SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS
Voyage: Summer 2013
Discipline: History
Course Number: HIST 3559-101
Course Title: The United States and the Contemporary Mediterranean World, 1945 to the
Present
Upper Division
Faculty Name: Matt Jacobs
Pre-requisites:
I recommend, but do not require, that students have taken at least one history class at the college or
university level before enrolling in this course.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to serve as a historical introduction to the complex and deeply
interconnected contemporary Mediterranean world and U.S. relations with it. We will examine a
broad range of topics, including: decolonization, state formation, the Arab Spring and U.S.
policies in North Africa; Turkey’s position at the crossroads between Europe and the Middle
East, its role as a U.S. ally and NATO member during and after the Cold War, and “zero
problems” approach to foreign relations; U.S. involvement in Mediterranean Europe in World
War II and the Cold War; the post-World War II economic and political transformation of
Mediterranean Europe; the Eurozone crisis; and migration across the contemporary
Mediterranean world.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Students enrolled in this course will:
be exposed to critical issues in the contemporary Mediterranean world and U.S.
involvement in it
practice historical thinking and analysis through the critical evaluation of both primary and
secondary sources
learn to supplement their understanding of current issues with a solid grounding in
historical context
hone their critical thinking and oral and written communication skills
REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS
AUTHOR: Marc Lynch
TITLE: The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East
PUBLISHER: Public Affairs
ISBN #: 978-1610392358
DATE/EDITION: 2013, First Trade Paper Edition
TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE
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C1- June 19: Course Introduction
C2- June 20: The Contemporary Mediterranean World and the United States
Present an overview of the Mediterranean world of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and
U.S. involvement in the region, from eighteenth and nineteenth century conflicts with North
Africans, to missionary and philanthropic endeavors in the eastern Mediterranean in the later
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Readings:
Ussama Makdisi, “Reclaiming the Land of the Bible: Missionaries, Secularism, and Evangelical
Modernity,” American Historical Review 102, 3 (June 1997): 680-713
C3- June 21: Decolonization, State Formation, Autocratic Rule and Cold War in North
Africa
Discuss the various processes of decolonization in North Africa, the states that formed as a result
of those processes, and the implementation of autocratic rule across much of the region from the
1940s through the 1980s.
Film Clip: The Battle for Algiers
Readings:
Miloud Barkaoui, “Managing the Colonial Status Quo: Eisenhower’s Cold War and the Algerian
War of Independence,” Journal of North African Studies 17, 1 (January 2012): 125-141
Assignment Due: Brief description of final paper project (5%)
C4- June 22: The United States and North Africa after the Cold War
In what ways did the United States involve itself in North Africa from World War II through 9/11
and after?
Readings:
“Introduction” from James Le Sueur, Algeria Since 1989: Between Terror and Democracy (Zed
Books, 2010): 1-10
Christopher Hemmer, “U.S. Policy Towards North Africa: Three Overarching Themes,” Middle
East Policy 14, 4 (2007): 55-66.
Eric Goldstein, “Morocco: Endangered Model?” Foreign Policy in Focus (16 November 2009),
available at http://www.fpif.org/articles/morocco_endangered_model
June 23-June 26: Casablanca
C5- June 27: Arab Politics in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s
Discuss the efforts of Arab leaders and populations to deal with the new challenges of
independence and the struggle to achieve both domestic and regional political legitimacy.
Readings:
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Marc Lynch, The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East,
Introduction-Chapter Three
C6- June 28: The Arab Spring in North Africa
How do we make sense of the Arab Spring in North Africa?
Readings:
Marc Lynch, The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East, Chapter
Four-Chapter Six
C7- June 29: The Arab Spring in North Africa, II: U.S. Responses
Here we will analyze U.S. responses to the Arab Spring and investigate their relationship to past
U.S. policies and the possibilities for future adjustments in those policies.
Readings:
Marc Lynch, The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East, Chapter
Seven-Afterword
President Barak Obama Speech in Cairo, June 2009
One additional follow-up piece to cover more recent events TBA
June 30: No Classes
C8- July 1: World War, Cold War, and the United States in Europe
Today we wrestle with the dynamics and implications of the dramatic conflicts that shook
twentieth-century Europe—World War I, World War II and the Cold War—and U.S. involvement
in them.
Assignment due: Assessing the Arab Spring 3-4 page paper (20%)
C9- July 2: Turkey in the Twentieth Century
We will trace the changes in Turkish society and politics across the course of the twentieth century,
from the demise of the Ottoman Empire and the turn away from Islam in the 1920s and 1930s, to
the numerous shifts between civilian and military rule in last half of the century, to the return of
Islam as a central feature of Turkish life and politics at the end of the century.
Readings:
Jenny B. White, “Islam and Politics in Contemporary Turkey,” in The Cambridge History of
Turkey, Vol. IV, ed. Resat Kesaba (Cambridge UP, 2008): 357-380
July3-5: Antalya
C10- July 6: The United States and Turkey
Here we will exam the close U.S.-Turkish relationship, from the belief of U.S. policymakers that
Turkey represented a model that other Middle Eastern states might follow from the 1920s through
the 1950s, the close political and military Cold War relationship initiated by the Truman Doctrine
and the inclusion of Turkey in NATO, and continued ties in the post-Cold War period.
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Readings:
President Harry Truman, “The Truman Doctrine”
C11- July 7: Turkey’s “Zero Problems” Foreign Policy
We turn now to Turkey in the twenty-first century, and its efforts to assert itself both as a regional
power in the Middle East and as a bridge between the Middle East and Europe. We will focus
specifically on the debates over Turkey’s admission to the European Union and the efforts to
develop a “Zero Problems” foreign policy.
Readings:
Jonathan Tepperman, “Turkey’s Moment: A Conversation with Abdullah Gul,” Foreign Affairs
92, 1 (January/February 2013): 2-7.
Ahmet Davutoglu, “Turkey’s Zero Problems Foreign Policy,” 20 May 2010, and available at
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/05/20/turkeys_zero_problems_foreign_policy?page=f
ull
Bulent Aliriza and Stephen Flanagan, “The End of Zero Problems? Turkey and Shifting Regional
Dynamics,” Center for Strategic and International Studies Global Forecast 2012, available at
http://csis.org/files/publication/120413_gf_aliriza_flanagan.pdf
July 8-11: Istanbul
C12- July 12: Catch-up and Reflection Day
Today’s goal will be to make up any lost ground, and to offer students a chance to reflect on how
the issues we have discussed in class have interacted with their experiences in the countries we
have visited thus far.
C13- July 13: Mediterranean Modernity: Consumer and Leisure Culture
Today we grapple with the meaning of “modernity” and the rise of not only a regional, but a global
consumer and leisure culture with Mediterranean Europe serving as a critical site.
Readings:
Pau Obrador Pons, Mike Crang, and Penny Travlou, “Introduction: Taking Mediterranean Tourists
Seriously” in Cultures of Mass Tourism, Pons, Crang, and Travlou, eds., (Ashgate, 2009): 1-20.
Ellen Furlough, “Club Mediterranee, 1950-2002,” in Europe at the Seaside: The Economic History
of Mass Tourism in the Mediterranean, Luciano Segreto, Carles Manera, and Manfred Pohl, eds.,
(Berghahn, 2009): 174-195.
Christopher Endy, Cold War Holidays: American Tourism in France (UNC Press, 2004),
Introduction and Conclusion
July 14-17: Piraeus
C14- July 18: A Tale of Two Islands, I: Cyprus
This will be the first of two days in which we examine the very different existences of two
Mediterranean Islands. Today we deal with Cyprus, which has experienced episodes of tremendous
conflict during the twentieth century as Greece and Turkey have struggled for control of the Island.
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Readings:
George Kaloudis, “Cyprus: The Enduring Conflict,” International Journal on World Piece 16, 1
(03/1999): 3-18.
Steve Menary, “Football and the Cyprus Conflict,” Soccer and Society 11, 3 (May 2010): 253-260.
C15- July 19: Defining the Eurozone Crisis
Today we will tackle the Eurozone crisis, as we try to understand its basic dynamics and features.
Readings:
Martin Feldstein, “The Failure of the Euro: The Little Currency that Couldn’t,” Foreign Affairs 91,
1 (January/February 2012): 105-116.
Timothy Garton Ash, “The Crisis of Europe: How the Union Came Together and Why It’s Falling
Apart,” Foreign Affairs 91, 5 (September/October 2012): 2-15.
C. Fred Bergsten, “Why the Euro Will Survive: Completing the Continent’s Half-Built House,”
Foreign Affairs 91, 5 (September/October 2012): 16-22.
C16- July 20: The Eurozone Crisis in Greece and Italy
Here we will move from the general discussion of the Eurozone crisis that took place the previous
day to a more specific discussion of its impact and dynamics in both Greece and Italy.
Readings:
Michael Lewis, “Beware of Greeks Bearing Bonds,” Vanity Fair, 1 October 2010, available at
http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/10/greeks-bearing-bonds-201010
Bill Emmott, Chapter One, “Italy’s Second Chance,” in Good Italy, Bad Italy: Why Italy Must
Conquer Its Demons to Face the Future (Yale UP, 2012): 1-28.
July 21-23: Livorno
We will have our field out of Livorno, and it will include a guest lecture on the boat as well as a
trip to the U.S. military cemetery outside of Florence.
Field Lab Dress Code: Visitors to the cemetery are required to dress respectfully. In this case, no
shorts or short skirts (above the knee) will be allowed. In addition, no sleeveless shirts or T-shirts
are allowed, though short-sleeve blouses, polos, and dress shirts are acceptable. Skirts below the
knee or trousers are acceptable.
Readings:
Christopher Endy, “Touring Omaha Beach: Memory and Cold War Politics in the United States
and France.”
July 24-26: Civitavecchia
C17- July 27: Catch-Up and Reflection Day
We will take a second day for catching up and reflecting on the issues we have been discussing. As
the students will have had their field lab in Livorno, it will also give us some time to consider what
we learned.
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C18- July 28: A Tale of Two Islands, II: Malta
In part two of our examination of Mediterranean islands we look at Malta, and investigate why it
has generally had a peaceful and stable existence over the last several decades. In particular, we
will look at its history as part of the British Empire, its role in World War II, and its postwar role as
major site for filmmaking.
Film Clips:
YouTube mash-up of films shot in Malta
Assignment due: 3-4 page field lab paper (20%)
July 29-31: Malta
C19- August 1: Migration and Its Challenges in the Contemporary Mediterranean World
Today we will take stock of what has been a central and enduring challenge in the Mediterranean
world from the Muslim push into Europe one thousand years ago, to the movement of Europeans
and the rise of settler colonies in North Africa in nineteenth century, to the growing ranks of North
African immigrants populating the cities of Mediterranean Europe today.
Readings:
Andrea Gallina, “Migration, financial flows and development in the Euro-Mediterranean area,”
Journal of North African Studies 11, 1 (2006): 17-34
Anya Barry, “Europe’s Dilemma: Immigration and the Arab Spring,” Foreign Policy in Focus, 25
May 2012, available at
http://www.fpif.org/articles/europes_dilemma_immigration_and_the_arab_spring
C20- August 2: France and the Mediterranean World
We will examine France’s unique position in the Mediterranean world, as the region’s largest
economy, as the European country with arguably the deepest ties in North Africa due to its
imperial past, and as a destination of tourists from around the globe.
Readings:
“Ties Across the Mediterranean: France and Africa,” The Economist, 22 January 2011: 63
M. Delgado, “France and the Union for the Mediterranean: Individualism versus Cooperation,”
Mediterranean Politics 16, 1 (2011): 39-57.
August 3-5: Marseille
August 6-8: Barcelona
C21- August 9: Catch Up and Reflection Day Three
We will spend much of today’s class discussing paper projects. If time permits, I will begin
presenting material related to the next class.
Assignment due: 1-2 page paper on one port of call and its relationship to final paper project
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(10%)
C22- August 10: Political and Economic Transformation in the Iberian Peninsula
In our last substantive class we will examine the relationship between political and economic
transformation over the last four decades in Spain and Portugal, and pay particular attention to the
role of the euro crisis.
Readings:
G. Bragues, “Portugal’s Plight: The Role of Social Democracy,” Independent Review 16, 3 (2012):
325-349.
Mark Mazower, “Democracy Itself is at Stake in Southern Europe,” 3 October 2012, www.ft.com
August 11-13: Cadiz
August 14-16: Lisbon
C23- August 17: Course Conclusion: The Mediterranean World and the United States—
Past, Present, and Future
Today we will pursue two objectives. The first is to offer some assessment of the material we have
covered. The second will then be to use that material to think through issues in the contemporary
Mediterranean world and U.S. relations with it moving forward.
August 18: Study Day
C24-August 19: Final Exams
Assignment due: Final 5-7 page paper (25%)
August 20: Reflection/Reentry
August 21: Convocation/Packing
August 22: Southampton
FIELD WORK
FIELD LAB (At least 20 percent of the contact hours for each course, to be led by the
instructor.)
The field lab will take place from Livorno, Italy, and will have three components. In either
the morning or the afternoon, we will tour a World War II-era American military cemetery
outside Florence. The second part of the lab will consist of some instruction on the bus en
route to and from the cemetery. The third part will consist of a guest lecture by an Italian
academic (Alessandro Bitumi) on democratization and the Euro crisis in southern Europe.
This lecture could take place on the ship. Students will also be required to read one essay
on historical memory and the American cemetery in Normandy, France, and then will write
a 3-5 page paper on memorializing conflict.
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FIELD ASSIGNMENTS
Students will select a specific theme (i.e., economic change, political change, consumer
culture/tourism, political or social conflict, etc.) on which to focus, and will be required to
integrate materials (photos, sketches, etc.) and experiences (interviews, impressions, etc.)
from at least four countries into their final 5-7 page paper on “Challenge, Change, and
Conflict in the Contemporary Mediterranean World.” Along the way, they will also be
required to submit a 2-3 page paper that explores the same theme in one country of their
choosing.
METHODS OF EVALUATION / GRADING RUBRIC
Students must complete the following assignments.
One-page description of final paper project (5% of final grade): grading will be based on
the clear articulation of a theme around which to focus your final paper project, and the
types of materials (images, interviews, etc., beyond what is already assigned for the class)
that you hope to utilize
3-4 page paper assessing the Arab Spring (20% of final grade): grading will be based on
the equal evaluation of the use of evidence, the development of an interpretation, and the
quality of the writing
3-4 page paper on historical memory and memorializing conflict based on the field lab
(20% of final grade): students will be required to read one piece on historical memory and
the American cemetery in Normandy, France, and then combine that material with what
they learn from the field lab to offer their assessment of how to memorialize conflict. As in
all cases, argument/interpretation, use of evidence, and expression/writing will be weighed
equally.
1-2 page paper on one port of call and its relationship to the final paper project (10% of
final grade): students can choose any port of call we have visited up to the due date and
explore some of themes of their final paper project. Again, grading will be based on
argument/interpretation, the use of evidence/material, and expression/writing.
5-7 page final paper on “Challenge, Change, and Conflict in the Contemporary
Mediterranean World” (25% of final grade): students will need to pick a single theme (i.e.,
economic change, political change, consumer culture/tourism, political or social conflict,
etc.), and draw on both the readings related to that topic as well as things that they
encounter in at least four separate countries to explore that topic. Grading will be based on
students’ use of class and outside material, the development of an interpretation, and
writing.
Class participation (20% of final grade): students should demonstrate on a regular basis that
they have done the reading and come to class prepared to engage with the material, with the
professor, and with their peers. While it will not be possible to get all thirty-five students to
speak in each class, each student should have the opportunity to do so over the course of
every 2-3 classes. Over the course of each set of 2-3 classes, I will award participation
points on a 0 (absent), 1 (present but not participating in a significant manner), or 2
(participating fully) point basis.
RESERVE LIBRARY LIST
There will be no additional course reserve materials.
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ELECTRONIC COURSE MATERIALS
I do not believe there will be any additional electronic course materials beyond what is specified in
the syllabus
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
There will be no additional resources required beyond what is identified in the syllabus.
HONOR CODE
Semester at Sea students enroll in an academic program administered by the University of
Virginia, and thus bind themselves to the University’s honor code. The code prohibits all acts of
lying, cheating, and stealing. Please consult the Voyager’s Handbook for further explanation of
what constitutes an honor offense.
Each written assignment for this course must be pledged by the student as follows: “On my honor
as a student, I pledge that I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment.” The pledge
must be signed, or, in the case of an electronic file, signed “[signed].”
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