Unit 7: Global Conflicts (1930s-60s)
#701 Past in the present: Jewish refugees of the 1930s and Syrian refugees today
Preparation:
- Read David Victor, “Comparing Jewish Refugees of the 1930s with Syrians Today,” in The New York Times (19 November 2015). (PDF)
- View clip from Ken Burns, Defying the Nazis: The Sharps War (10 minutes 41 seconds). See video 1, embedded below.
- View clip of high school student asking then-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, “Did World War II and the Holocaust change how the United States and the world think about refugees?” (3 minutes 5 seconds). See video 2, embedded below.
- View clip from then-candidate Donald Trump defending his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States in November 2015. (12 minutes 56 seconds). See video 3, embedded below.
- Please bring a charged laptop.
Video 1. Defying the Nazis
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Video 2. Discussion with Samantha Power
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Video 3. Trump defends ban on Muslims
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#702 World War II: U.S. entry into World War II and Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms"
Read:
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#703 World War II: Japanese internment in the United States
Please note that during the weeks of 4/10 and 4/17, we will be working on week 1 and week 2 of the research project.
#704 World War II: Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Read:
- Read Foner, 700-03 (The End of the War, “The Most Terrible Weapon,” The Dawn of the Atomic Age, and The Nature of the War).
- Read “Atomic Bombs: Multiple Perspectives” (Google Doc)
- Were atomic strikes necessary primarily to avert an invasion of Japan in November 1945?
- Were there alternatives to the use of the weapons? If there were, what were they and how plausible are they in retrospect? Why were alternatives not pursued?
- How did the U.S. government select targets? Why did they choose urban targets?
- How important a factor was the atomic bombings in Japan’s decision to surrender?
- Was the bombing of Nagasaki necessary? To the extent that the atomic bombing was critically important to the Japanese decision to surrender would it have been enough to destroy one city?
- Was the dropping of the atomic bombs morally justifiable?
- Please bring either a charged laptop or a printed version of the "Atomic Bombs: Multiple Perspectives" handout to class.
#705 Global Cold War: Competing narratives on the origins of the Cold War
Read:
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#706 Global Cold War: Korea and Vietnam
Homework tasks:
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#707 Global Cold War: Global Cold War: Anti-Vietnam War Movement
View:
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