“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1 (1866 / 1868)

                         [PRINTABLE SYLLABUS]

Required  Text

  • George C. Herring, From Colony to Superpower: US Foreign Relations Since 1776 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008) [LIBRARY ONLINE]

Additional Readings

  • Amanda Frost, “’By Accident of Birth’: The Battle over Birthright Citizenship After United States v. Wong Kim Ark,” 32 Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities, 38–76 (2021) [WEB]
  • Margaret MacMillan, “The Rhyme of History: Lessons of the Great War,” Brookings (2013) [WEB]
  • Walter Russell Mead, “The American Foreign Policy Legacy,” Foreign Affairs 81 (Jan.-Feb. 2002): 163-176 [JSTOR]

First Essay –Early US Diplomacy

On Monday, October 9, students will submit by email a 3-5 page typed, double-spaced essay on a topic concerning early US diplomacy provided to them in class on Thursday, Oct. 5. All essays must include references to the Herring book, properly cited using Chicago-style footnotes. Outside research is allowed but not required. Essays will be graded on depth of analysis, use of evidence, and quality of prose. Late essays will be penalized up to 5 points each day.


Second Essay –Modern US Diplomacy

On Monday, November 13, students will submit by email a 3-5 page typed, double-spaced essay on a topic concerning modern US diplomatic history provided to them in class on Thursday, Nov. 9. All essays must include references to the Herring book, properly cited using Chicago-style footnotes. Outside research is allowed but not required. Essays will be graded on depth of analysis, use of evidence, and quality of prose. Late essays will be penalized up to 5 points each day.


Profiles in Diplomacy Project

By Friday, December 1, students will submit by email an 8- to 10-page biographical paper that analyzes a significant diplomatic contribution from an American historical figure (not serving as president) during the period between 1776 and 2000.  Each profile paper should provide background on the person as well as thoughtful context about that period.  All papers should use George Herring’s From Colony to Superpower (2008) as a starting point, but they should also employ a wide-ranging combination of other scholarly sources and relevant primary sources. All essays should be typed and double-spaced as Word or PDF documents with title page and Chicago-style footnotes (no bibliography required).  Papers will receive provisional grades (based on research effort, analysis and prose) that will be updated following submission of the final website project.

By Wednesday, December 13, students should transform their diplomatic profile papers into a Weebly site.  Students should send Prof. Pinsker their Weebly URL by email. Each website project should be designed as an online teaching exhibit, revised and improved from the originally submitted profile paper, but now focusing on using various multi-media tools to help bring the main historical insights to life for high school and college classrooms.  Students should strive to find ways to highlight primary sources, by providing links to full-text versions of such sources where available)and by including properly captioned and credited images of relevant historical figures, events, and materials.  Each website should also include at least one embedded short video (about 1 to 2 minutes) that provides a biographical overview of the subject. Projects will be graded on depth of analysis, research and design effort, and quality of prose. Late submissions will be penalized 5 points per day.


Grade Distribution

Class Participation                               30 percent

Essay 1 –Early US diplomacy             20 percent

Essay 2 –20th Century diplomacy      20 percent

Profiles in Diplomacy project              30 percent


Class Schedule

Day Date Discussion Topic Reading Assignment
Tuesday 8/29 Methods & Expectations
Thursday 8/31 American Diplomacy Herring, Intro (pp. 1-10), Mead article
Tuesday 9/5 Revolutionary Diplomacy Herring, chapter 1
Thursday 9/7 Partisan Diplomacy Herring, chapter 2
Tuesday 9/12 Jeffersonian Diplomacy Herring, chapter 3
Thursday 9/14 Jacksonian Diplomacy Herring, chapter 4
Tuesday 9/19 Expansionist Diplomacy Herring, chapter 5
Thursday 9/21 Lincolnian Diplomacy Herring, chapter 6
Tuesday 9/26 Global Diplomacy Herring, chapter 7
Tuesday 9/26 EVENT: Citizenship & Immigration Law ATS, 7pm (REQUIRED)
Thursday 9/28 Spotlight: Birthright Citizenship Frost article
Tuesday 10/3 Imperial Diplomacy: War of 1898 Herring, chapter 8 (pp. 299-324)
Thursday 10/5 Imperial Diplomacy:  Occupation Herring, chapter 8 (pp. 324-336)
Monday 10/9 First essay due By 5pm via email
Tuesday 10/10 Progressive Diplomacy Herring, chapter 9
Thursday 10/12 Wilsonian Diplomacy Herring, chapter 10
Tuesday 10/17 NO CLASS (Fall Break)
Thursday 10/19 Spotlight: Lessons of the Great War Macmillan essay
 
Tuesday 10/24 Commercial Diplomacy Herring, chapter 11
Thursday 10/26 New Deal Diplomacy Herring, chapter 12
Tuesday 10/31 Alliance Diplomacy Herring, chapter 13
Thursday 11/2 Containment Diplomacy Herring, chapter 14 (pp. 595-626)
Tuesday 11/7 Cold War Diplomacy Herring, chapter 14 (pp. 626-650)
Thursday 11/9 Brinksmanship Diplomacy Herring, chapter 15
Monday 11/13 Second essay due By 5pm via email
Tuesday 11/14 NO CLASS  // Crisis Diplomacy NO CLASS
Thursday 11/16 Vietnam Diplomacy Herring, chapter 16
Tuesday 11/21 Detente Diplomacy Herring, chapter 17
Thursday 11/23 NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)
Tuesday 11/28 Human Rights Diplomacy Herring, chapter 18
Thursday 11/30 New World Order Diplomacy Herring, chapter 19
Friday 12/1 Profile paper due By 5pm via email
Tuesday 12/5 Hyperpower Diplomacy Herring, chapter 20
Thursday 12/7 Lessons & Legacies
Wednesday 12/13 Profile websites due By 5pm, send URL via email