Professor Judith Swift

Webpage: http://www.uri.edu/artsci/com/swift

Course Description:
In-depth study of plays, films, novels, and other literary forms addressing ways in which people communicate about and during war. Exploration of war themes such as glorification, propaganda, horror and memory. The course will require intensive class participation in both real and virtual time, the completion of writings as assigned and a creative individual and/or group projects.

• Analyze the current war against terrorism in a balanced way;
• Articulate the role of war as a part of a national security strategy;
• Define how the film industry portrays war by serving as critic or propagandist;
• Display critical and analytical skills related to the analysis of literature, media reports, popular press, film, personal accounts and other sources as means to evaluate the impact of war;
• Succinctly present the array of issues surrounding war (e.g., political, economic, environmental, human, etc.);
• Identify and dissect the use and power of emotion to sway public opinion and to objectify the emotional;
• Explicate the array cinematic techniques employed in the films viewed and by extension to other films

Why We Go to War – The Origins of War

• National security strategies – war making vs. peacekeeping
• Glory, patriotism and duty as motivators for war
• The profit margin of war
• War and economic policies as alternatives
• Role of sanctions in preventing war or as economic weapons
• War ideology as inherent in economics and religion
• Role of ideology and economics: 2nd Gulf War; oil and Japan in W.W.II; the Crusades, oil in the 1st Gulf War

• How the US government has managed to persuade the public to engage in war, e.g. Gulf of Tonkin, Pearl Harbor.
  Role of propaganda
• Who fights the wars: the socioeconomic divide
• How we finance war: history of US wars – what they cost and how we financed them; a look at government finances and budget deficits, war bonds, Johnson’s tax surcharge, current situation with Iraq, etc.

How Wars Are Fought and Won

• Technology - how technological advances produce winners of war (gunpowder, stirrup, nuclear bombs, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles)
• Revolution in military affairs
• Leadership and dissent in war
• Media and war
• Politics, elections and war
• Casualties of war, the value of one versus many

• Military and upward mobility
• Race, gender and socioeconomics in military
• Warlords: politics and profiteering, e.g. GE and Westinghouse post W.W.II
• Spectator wars from Civil War to Fox and CNN
• Romance and shifting cultural norms in wartime

• War on Terrorism, globalization– war without boundaries
• Civil Wars
• Role of international institutions
• Concept of preemptive wars
• Kamikaze pilots and suicide bombers in terrorism
• WMDs, biochemical war

In addition to the films, there will be readings in this class and it is important that you keep up with the reading as well as be prepared through the film viewings. If you are compelled to miss class with a good excuse (e.g., "I cannot fog a mirror"), arrangements will be made for you to access the film through me and you can always view it at the University Library Media Room.  If you simply miss the class, the viewing will be your responsibility to arrange through your local Blockbuster or the library as available. If you have a conflict with viewings, a regular process for accessing the film will be arranged. Wag the Dog, Apocalypse Now and Glory are ones you must view on your own.

Please note: this syllabus is subject to change.  I will never change the schedule to make anything due earlier for you but reserve the right to make changes if circumstances warrant.  I expect everyone to check e-mail regularly in order that I can communicate efficiently with all of you.  I will also use the listserv (HPR411@listserv.uri.edu) to increase class discussion by posting additional ideas, observations, questions and insights.  If you need to see me, drop by during office hours, call or e-mail and I'll get you in as quickly as possible.

Attendance is expected.  You are honors students and I assume you want the stimulation of class discussion with your professor and your peers.  If you will not attend on a given day, please call or e-mail. Absences will affect your grade because class participation is an important aspect of my evaluation of your work.

• Read additional assignments, answer posted questions for each week's class and be prepared to contribute to lively discussions of the assigned works and other in-class exercises.
• Write a midterm paper and/or complete midterm project.
• Complete additional short writings (e.g., response papers as assigned).
• Complete a final paper or project as assigned.
• Complete all readings and viewings.

All writings will, of course, be word-processed and use correct grammar, spelling, etc., with references and resources properly credited. Length is to be adequate to address the assignment unless otherwise stated.  In other words, you determine the length based on your assessment of how best to complete the task which will be addressed in greater detail in the assignment posting you will receive for each of the above tasks. Each detailed assignment posting will contain a list of clear expectations against which you can compare your work prior to submitting it.

All writings will, of course, be word-processed and use correct grammar, spelling, etc., with references and resources properly credited. Assignments are turned in as attachments via e-mail to jswift@uri.edu. There is no need for hard copy. The proper method for turning in attachment assignments is as follows:

1. Complete the paper and make sure you have your name, the date and the topic in the heading.
2. Save the paper as YOURLASTNAME.ASSIGNMENT TITLE.DOC (title may be abbreviated)
3. E-mail as an attachment (not as a paste-in in the body of the e-mail)
4. In the header of the e-mail, write YOURLASTNAME.ASSIGNMENT TITLE
5. Please do not vary from these instructions because I appreciate not having to be searching through files and papers to be sure you are credited with the proper work.

Evaluation will be based on grades of the written and oral projects outlined above and the final project, as well as regular class attendance and participation.

Required Texts:

O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books, 1990. ISBN 0-7679-0289-0

Readings will be distributed or linked in details about assignments forwarded weekly on the listserv
Films as listed.

Please sign up for The New York Times e-mail.

Recommended but not required:

Economics Explained: Everything You Need to Know About How the Economy Works and Where It's Going; Robert Heilbroner and Lester Thurow; Touchstone Books; ISBN: 0684846411; Revised edition (May 1998)

A Viewer's Guide to Film; Richard M. Gollin; McGraw-Hill; ISBN: 007023700X; (November 1991)

Assistance: If you have difficulty with writing, study habits, etc., Seek assistance at the Academic Enhancement Center (www.uri.edu/aec/)

And please...

This is a seminar. Stay open to opportunity for learning. Do not be dogmatic on topics and preconceived notions. Your innovation, your risk-taking will be rewarded but, more importantly, it will reward you.

Additional Information posted to the list on Oct. 2nd:

Assignments for the next few weeks.
At the conclusion of class tomorrow, we will have viewed four films and discussed them. Several of you have done a nice job of posting commentary. As I noted, I would like to see you loosen up on the postings and use them to challenge, discuss and inform each other. I hope you all read the additional material posted by Kacey on FDR, the central administration and the knowledge of Pearl Harbor. Also read my posting from history professor.
In any case, here is the plan.

October 18th - submit a written project electronically to me possibly addressing one of the topical areas in the syllabus and using the films viewed to date (and any additional films you might elect to use) as the basis for the exploration. You may select the focus; however, consider how the film(s) create a point of view by virtue of their cinematic style that supports your point of view. An example could be from among the following:
Pearl Harbor and Iraq: Are Preemptive Strikes Ever Justifiable?
Schindler's List and Hotel Rwanda: Is Public Acknowledgment of Genocide Race-Based?
The Story of G.I. Joe and Wag the Dog (maybe Live from Baghdad): What is the Role of the Media in War?
You may write this as a traditional academic paper, as a 1st person journal entry, as a screenplay, as a news report of NPR length, as a short story, as a comic book, as an op-ed, a film review - whatever medium suits your topic and purpose.
I am not setting a length. I expect you to select a complex question and to address it in the context of the films as tools and catalysts.

For the next set of films, we will use the team approach I described. Each film should have two teams:
Team Background is responsible for a brief overview and any associated readings on the issue of the historical context of the war. They can be emailed if online or dropped to me for copying. Historical questions include: General context of the war, e.g., economic depression, political or religious ideology, territorial dispute, etc. Why was it fought? Did the people during the period of the war believe the reasons were different than what history has proven to be true - at least history as it interprets things for the moment? But remember that Team Background is just that - the background, setting the stage.
Team Film is responsible for leading the class in an exercise that serves to explicate the place of this film in the larger context of a given war or warfare in general. For example, one could look at Pearl Harbor as a film that addresses the impact on individual lives as a means to demonstrate its impact on Americans. It is not the anti-Japanese propaganda film that was so common earlier in our history and produced closer to the war. PH might be considered pro-American propaganda in its focus on the US as the mighty giant and American patriotism. It may also be a film that attempts to soft pedal the enemy as a means to allow the shift in relations to stand unaccosted but at the same time addresses the horror of the event which is a day does "live in infamy," particularly in RI where we won't let go of VJ Day despite this being the only state with such a holiday. It is now officially called by other names but still referred to as VJ Day.

To reiterate, Team Film is responsible for leading an exercise/discussion on the film. Again, there are endless formats that are possible. You could stage a debate on the issue of reparations for Holocaust victims. You could create an interactive exercise for the group on the issue of being the survivor of a wartime event. Your choice, but you need to allow Team Background a brief period of time to set the historical stage. Work this out between the two teams.

We will cover the following films in this way. Someone needs to take the lead in each group to email the teams to the list and give your team a name so you can easily identify each other. Then, determine team combinations for the list of films below. We should make it through the first set of teams as indicated by the numbers that are purely illustrative. If you choose to horse trade on the dates, it is up to all of you. You could also elect to reassemble teams following Round 1.

Round 1
Wag the Dog Team 1 background & Team 2 film
Patton Team 3 background & Team 4 film
The Killing Fields Team 2 background & Team 1 film
The Best Years of Our Lives Team 4 background & Team 3 film

Round 2
Gone With the Wind Team 1 background & Team 2 film
Glory Team 3 background & Team 4 film
Minority Report Team 2 background & Team 1 film
Blackhawk Down Team 4 background & Team 3 film

Your final exam is of your making. Look at the topics and the learning goals and consider what will demonstrate a beginning to in-depth demonstration of each.
Please have The Things They Carried read by the time we view Apocalypse Now at the latest but its insights would serve you well earlier so try to read sooner. It is a quick read albeit disturbing.