This is the second half of a two-semester survey of Jewish civilization. It begins with a brief discussion of Jewish history from earliest times, but focuses on the period from Spain’s Expulsion of the Jews in 1492 to the present. We will examine the major movements of Jews within an expanding diaspora, the impact of the Reformation, the changing attitudes to Jews, the breakdown of traditional authority in Jewish communities and the trend toward secularization. It will deal with the following transformative events: the rise of eastern European Jewry, the spread of kabbalah (a form of mysticism), the entry of Jews into a capitalist economy, Hassidism, Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah), emancipation, modern antisemitism, Zionism, Jews in the Muslim world, the rise American Jewry, the Holocaust, the establishment of the State of Israel, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. The thematic core of the course will be the concepts of exile and return – their various meanings and interpretations over time, in a variety of historical contexts.

Texts:
Eli Barnavi, A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People: From the Time of the Patriarchs to the Present. 

Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz, eds., The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History.

Grading:
Two quizzes (20%), first mid-term (20%), second mid-term (20%), final exam (40%).

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This course examines seminal texts and significant episodes in the intellectual and political history of Western Europe and its Atlantic colonies during the later seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries.  In doing so, the seminar aims to understand the intellectual and cultural revolution known as the Enlightenment as well as the relationship between it and the political revolutions of the period, particularly the English Revolution of the mid-seventeenth century (c. 1640-1660), the Glorious Revolution of 1688-1689, the American Revolution of 1775-1783, the French Revolution of 1789-1815, and the Haitian Revolution of 1791-1804.

Books:
1. Margaret C. Jacob, ed., The Enlightenment: A Brief History with Documents, 2nd edition (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2017).
2. Gordon S. Wood, The American Revolution: A History (Modern Library, 2003).
3. Lynn Hunt, ed., The French Revolution and Human Rights: A Brief Documentary History (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1996).
4. John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, ed. C. B. Macpherson (Hackett, 1980).
5. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, trans. Donald A. Cress (Hackett, 1992).
6. Immanuel Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics, trans. James W. Ellington, 2nd edition (Hackett, 2001).
7. Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, The Marriage of Figaro, trans. Henry R. Bishop (Digireads, 2011).


Grading:
Attendance and Participation (20%)
Weekly Reading Responses (15%)
Mid-Term Essay (25%)
Term Paper (40%)

The French revolution is one of the most famous events in history. Historians, social scientists, and politicians have studied and debated it for over two centuries, and they still have not resolved the fundamental questions it raises. Why does a regime collapse? How is a new state built? Why are some revolutions peaceful while others become protracted and violent? The human drama, too, of this tumultuous decade and a half is irresistible. How were extraordinary careers made and then lost? How did people take sides? How did ordinary people survive?
            In this course, we’ll use the French revolution to think about all these questions concretely. We have three aims, and they are all related. The first is to help you master the major events and developments of the revolution itself. The second is to understand what those events meant at the time and how their importance has been magnified since – how, in other words, they have produced classic political arguments about the conditions for democracy, the sources of rights, and the process of historical change itself. The required readings represent some of those arguments. Third, we consider how the revolution has shaped the world, and how it compares with other revolutions, including ones going on right now.


Texts:
Rousseau, The Social Contract
William Doyle, The French Revolution: A Very Short History
Timothy Tackett, When the King Took Flight
Timothy Tackett, The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution
David Bell, Napoleon, A Biography

Grading:
•    2 4-5 page take home papers (25% each)  (total 50% of grade**)
•    1 comprehensive test (25%)
•    group political club assignments (25%).
•     points deducted for more than 2 absences and points added for participation in discussion sessions if we have them.Historians care about writing. It is impossible to separate form from content, and both count in your grade. Check your grammar, sentence structure, and word usage. Go to the writing center. Have someone read and comment on your paper. Give yourself time to revise.

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This lecture course explores the most significant political, religious, social, economic and cultural developments in seventeenth-century England. The unifying theme of the course is the problem of revolution, and the lectures investigate the causes, nature, and development of the two revolutions of the seventeenth century—the Puritan Revolution of the 1640s and the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89. The lectures are topical and therefore do not follow a strict chronological order.

Roger Lockyer, Tudor and Stuart Britain (3rd ed., 2005)
Brian Levack, Witch-Hunting in Scotland (208)
Barry Coward, Oliver Cromwell  (1991)
Peter Laslett (ed.), John Locke's Two Treatises of Government (2nd ed., 1989)

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Our stereotypical image of an early modern woman is a witch - for some good reasons because thousands of witch trials took place.  In this course, we will look beyond that perspective to explore the complex of material, political, and cultural factors that shaped experiences of gender and family and that shaped attitudes about gender and power in early modern Europe.  The early modern centuries between about 1500 and 1800 were years of tremendous change in many ways – including religious reformations, more powerful governments, global colonial empires and the domestic impacts of colonialism that included the rise of racial categories, and the economic transformation we call the transition to capitalism.  Some features were slower to change, however, especially with regard to family life. We will explore how women's experiences compared to men's - whether as workers, consumers, criminals, political subjects and political actors, peasants or nobles, members of racial, ethnic and religious minorities, spouses or parents.  Along the way, we will explore why some of these dynamics fed into a proliferation of "witches."

Discussion of the assigned readings (see below) will be an important element of this class: you will learn more effectively when you take an active part in the analysis of the material to be covered. Consequently you must expect to read every reading assignment very carefully and thoughtfully. You should come to each class ready to ask questions and contribute observations.

You will need to demonstrate mastery of the readings to do well on the exams.

Warning: absence from class will inevitably have a serious impact on your grade because you cannot participate if you are not present. Each of you may be absent twice with no penalty. For every absence after that, three points will be deducted from your participation grade for each absence not justified by a written explanation. Please note, however, that attendance is the only the first prerequisite for participation, so that perfect attendance and complete silence will result in a grade that reflects only partial fulfillment of participation.

Daily class readings are available on Canvas or online through the Library Catalogue. (Deleted last section here.)

Grading:
Midterm 25%
Final 35%
Reading grids 20%
Witchcraft group projects 10%
Preparation and engagement 10%

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Note: This course (ITC 348) counts toward the major in Italian.

Course Description

The Divine Comedy offers a remarkable panorama of the late Middle Ages through one man's poetic vision of the afterlife. However, we continue to read and study the poem not only to learn about the thought and culture of medieval and early modern Europe but also because many of the issues confronting Dante and his age are no less important to individuals and societies today. Personal and civic responsibilities, governmental accountability, church-state relations, economics and social justice, Dante's influence on artists and other writers, benefits and limitations of interdisciplinarity—these are some of the themes that will frame our discussion of the Divine Comedy. Although you will read the poem in English, a bilingual edition will enable you to study and learn famous lines in the original Italian. The course is taught in English and contains flags for Writing and Global Cultures.

Danteworlds (http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/): In addition to detailed entries, audio recordings, and study questions, this Web site contains hundreds of images from works by Sandro Botticelli, an anonymous 16th-century artist, John Flaxman, William Blake, Gustave Dorè, and Suloni Robertson.

Through close reading, class discussion, and the use of Danteworlds, you are expected to identify and explain the significance of major characters, references, and ideas in Dante's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise) and Vita Nuova. You will be tested on this ability in responses to study questions (a low-stakes writing assignment) and two in-class exams. An essay, which you will rewrite and expand based on my feedback, will assess your ability to support an interpretation of a specific aspect of Dante's poetry with detailed textual analysis and scholarly research. A peer-editing activity will help you to revise and edit your own work. I expect you to have read the assigned cantos and reviewed the corresponding material in Danteworlds (including the study questions) before class.

Required Texts: (you must use the editions of these texts ordered for the class)

            Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso (Trans. Allen Mandelbaum)

            Vita Nuova (Trans. Barbara Reynolds)

Recommended Text (also ordered for this class): The Complete Danteworlds: A Reader's Guide to the "Divine Comedy" (Raffa)

Canvas: We will use the CANVAS learning management system to organize and provide course content on-line. When you log in to Canvas (http://canvas.utexas.edu/) and select the course, you will have access to the syllabus, assignments, lecture presentations, grades, and a discussion forum. You will be required to submit most assignments on-line using Canvas. For assistance, consult the student tutorials (https://utexas.instructure.com/courses/633028/pages/student-tutorials) or contact support staff (https://utexas.instructure.com/courses/633028).

Assignments and Computation of Grade:

10%: 1500-word essay on the Inferno (credit for successful completion)

25%: Rewrite and expansion of this essay incorporating scholarly research (graded)

5%:   Annotated bibliography of research sources (credit for successful completion)

5%:   Peer-review (credit for successful completion)

10%: Responses to study questions in Canvas Discussion Forum (credit for successful completion)

30%: Two in-class examinations  (graded: 15% each)

15%: Classwork and participation                          

Attendance Policy: Your attendance, which obviously influences your classwork and participation grade, is expected at all class meetings. You are expected to arrive on time to class and to stay for the entire lesson. Repeated late arrivals to—or early departures from—will count as absences. For every class that you miss (for whatever reason) after the fifth absence, your classwork and participation grade (on a 100-point scale) will be reduced by 5 points.

Late Work: Late work will lose a full letter grade for each day it is late except in the case of documented emergencies (e.g., serious illness, death in the family), religious holidays (see university policy below), or university-sponsored events (with prior notification).

Grading and Plagiarism: All graded assignments will be marked on a 100 point scale and converted to letter grades consistent with university policy:

A (94-100) = 4.0, A- (90-93) = 3.67, B+ (88-89) = 3.3, B (84-87) = 3.0, B- (80-83) = 2.67, C+ (78-79) = 2.3, C (74-77) = 2.0, C- (70-73) = 1.67, D+ (68-69) = 1.3, D (64-67) = 1.0, D- (60-63) = 0.67, F (below 60) = 0.0

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Instructor:  Toth, N

Unique #:  35597

Semester:  Spring 2019

Cross-lists:  EUS 347.7

Restrictions: none

Computer Instruction: No

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: If the genre of the novel can be defined at all, then we might say it is a narrative form that does not accept reality as it is, but rearranges the order of things so as to transform them.  To what ends?  This course will ask this question of a series of major European novels from the late 18^thcentury, when the genre came into its own, through to today.  We will examine their narrative innovations and their contribution to the history of the genre.  We will also look at the relationship each novel establishes to illusion and reality in the context of the major social, economic and political upheavals of European history over the last two centuries.  Throughout the course, we will ask how these novels contribute to our understanding of what “Europe” was, might have been, and might be.

Texts may include: Goethe, The Sorrows of the Young Werther; Flaubert, Sentimental Education; Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment; Zola, Germinal; Woolf, Mrs Dalloway; Mann, The Magic Mountain; Kafka,The Castle; Duras,The Sea Wall; Kertesz, Kaddish for an Unborn Child; Chamoiseau, Texaco.

Requirements & Grading: The class will be held as much as possible in seminar format.  Students will be asked to prepare, with guidance from their teacher, and lead, one short class session (20%).  They will also write two written assignments (25% each) and sit a final exam (30%).

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EUS 348/GOV 365N:
European Environmental Politics

Spring 2019

Unique: 36155/38385

Course concept

Environmental politics is one area where Europe arguably leads the world. Europe has, at both the national and European-Union level, committed itself to achieving reductions in carbon emissions far greater than anywhere else in the world.

This course will examine the history of environmental politics in both the member states of the European Union and the EU itself. Beginning with a conceptual treatment of general environmental politics and policies, the course moves to a history of European environmentalism, before shifting to a discussion on the institutional responses at important ‘traditional’ Member States (Germany, France, Italy and the UK) as well as ‘new‘ Member States (Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary). The final section of the course examines EU environmental policies themselves, such as the EU Emissions Trading System and its institutional commitment to meeting Kyoto Protocol goals. This section examines Europe in light of its relationship to the United States and other global powers as they re-evaluate environmental policy positions.

Assignments and grading

Your course grade will consist of a midterm exam grade, a take-home final exam grade, a short paper grade and a discussion/participation grade. All assignments will be converted to a 100-point scale with no curve. All grades, including final grades, will use the plus (+) and minus (-) system. Grade standards for all assignments are as follows:

Exams: 50%

As this class is an upper-division course, a major portion of the grade for the course will consist of exams, consisting of a midterm exam and a take-home final exam. Both the midterm and the take-home final exam will be worth 25% of your course grade.

Paper: 30%

The paper for this class will be a short (2000 word) exploratory paper on one of the five topics chosen by the instructor. Such a paper should be a reasonably thorough treatment of the topic chosen, including a clear thesis statement, logical consistency in the arguments used to show the validity of the thesis, and a clear and concise conclusion that effectively summarizes your argument. The paper should be no more than 2000 words in length. The paper will comprise 30% of your total grade for the course. The paper grade itself will be divided into four sections:

     Topic choice: due 1 February. Worth 10% of paper grade (3% of course grade).

     Topic outline and list of references: due 15 February. Worth 20% of paper grade (6% of course grade).

     First draft of paper:  due 15 April.  Worth 20% of paper grade (6% of course grade).

     Final draft of paper: due 10 May.  Worth 50% of paper grade (15% of course grade).

Attendance/Participation: 20%

There is a distinction between attendance and participation. Attendance will be managed through Canvas and will take place at five intervals throughout the session. Each of these attendance days will count for 2% of your course grade (for a total of 10%).

Participation will count for 10% of your total grade.

Participation will be divided into two sections:  in-class participation and online discussion. While not everyone enjoys speaking in class, discussion questions will count for as much as in-class participation. Discussion questions will count for 7.5% of your course grade; in-class participation will count for 2.5% of your course grade.

In-class participation will be graded as follows:

• Attending every day, but not participating in class: 80/100
• Attending every day, participating via question answering (from instructor): 90/100
• Attending every day, participating via question answering and active learning (extending discussion, asking follow-up questions): 100/100

Online discussion postings are critical to class participation grades. So that we can discuss points raised in the online postings in Thursday’s class, discussion questions for the week on which I am lecturing will be due by 5:00 pm every Wednesday (unless directed otherwise). They should be drawn from the readings or contemporary news accounts and should reflect any questions, comments, or cries of outrage you may have regarding the arguments set forth by the authors or news stories. Discussion posting will most definitely will help you get the most from the class.

Online discussion postings will be graded as follows:

• •12-15 postings: Full credit
• •8-11 postings: 70% credit
• •5-7 postings: 50% credit
• •Less than 5 postings: No credit

There are no discussion postings necessary for midterm week. The total number of discussion postings will be counted at the end of the semester, and also will be examined throughout the semester for evidence of consistent posting. Do not expect to “catch-up” post only at the end of the semester and receive full participation credit.

A word on late or missed assignments. Over the course of the semester, it is inevitable that some event will cause a time management issue, which might lead to a missed assignment deadline. Though normally handled on a case-by-case basis, there are some baseline penalties for missed or delayed assignments, detailed here:

• Missed exams will receive a 5% deduction per day until made up.

Other important information

Plagiarism / academic misconduct:

Don’t do it. Minimum penalties for cheating are zeros on quizzes or exams where the cheating takes place, and a grade of F on a paper that has been plagiarized. Questions about what constitutes academic misconduct should be brought to my attention.

Undergraduate Writing Center: 

The Undergraduate Writing Center, FAC 211, 471-6222: http://www.uwc.utexas.edu/) offers free, individualized, expert help with writing for any UT undergraduate, by appointment or on a drop-in basis. Any undergraduate enrolled in a course at UT can visit the UWC for assistance with any writing project. They work with students from every department on campus, for both academic and non-academic writing. Their services are not just for writing with "problems." Getting feedback from an informed audience is a normal part of a successful writing project. Consultants help students develop strategies to improve their writing. The assistance they provide is intended to foster independence. Each student determines how to use the consultant's advice. The consultants are trained to help you work on your writing in ways that preserve the integrity of your work.

University of Texas Honor Code:

The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the university is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community.  Any student found guilty of scholastic dishonesty may receive an “F” in the course and be remanded to the appropriate University of Texas authorities for disciplinary action.  For more information, view Student Judicial Services at http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs.

Religious Holidays:

According to UT-Austin policy, students must notify the instructor of an impending absence at least 14 days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If a student must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, the student will be given an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence.

Student Privacy: 

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requires that student privacy be preserved.  Thus the posting of grades, even by the last four digits of the social security number, is forbidden.  All communication will remain between the instructor and the student, and the instructor will not be able to share details of the student’s performance with parents, spouses, or any others.

Documented Disability Statement:

The University of Texas will make reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities. Any student with a documented disability who requires academic accommodations should contact Services for Students with Disabilities at 471-6259 (voice) or 1-866-329-3986 (Video Phone) as soon as possible to request an official letter outlining authorized accommodations.

Emergency Evacuation Policy:

In the event of a fire or other emergency, it may be necessary to evacuate a building rapidly.  Upon the activation of a fire alarm or the announcement of an emergency in a university building, all occupants of the building are required to evacuate and assemble outside.  Once evacuated, no one may re-enter the building without instruction to do so from the Austin Fire Department, University of Texas at Austin Police Department, or Fire Prevention Services office.  Students should familiarize themselves with all the exit doors of each room and building they occupy at the university, and should remember that the nearest exit routes may not be the same as the way they typically enter buildings.  Students requiring assistance in evacuation shall inform their instructors in writing during the first week of class.  Information regarding emergency evacuation routes and emergency procedures can be found at http://www.utexas.edu/emergency.

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PREREQUISITES

Students wishing to enroll in this class must have taken a foundational course in government, European studies, or Russian/East European studies. The course also assumes basic knowledge of world history. Students who find themselves lost during lectures or class discussions should see me during office hours immediately.

Course Description

Eastern Europe is home to an ethnically diverse population. And in the past 100 years, the map for Eastern Europe has been redrawn more than a dozen times – often with great consequences for ethnic politics. The course is divided into four parts. We will begin by focusing on the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War 1, the Interwar Period, and World War 2. During these thirty-some years, we see the importance of ethnicity for state-building. We will then continue on to the Cold War, paying special attention to the institutional differences across the otherwise ideologically similar communist states. We will also note how the different governments used these institutions to mute ethnic matters. Next, we will examine how these institutional differences affected subsequent democratic transitions and government policies toward minorities. We will conclude by looking at how the European Union has redrawn Eastern Europe by opening up borders and the implications of these opened borders, namely the rise of right wing nationalism.

Note: The importance of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe politics cannot be overstated. To this end, we will study the Soviet Union/Russia briefly, but note that the primary emphasis in this course is on the region to the east of present-day Germany and to the west of present-day Russia. We will not spend much time talking about any country formerly in the Soviet Union, i.e., Ukraine and the Baltic states.

GRADING POLICY

Your final grade is composed of the following five parts:

1. Quizzes: 20%
2. Midterm Examination: 20%
3. Final Examination: 20%
4. Coding Assignment: 20%
5. Coding-Based Paper Assignment : 20%

readings

One book is required for this course. You can buy a used copy for as little as $1.20 on Amazon:

• Krenz, Maria. 2009. Made in Hungary: A Life Forged by History. Boulder, CO: Donner Publishing (hereafter referred to as “Krenz”).

I will place most of the assigned readings (e.g., articles and book chapters) on Canvas. You can access them with your EID and password at https://canvas.utexas.edu. Readings not on Canvas can be accessed directly through Google. There are a few assigned videos to watch. Those can be found on YouTube.

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GOV324L / EUS 350

Government & Politics of Western Europe

Spring 2019

PAR 201

T-Th 9:30-11am

Professor: Zeynep Somer-Topcu, PhD

zsomer@utexas.edu

Office:  BAT 3.124

Introduction

This course provides students with a general introduction to the political institutions, voter behavior, and issues in West Europe. The objective is to equip students with a broad overview of the politics and political systems of Western Europe, as well as on concepts, methods, and tools to understand and analyze contemporary developments. The course is organized thematically (rather than in a country-specific way) around a framework that emphasizes the political determinants and policy consequences of institutional differences.

We will start the course with a short overview of the countries and the history of Europe. We will then look at political institutions in Europe—ranging from the executive power to the parliaments and electoral systems. Next, we will discuss the European party systems and political parties (where do they come from, how do we explain the differences across countries, how do parties elect their leaders and get funded, etc.).

In the second half of the course we will discuss the important issues/problems Western European countries face: (1) regionalism, (2) the European Union, (3) lack of voter interest/knowledge, (4) immigration, (5) the rise of anti-immigrant politics and challenges the mainstream parties face, (6) political corruption and scandals, and (7) European foreign relations and security issues.

Course Requirements:

Quizzes                       10%

Two short papers      15% (each)

Three Exams             20% (each)

Attendance and Participation

Attendance is NOT required. However, the exams will heavily rely on what we will discuss in class. There are more details beyond the slides we will discuss in class, and you will be responsible of those details in the exams. Therefore, I strongly encourage you to come to class.

Class participation is different from attendance. Throughout the course students are encouraged to raise questions and relevant discussion topics in class, and expected to contribute to class discussions. Students are expected to do the assigned readings before we discuss the topic in class, and arrive at class ready to discuss the readings.

While there is not a participation grade, I will use my personal judgment based on your in-class participation to bump your grade up if your final grade ends up very close to the higher letter grade.

Quizzes (10%)

There will be about 10-12 quizzes throughout the semester. I will announce most of these quizzes in advance but also reserve the right to administer pop quizzes.

These quizzes will ask a short question about the readings assigned for that class.

You must have a piece of paper and a pen ready for each class in case we have a quiz. I will put the question on the board and will give you 3-5 minutes at the beginning of the class to answer the question. If you arrive late, you will not be allowed to take the quiz.

You will receive a grade out of 10 for each quiz. We will post the grades on Canvas but not hand back these quizzes. you miss more than 6 quizzes you will automatically fail the class.

Short papers (15% each):

There are five topics with deadlines scattered throughout the semester. You have to choose two of these topics and write short papers. These short papers should not be longer than 6 pages (double-spaced), or shorter than 4 pages (double-spaced), excluding the title page and the bibliography.

In these assignments, you will provide the facts about the question asked. However, you can receive full grade only if you provide a critical analysis for the question. You have to have a bibliography part and show your research. Wikipedia is not accepted as a scholarly citation.

The papers are due at the beginning of the class (1pm) on the day they are due. You must bring hard-copies to the class. Emailed or late submissions won’t be accepted, and you will receive a grade of F for that paper.

Exams (20% each)

There are three exams scattered throughout the semester. Each exam will be a combination of multiple-choice questions, short or bullet-point answer questions, and a few long (one-page) essays.

Required Text:

The following book is available for purchase at the bookstore:

Gallagher, Laver and Mair. 2011. Representative Government in Modern

Europe: Institutions, Parties, and Governments. McGraw Hill. 5th Edition. (Make sure you have the correct edition)