and diversity. The History Department will also be developing a diversity outcome in the next year or so.]
  • Develop Strong Critical Analysis and Writing Skills. Journal entries, a paper and presentation assignment, and essay exams will teach students how to form argument-driven essays that draw thoughtfully on course sources and main themes. Since writing is the concrete manifestation of thinking, it is an invaluable life skill that develops and reinforces critical thinking.[This meets the history department standard that students will be able to select an appropriate research topic, and locate, evaluate, and responsibly use primary and secondary sources relevant to their work.]
  • Think Christianly. This requires using a historical lens to formulate a biblical worldview about global injustices while also applying empathy and humility in understanding stories that are different from our own. [This meets the institutional goal of Christian Understanding/Practices/Affections.]

Required Readings

  • Victoria DeGrazia, Irresistible Empire: America’s Advance through Twentieth-Century Europe (2005)[??1]
  • Mae Ngai, Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America (2004)[??2]
  • Melani McAlister, Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, and U.S. Intervention in the Middle East since 1945 (2005)[??3]
  • David Bacon, Communities without Borders: Images and Voices from the World of Migration (2006)[??4]

**Eureka will supply the other course readings (see the schedule of readings and assignments for details)

Assignments and Grading

Grades will be based on class participation, journal entries, a take home mid-term exam, a paper and presentation, and a final exam. To ensure that you are keeping up with the readings, you will require to keep a journal that engages with the readings, critically reflecting on how an author’s perspective informs your view of global understanding and Christian engagement. I will collect your journal entries on a bi-weekly basis and assign them a grade.[??5] Attendance will also be taken and will be factored into your final class participation grade. Since there will be a significant discussion component in every class meeting, active participation in seminar is crucial. Students who do not attend class regularly and who arrive late cannot expect to earn a satisfactory grade in the course.

Mid-term and final exam questions will be provided one week before the exams are due and will be thematically and chronologically comparative, drawn from more than one reading. Students will be expected to engage with primary sources and apply key historical methodologies including change over time, context, and contingency. [??6][??7]The final paper will require you to consider how at least two other cultures have influenced some aspect of U.S. ideologies, movements, consumption, or policy. [??8]You must analyze primary sources, contextualize the sources within the secondary literature from the course readings, [??9]prepare a 10-minute class presentation, and craft an 8-page paper. Guiding analytical questions will be provided later in the semester.

The precise grade breakdown is as follows:

Participation20%

Journal Entries/Extra Assignments15%

Take Home Mid-term Exam20%

Presentation and Paper20%

Take Home Final Exam25%

All assignments must be submitted electronically to Eureka ( before class on the due dates specified in the schedule of readings and assignments (hint: it’s always a Tuesday). The final exam is due by...

Grading Scale

100-97A+82-80B- 69-67D+

96-93A79-77C+66-63D

92-90A-76-73C62-60D-

89-87B+72-70C-59-0F

86-83B

Course Policies

Late Work:There will be no extensions or make-ups granted on any assignments unless an unforeseen and unavoidable crisis occurs. Students in such situations must provide official written documentation of the crisis in order to be granted an extension.

Course Eureka Site:This class will have its own Eureka site ( You will need to login before the second class. Please check the site often (at least once a week) as assignments, resources, readings, and important information will be posted on the site. In addition, all of your assignments are due electronically to Eureka unless I specify otherwise.

Student with Disabilities:Students who have been diagnosed with a disability are strongly encouraged to contact the Office of Disability Services as early as possible to discuss appropriate accommodations for this course. Formal accommodations will only be granted for students whose disabilities have been verified by the Office of Disability Services. These accommodations may be necessary to ensure your equal access to this course. Please contact Sheri Noble, Director of Disability Services. (310A Voskuyl Library, 565-6186,) or visit the website for more information:

A Note on Plagiarism:Plagiarism means using words, ideas, arguments, or narrative structures in the work of another person without giving full and explicit attribution to the source. It also means using the same work for more than one class without permission. In papers written for this course, students must cite all works consulted, whether or not the texts were assigned in the course and regardless of whether a text has been directly quoted or simply referenced. Plagiarism is unacceptable to any extent, at any level of scholarship. Any student caught plagiarizing will likely receive an automatic failing grade for the entire course and be reported to university officials. Please see me if you have questions about what constitutes plagiarism.

Student Wellness: Personal concerns such as stress, anxiety, relationship difficulties, depression, and cross-cultural differences can interfere with a student’s ability to succeed and thrive in college. If you are struggling, I encourage you to get in touch with the Office of Student Life, Counseling and Mental Health, or your residential director.

Classroom Courtesies:No cell phones, newspapers, sleeping, or other disruptions will be tolerated. You have one freebie (we have all forgotten to turn off our phones before) but after that, you will be asked to leave and marked absent for that day. Remember to turn off or silence your cell phones before class begins. I encourage you to use a computer in class for activities strictly related to classroom work. Using a computer for any reason beyond the immediate needs of the class, however, will result in your dismissal for the day, an absence toward your participation grade, and the loss of classroom computer rights. These rules are there to protect the learning space for you and your peers while offering all of us the courtesy of your focus and attention.

Schedule of Readings

(this is tentative and subject to change)

Week 1: Introduction—Why Explore Transnational Connections?

  • “American Historical Review Conversation: On Transnational History” (Eureka)
  • Maxine Hong Kingston, “No Name Woman” (Eureka)

[??10]

PART I: CONSUMER CULTURE IN TRANSNATIONAL CONTEXTS

Week 2: Consumer Culture and Americanization

  • DeGrazia, Irresistible Empire: America’s Advance through Twentieth-Century Europe
  • John Trumpdour, “The Domestic Roots of Hollywood’s Foreign Policy” (Eureka)

[??11]

Week 3: Travel and Tourism

  • Christopher Endy, Cold War Holidays: American Tourism in France, selections (Eureka)
  • Selected travel posters from 1920s and 1930s (Eureka)

[??12]

Week 4: Globalizing Food

  • Mark Weiner, “Consumer Culture and Participatory Democracy: Coca-Cola in World War II” (Eureka)
  • Yunxiang Yan, “McDonald’s in Beijing: The Localization of Americana” (Eureka)
  • Kristin Hoganson, “Stuff It: Domestic Consumption and the Americanization of the World Paradigm” (Eureka)

[??13]

Week 5:Artifacts of a Global Jesus

  • Colleen McDannell, “Christian Retailing,” excerpt from MaterialChristianity (Eureka)
  • Melani McAlister, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner: American Missionaries, Racism, and Decolonization in the Congo” (Eureka)

[??14]

PART II: TRANSNATIONAL REFORM AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Week 6: International Feminisms

  • Allison Sneider, “Getting Suffrage in an Age of Empire: The Philippines and Puerto Rico, 1914-1929” (Eureka)
  • Leila J. Rupp, “Constructing Internationalism: The Case of Transnational Women’s Organizations, 1888-1945” (Eureka)
  • NitzaBerkovitch, “’Improving the Lot of Womanhood’: The Emerging World Social Agenda” (Eureka)

[??15]

Week 7: International Civil Rights Movements

  • Mary Dudziak, “Brown as a Cold War Case” (Eureka)
  • Peniel E. Joseph,“Dashikis and Democracy: Black Studies, Student Activism, and the Black Power Movement” (Eureka)
  • Jonathan Zimmerman, “Crossing Oceans, Crossing Colors: Black Peace Corps Volunteers and Interracial Love in Africa, 1961-1971” (Eureka)

[??16]

Week 8:Social Politics and Reform

  • Daniel Rodgers, AtlanticCrossings, excerpts (Eureka)
  • Thomas Miller Klubock, “From Welfare Capitalism to the Free Market in Chile: Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Copper Mines” (Eureka)

[??17]

Week 9:Human Trafficking

  • “Historical Perspective: Slavery Over the Centuries,” in Human Trafficking: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, ed. Mary C. Burke (New York: Routledge, 2013), pp. 24-47 (Eureka)
  • Brysk and Choi-Fitzpatrick,From Human Trafficking to Human Rights:Reframing Contemporary Slavery, excerpts‬ (Eureka)
  • William Finnegan, “The Countertraffickers: Rescuing the Victims of the Global Sex Trade,” New Yorker (Eureka)

[??18]

PART III: A TRANSNATIONAL EXAMINATION OF MIGRATION, POLICY, AND THE STATE

Week 10: Intersections between Foreign and Domestic Policy

  • McAlister, Epic Encounters, selected chapters

[??19]

Week 11: International Adoption

  • Jane JeongTrenka, The Language of Blood: A Memoir, excerpts
  • National Association of Black Social Workers—selection of primary documents (Eureka)
  • Operation Babylift—selection of primary documents (Eureka)

[??20]

Week 12: Immigration and Citizenship

  • Mae Ngai, Impossible Subjects,Chapters 1-3
  • Gordon Chang, “Eternally Foreign: Asian Americans, History, and Race” (Eureka)
  • Evangelical Immigration Table, “Statement on Citizenship” (Eureka)

[??21]

Week 13: Immigration and Labor

  • Mae Ngai, Impossible Subjects, Chapters 4-6
  • Bacon, Communities without Borders: Images and Voices from the World of Migration, selected excerpts

[??22]

Week 14: Diasporas

  • Nayan Shah, Between “’Oriental Depravity’ and ‘Natural Degenerates’: Spatial Borderlands and the Making of Ordinary Americans” (Eureka)
  • AzadehMoaveni, Lipstick Jihad: Growing Up Iranian in America and American in Iran, excerpts

[??23]

Week 15—Presentations & Reflections

[??1]Thinking Globally 3, 5; Thinking Historically, 2

[??2]Thinking Globally 2-3, 5; Thinking Historically, 2

[??3]Thinking Globally 3, 5; Thinking Historically, 2

[??4]Thinking Globally 1-3, 5; Thinking Historically, 3

[??5]Thinking Globally, 2, 4, 5; Thinking Globally Outcome

[??6]Thinking Globally Outcome; Thinking Globally 3

[??7]Thinking Historically, 1-2

[??8]Thinking Globally, 1

[??9]Thinking Historically, 1-2

[??10]Thinking Globally 3, 5; Thinking Historically 2

[??11]Thinking Globally 2-3; Thinking Historically 2

[??12]Thinking Globally 2-3; Thinking Historically 1

[??13]Thinking Globally 1, 3

[??14]Thinking Globally 1, 3, 5; Thinking Historically 1, 3

[??15]Thinking Globally 1, 4; Thinking Historically 2

[??16]Thinking Globally 1, 4, 5; Thinking Historically 2

[??17]Thinking Globally 1; Thinking Historically 2

[??18]Thinking Globally 3-5; Thinking Historically 3

[??19]Thinking Globally 3; Thinking Historically 2

[??20]Thinking Globally 2, 3, 5; Thinking Historically, 1

[??21]Thinking Globally 2-3; Thinking Historically, 2-3

[??22]Thinking Globally 1, 2, 4; Thinking Historically, 2-3

[??23]Thinking Globally 1, 2, 5; Thinking Historically, 2

Top View