Journal Assignment
Everyone must keep a class journal. You should include your responses to required readings and class discussions. You may also discuss or respond to relevant materials you encounter outside the class. Your entries must, however, relate clearly to the course. The intention behind this assignment is to encourage you to think world history, and to record your spontaneous reactions to the subject matter of this course. Each journal entry should be dated.
Entries may include any variety of forms of responses. You may respond academically, or you may react on a personal level. The only caveat on this- you need to find some way to engage with the subject matter of this course. There are an infinite number of ways to interact with this material; try to find constructive approaches. Please note: neither class notes nor notes over readings constitute acceptable entries. The assignment is designed to record your thoughts about the material, not your knowledge. Nor is it designed to function as a study aid per se.
There are several specific requirements: 1) entries for at least 12 weeks; 2) no fewer than twenty entries, 3) responses to four of the primary sources assigned in class, and 4) a response to a movie with a relevant historical subject.
Please keep the journal in a glued or sewed notebook, a small three-ring binder, or in a paper/project cover. It may be type-written or written in easily legible handwriting.
No grade will be assigned to the journals until the final collection, nor do I usually comment on the contents of your journals beyond reminding you about required elements, or suggesting longer or more frequent entries. Bear in mind that this journal constitutes thirty percent of your grade. Although the grading of the journal will be relatively relaxed, I expect to see a considerable amount of effort put into this assignment.
Suggested Movies: Quiet American Weather Underground
Last Emperor Seven Samurai
Last Samurai Gandhi
Passage to
Sand Pebbles Saving Private Ryan
Queen
Margot
Thin Red Line Blind Spot
JFK
Schindler’s List All Quiet On the Western Front
The Killing Fields The Year of Living Dangerously
Luther Heart of Darkness
Lumumba Out of
Deer Hunter Apochalypse Now
Full Metal Jacket Platoon
Gallipoli