History 281
Summer 2011, First Session
M/T/Th/F, 9:00-11:55
Lecture Center A2
Office Hours: gladly by appt.
Robert Johnston
UH 930
(o) 312-413-9164
(c) 773-610-1442
johnsto1@uic.edu
TA: Perry Clark, perryrclark@gmail.com
TOPICS IN SOCIAL HISTORY
FILM AND AMERICAN HISTORY
We are going to get watch some really cool, and really important, movies during this fast-moving
summer course. Yet just as importantly, we’re going to think about the ultimate meaning of history.
What is “history”? How do we construct history? Why and how do we remember what we remember
from our past? In what ways is history important to our personal, communal, and national identities?
There are no right answers to the delightfully open-ended questions. All I ask of you in answering them
is your best personal effort, hard work, and a willingness to challenge yourself and our group.
READINGS:
The books for the course are available at the UIC bookstore, and they are also on reserve at Daley library.
Required texts for the course are:
*Bryan Rommel-Ruiz, American History Goes to the Movies: Hollywood and the American Experience
(2010)
*Robert Rosenstone, Visions of the Past: The Challenge of Film to Our Idea of History (1996)
*Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, A Midwife’s Tale: The Life Of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812
(1991)
Most articles are available on-line through the UIC Library website or on the internet. Readings not
available on-line will be available at the course websites on Blackboard and The History Community
(historycommunity.net).
ASSIGNMENTS:
Your primary assignment to think creatively about all of the movies and readings and come prepared to
engage the issues that they present in lively, contentious, and respectful discussions.
Other assignments (all due exclusively by email to johnsto1@uic.edu) include:
*3 to 5-page Civil War essay, due before class, 5/19
*3 to 5-page Ulrich Essay, due before class, 5/31
*3 to 5-page 1960s essay, due before class, 6/10
These larger papers should be analytical engagement with the big issues raised by the films and the
readings about them. You should absolutely minimize your summary of both films and readings, and
instead make an argument about issues that you choose to explore. We will discuss these papers much
more in class. All papers: 1 inch margins, 12 point font, with close attention to grammar and style. I will
be delighted to work with you on any writing issues that you need or wish to work on.
*3 one- to two-page “internal memos” on movies we’ve seen in class and that you’ve done a small
amount of additional research on (first due by May 24; one must be on “The Patriot” and sent to entire
class before June 2; the third is due June 10).
*2 two-page “external memos” on films seen outside class based on a chapter in Ruiz that we will not be
reading in class as well as a small amount of additional research. Read the entire chapter, watch a movie
that Ruiz discusses, find and read outside reviews, and discuss the major issues related to the movie. The
first of these memos is due no later than May 27; the second is due no later than June 10 th.
These internal and external memos can engage in a bit more summary than the papers—up to about half
of the paper can be summary. You will need to find a minimum of three reviews of the movie—even
better would be five. One of the reviews must be scholarly (your best bet: Journal of American History;
also try the American Historical Review). Another review must be from a major periodical such as The
New York Times. The other review(s) can be from responsible and thoughtful online sources. You will
then discuss the major themes of the movies and the reviews (and, in the case of the external memos,
Ruiz’s chapter). Be sure to let me know what you think—again, analysis, interpretation, and
evaluation is what I am most looking for.
Value of assignments:
Class Participation
Three 3- to 5-page essays
Memos
20%
60%
20%
For papers based on assigned class readings, simple citation within the text is sufficient (e.g., RommelRuiz, 99). However, for material outside of the syllabus, please be sure to use proper citation methods. I
recommend Kate Turabian, A Manual of Style, or the quick citation guide available at the Chicago
Manual of Style website (http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html). Please use the
humanities method of citation.
Please be aware of my pet writing peeves. Feel free to add more of these obsessions to the class’s
burden:
--unless you are British, place commas and periods inside quotation marks.
--use italics, not underlining, for book and journal titles.
--don’t use semicolons unless you have a license.
--“methodology” is ugly and used incorrectly at least 99 per cent of the time. Please use “method.”
--do not confuse the style for footnotes/endnotes with that for bibliographical entries.
--use a short title, as well as the author’s name, in a repeat citation of a given work.
Plagiarism Statement: Plagiarism is a serious violation of university codes on academic integrity.
Plagiarizing material from the web, printed sources, other students’ work, or any other source constitutes
grounds for failure in this course. Incidents of plagiarism may also be brought before the university
judiciary board resulting in further disciplinary action. Students uncertain of the definition of plagiarism
must ask the instructor prior to submitting their work. Ignorance is not an acceptable excuse for
plagiarism.
Students with disabilities who require accommodations for access and participation in this course must
be registered with the Office of Disability Services. Please call 312/413-2103 (voice) or 312/413-0123
(TTY).
Class Rule:
No cellphones, PDAs, or laptops unless you need them for specific accommodations. If
that is the case, please see me in advance.
COURSE SCHEDULE
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WEEK 1
History and Memory
M, 5/16 “Forrest Gump” (142 min)
Tu, 5/17 “Lone Star” (135 min)
READINGS: Rommel-Ruiz, ch. 1 (concentrate especially on p. 5); Rosenstone, Introduction; Ulrich, 171. Recommended: Robert Burgoyne, “Prosthetic Memory/Traumatic Memory: “Forrest Gump,”
Screening the Past, #6, http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/firstrelease/fr0499/rbfr6a.htm
(a bit difficult, but rewarding)
***
Remembering the Civil War on the Sesquicentennial
Th, 5/19 Ken Burns, “The Civil War”
READINGS: Ken Burns, “A Conflict’s Acoustic Shadows,” New York Times, April 11, 2011; Edward
Ball, “An American Tragedy,” New York Times, April 11, 2011; Robert Brent Toplin, “Preface”; C. Vann
Woodward, “Help from Historians”; and Toplin, “Ken Burn’s The Civil War as an Interpretation of
History,” in Toplin, ed., Ken Burns’s The Civil War: Historians Respond (1996). Available on
Blackboard and The History Community.
*Find your own article or op-ed about the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and bring it to class
Fri, 5/20 “Amistad” (155 min)
READINGS: Eric Foner , “The Amistad Case in Fact and Film,” History Matters,
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/74 (March 1998); Jesse Lemisch, “Black Agency in the Amistad
Uprising: Or, You've Taken Our Cinque and Gone,” Souls 1 (1999): 57-69, available at
www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/souls/vol1no1/vol1num1art6.pdf; Ulrich, 72-101
WEEK 2
M, 5/23 Discussion of “Amistad”; “Glory” (122 min)
READINGS:
Rosenstone, chs. 1-2; James McPherson, “Glory,” in Carnes, Past Imperfect: History According to the
Movies (1995) [All chapters from Carnes available on Blackboard and The History Community]; Ulrich,
102-203
Tu, 5/24 Ken Burns, “The Civil War,” conclusion; “Gangs of New York,” 167 min
READINGS:
Rommel-Ruiz, ch. 2; Eric Foner, “Ken Burns and the Romance of Reunion”; Leon F. Litwack, “Telling
the Story: The Historians, the Filmmaker, and the Civil War”; Geoffrey C. Ward, “Refighting the Civil
War”; and Ken Burns, “Four O’Clock in the Morning Courage”; all Toplin, ed., Ken Burns’s The Civil
War, available on Blackboard and The History Community
*FIRST INTERNAL MEMO DUE BEFORE CLASS OR EARLIER*
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Th, 5/26 Finish “Gangs of New York”; “The Birth of a Nation,” excerpts
READINGS:
Rommel-Ruiz, ch. 5; Leon F. Litwack, “The Birth of a Nation,” in Carnes, Past Imperfect
***Paper #1 on Civil War Due***
***
Doing History (in the New Nation)
Fri, 5/27 “A Midwife’s Tale” (89 minutes)
In class: Explore dohistory.org
WEEK 3
M, 5/30 Memorial Day—No Class
Tu, 5/31 “Empire of Reason” (58 min)
Reading: Ulrich, 204-352
***Paper #2 on Ulrich due***
Th, 6/2
“The Patriot,” 165 min
*INTERNAL MEMO DUE BEFORE CLASS. SEND TO CLASS EMAIL LIST*
The Long Cinematic Sixties
Fri, 6/3
“JFK” (189 min)
READINGS:
Rommel-Ruiz, ch. 7; Rosenstone, ch. 5; Stanley Karnow, “JFK,” in Carnes, Past Imperfect
**FIRST EXTERNAL MEMO DUE BEFORE CLASS OR EARLIER*
WEEK 4
M, 6/6 Finish “JFK”
“Fog of War’ (95 min)
READINGS: Find and read five reviews of “The Most Dangerous Man in America.” Send me the
citations for the reviews. I suggest you use metacritic.com.
Tu, 6/7
“Mississippi Burning” (128 min)
READINGS: Review Rosenstone, ch. 2; William H. Chafe, “Mississippi Burning,” in Carnes, Past
Imperfect; Robert Brent Toplin, “Missisippi Burning Scorches Historians,” Perspectives, April 1989;
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http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/1989/8904/8904FIL.cfm; Toplin, History by Hollywood:
The Use and Abuse of the American Past, ch. 1, available on Blackboard and The History Community
Read two articles (they can be short or long) from the following bibliography.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/missburning.html
*Email me the citations of the articles that you read
Th, 6/9
“The Most Dangerous Man in America (92 min); “Eyes on the Prize,” excerpts
READINGS: Find and read five reviews of “The Most Dangerous Man in America.” Send me the
citations for the reviews. I suggest you use metacritic.com; John Bracey, review of “Eyes on the Prize
II,” Radical History Review 1991(50): 183-189
F, 6/10
Conclusion: Discussion of All The Movies of This Week
READINGS: Rosenstone, chs. 9-10
***Paper #3 on 1960s Due***
*THIRD INTERNAL MEMO DUE BEFORE CLASS OR EARLIER*
*SECOND EXTERNAL MEMO DUE BEFORE CLASS OR EARLIER*
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