Florida International University
History 6906 (01). Readings in Atlantic Civilization
Fall 2005
Professor Noble David Cook
DM 370 Monday 17:00-19:40
Office DM 395B
Hours: W 4:30-6:30 PM e-mail cookn@fiu.edu tel: 348-3966
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HIS 6906. Readings in Atlantic Civilization . This "team taught" comparative reading seminar under the direction of N.D. Cook, examines the historical concept of an "Atlantic Civilization."
It is required of all beginning doctoral candidates.
Most traditional history majors at the undergraduate and even M.A. levels have specialized by taking a series of discrete courses in national histories, usually broken into short temporal blocks.
As a result the novice historian too often has a narrow, limited focus, and frequently finds it difficult to link and analyze broader cross-cultural tendencies that have been important in the evolution of the Atlantic World created by the discoveries of the sixteenth century European explorers.
The purpose of this course is to introduce doctoral candidates to the concept that in the past half millennium, following the permanent linking of the Old and New Worlds in 1492, a new and distinctively Atlantic Civilization has developed. The idea provides a theoretical focus for interdisciplinary readings and discussion which may lead to the doctoral dissertation.
The topics for the Fall semester of 2005 are as follows: the technological changes that led to the
Age of Exploration and Discovery; the ecological impact of the linking of the Atlantic World; the nature and persistence of the Spanish colonial system; symbol and myth in the making of "empire"; slavery in the Atlantic world; plantation societies compared; the African in the constitution of an
Atlantic civilization; ecological changes in the case of the US southeast; the British example of migration and cultural change, as well as the formulation of a new culture; Imperialism in the
Atlantic World, with special stress on Britain; the modern Black and the Atlantic World; the relationship between democracy and the Atlantic World; and finally, the concept of the frontier as a heuristic device.
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History 6906 (01). Readings in Atlantic Civilization --- Tentative Schedule
Fall 2005 DM 370 Monday 17:00-19:40
One purpose of the seminar is to introduce students to the rich diversity and quality of the scholarly activities of the FIU faculty. In the Fall of 2005 we hope to have the active participation of several professors in the department.
Schedule of Seminar Meetings
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Date Topic
……………………………………………………………………………………………………...
29 Aug
Introduction: An “Atlantic History”? and basics in the exercise of the historical…
5 Sep Labor Day, no classes
Technological Change in the creation of the Atlantic Network -- Parry [Cook] 12
19 Symbols in the Creation of Empire -- P. Seed [Cook]
Sugar and the Making of the Atlantic Economy - S.W. Mintz [Cook] 26
3 Oct
10
17
Women in the Atlantic World – *packet [Wood]
Africa in the Creation of the Atlantic World – Thornton [Ogundiran]
Environmental impacts on the Atlantic - - *packet [Johnson]
24
31
7 Nov
14
Native Americans in the Anglo Atlantic -- C.G. Calloway [Combs]
Migration and Change: The British Variant -- D.H. Fischer [Rock]
Migration and Change: The Spanish Variant – *packet [Szuchman]
Crime and Criminality in the Atlantic World – *packet [Uribe]
21 Liberalism in the Atlantic World - - *packet [Kahan]
28 Imagining Colonies and the Empire -- * packet [Kriegel]
5 Dec Urbanization, Migration and Planning in the 20 th
Century -- Rogers [Klemik]
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Course Requirements:
Students are expected to attend all classes and to read and discuss the assigned texts each week. They should also write and hand in a two to three page "critique" of the text, in a format similar to that of major historical journals. In addition to the discussion one student each week will be assigned to prepare a bio-bibliographical synopsis of the career of the author of the text. The report should be no longer than three or four pages in length. Topics to be covered include education, professional appointments, research stints, fellowships and honors, and significant publications. Two or three sentences analyzing each publication would be appropriate. A second student will be assigned to go to the scholarly journals and collect and analyze reviews of the week's assigned text. Here too a written synopsis is needed, with quotations from reviews and bio-bibliographical identification of the reviewers. [2/3 the grade is based on the weekly work]
By the end of the semester the student will complete an historiographical essay on an interdisciplinary topic associated with an "idea" related to the concept of "Atlantic Civilization." The essay should be approximately seven pages in length, and should include a separate annotated bibliography (30-60 items, three to five sentence annotation each, depending on theme) covering relevant works. The essay might later develop into the introduction of the research topic for the spring semester research seminar, or even become part of the dissertation prospectus. [1/3 the grade based on the paper]
The instructor expects professionalism and originality in the student's work. The student should take a critical approach to the assignments, and be able to objectively evaluate the contributions of the work in question.
Texts required for reading and discussion [plus packets] : Available www.barnesandnoble.com
Given small seminar, books [new or used] are best purchased online for cost and efficiency.
Packets will be prepared by the guests well before their scheduled session. Details later.
John H. Parry, The Age of Reconnaissance: Discovery, Exploration and Settlement, 1450-1650 (New
York: University of California Press). 0-520-04235-2
Patricia Seed, Ceremonies of Possession in Europe's Conquest of the New World, 1492-1640 (New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1995). 0-521-49757-4
Sidney W. Mintz, Sweetness and Power. The Place of Sugar in Modern History (New York: Penguin,
1985). 0-14-00.9233-1
John Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1680 (New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1992). 0-521-39864-9
Colin G. Calloway, New Worlds for All. Indians, Europeans, and the Remaking of Early America
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997). 0-8018-5959-X
David H. Fischer, Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (New York: Oxford University Press,
1991). 0-19-506905-6
Daniel T. Rodgers, Atlantic Crossings: Social Politics in a Progressive Age , Harvard University Press,
2000. 0674002016
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