Create a Wooster Kanopy account if you don’t already have one
Look at the assignment for next Wednesday. There is a lot to do in this first week!
LINKS FOR CLASS:
Bud Dry Commercial: Foreign Films. We could spend a semester breaking down and critiquing this 1990s advertisement for Bud Dry. On a quick view it speaks to a pop culture dismissal of “foreign” films. The message: real men watch things blow up; real women abide. We are going to embrace the foreign-ness of our foreign films. – online at Youtube
Scene from The Seventh Seal (1957), Directed by Ingmar Bergman. It’s the story of a medieval knight’s quest for meaning (that says something about European intellectuals’ in the aftermath of the Second World War and in light of de-Christianization) – at Youtube
Hitler over Nuremberg. Scene from Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will (1935) -at Youtube
Scene from Billy Wilder’s A Foreign Affair (1948). A screwball romance from the classic comedy director – himself a refugee of Hitler’s Germany. It speaks to the reordered postwar world.
Thurs/Fri—Weekly Film
Watch on your own
Rome, Open City. Roberto Rossellini, 1945, Italy, 105 min.
Available here on Kanopy You will need to create a Wooster Kanopy account if you don’t already have one
Before / after you watch, you might take note of the terms on the Film & History handout I shared on day 1.
Take a few notes in your course notebook as you watch and when you are done. Take note of: important scenes, important lines, and the film elements (composition, lighting, sound) that strike you. In taking notes, note the time stamp so that you can take us directly to the scene/line/image at hand.
PART 2. IN THE AFTERMATH OF WAR: THE LATE 1940s
Week 2. Open City & Germany 1945
Mon 1/19—MLK Jr. Day
No class
Please attend MLK Jr. Day events
Wed 1/21–Open City / The Aftermath of War and Germany 1945
BEFORE CLASS:
Watch Open City and complete Film & History worksheet
After you watch the film, read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
The idea of these weekly posts is that they’ll give you some ideas to help think about the film in historical perspective
Read William Hitchcock, The Struggle for Europe, “Introduction” and “Aftermath” (1-12)
Read this introduction carefully for Hitchcock’s interpretative framework
Read Hitchcock, ch. 1, “German Midnight: The Division of Europe, 1945” (13-39)
This first chapter takes up the end of the war, the conditions that Europeans faced in 1945. There is a lot here as in all of Hitchcock’s chapters. Don’t get bogged down in the details. Read for the larger picture. And take some notes – maybe one page of notes – on the central developments and examples
Watch:
“Basic Film Analysis – Introduction to Film,” with short clips – at Youtube
“Film Language: Analysis of a One-Minute Movie” – at Youtube
Read:
“Rhetorical Analysis of Film,” with examples – at Writing Commons
Bring your film and reading notes to class
IN CLASS:
How to Watch a Film Like a Historian
Discuss Open City
The Aftermath of War
The Question of Germany
Introduce Murderers Are Among Us
Thurs/Fri—Weekly Film
Watch on your own
Murderers Are Among Us. Wolfgang Staudte, 1946, Germany (Eastern Zone), 85 min. – available on Kanopy
Complete the Film & History Worksheet before class on Monday
Week 3. Murderers Are Among Us & Reconstructing Britain
Mon 1/26—The Challenge of Postwar Reconstruction
BEFORE CLASS:
Watch Murderers Are Among Us and complete Film & History worksheet
Read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
Read documents from Marvin Perry, et al, Sources of Twentieth-Century Europe(2000), 278-289 – available in our Moodle Readings folder
Stephen Spender, “European Witness,” (1946)
Gerold Frank, “The Tragedy of the DP’s” (1946)
Bruno Foa, “Europe in Ruins” (1945)
IN CLASS:
Aftermath & the Question of Germany
Documents on Postwar Europe
Discuss Murderers Are Among Us
Wed 1/28—Reconstructing Britain & Origins of the Cold War
BEFORE CLASS:
Read Hitchcock, ch. 2, “Building Jerusalem: The Labour Government in Britain, 1945-1951” (40-68)
IN CLASS:
Discuss Post War Britain
Domestic politics
Foreign policy
The Cold War
Introduce The Third Man
Check Out:
Ken Loach, dir., “The Spirit of 1945” – at Guardian
Election landslide in 1945 – at Youtube(British Pathé)
Ernest Bevin on Russia at the United Nations (1948) – at Youtube
Clement Atlee on British elections in 1950 – at Youtube
Week 4. Third Man & Late Forties in the West (and East)
Mon 2/2—The Third Man & Postwar Reconstruction
BEFORE CLASS:
Watch The Third Man and complete Film & History worksheet
Read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
Read George Marshall, Address at Harvard, June 1947, from Perry, et al, Sources of Twentieth-Century Europe(2000) – available in our Moodle Readings folder
Read Sir William Beveridge, “New Britain” (1942), in Readings in Western Civilization – available in our Moodle Readings folder
IN CLASS:
The Cold War – History and Historiography
Discuss The Marshall Plan and the Welfare State (Marshall and Beveridge)
Third Man Scene Analysis
Discuss The Third Man
More:
S. High Commission for Germany (HICOG), “Me and Mr. Marshall” (1948) at YouTube
Wed 2/4–Rebuilding Western Europe & A Look to the East
BEFORE CLASS:
Read Hitchcock, ch. 3, “Democracy Embattled: France, Italy, and West Germany” (69-97)
Yes, there is a lot here. Try to take away key themes and a few salient examples for each of these three stories of post-war political reconstruction
Read Hitchcock, introduction to ch. 4, “Behind the Iron Curtain: Communism in Power, 1945-1953,” 98-100
Just read this introduction for an overview
You don’t have to read the rest of the chapter, but in class I’ll present some details from Hitchcock, ch. 4, “Behind the Iron Curtain: Communism in Power, 1945-1953” (100-125)
IN CLASS:
Announce: Exam #1 Next Week
US in Postwar Europe (and today?)
Postwar Eastern Europe
Discuss France, Italy, West German
Introduce Bicycle Thieves
For Fun:
CIA intelligence documents on Soviet role in postwar Europe – at CIA.gov
Watch Mon Oncle and complete Film & History worksheet
Read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
Read Victoria de Grazia, Irresistible Empire: America’s Advance Through 20th Century Europe (2005) [selections]- available in our Moodle Readings folder
Watch Cléo from 5 to 7 and complete Film & History worksheet
Read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
Read “The Perils of Prosperity: The Unrest of Youth in the 1960s,” in Merry Wiesner, et al., Discovering the Western Past – available in our Moodle Readings folder
This reading from a documentary reader includes an introduction to youth movements of the 1960s and to primary sources from France and Czechoslovakia. The sources speak to the tumult of the mid to late 1960s, years that followed Cleo From 5 to 7
There is a lot here. Don’t get bogged down in the details! Read the intro carefully, pp. 394-401. And please highlight two or three examples from France and two or three examples from Czechoslovakia that you can comment on in class
If you haven’t already, read over the source from Monday on youth protest in France and Czechoslovakia
What were students protesting in France?
What was at stake in Czechoslovakia?
How did these protest movements work out?
Read Hitchcock, “Part Three: Rebels” (243-246)
Take note of Hitchcock’s chronology and periodization. How do you mark a new period of postwar European history?
Read Hitchcock, ch. 9, “Europe and Its Discontents: 1968 and After,” pp. 247-251
There is a lot in this chapter. Just read these few pages on May ’68 in Paris. Feel free to read on for anything else that interests you!
Read Hitchcock, ch. 11, “Cracks in the Wall: Eastern Europe, 1968-1981,” pp. 288-293
Another chapter with a lot of information. I only assign these pages on the Prague Spring. Again, feel free to dabble in anything else that catches your eye.
Prepare to speak for the following perspectives. I’m going to ask you to do so IN CLASS on Wednesday
Student protesters in Paris in 1968
President DeGaulle
French voters in June 1968
CLIPS RELATED TO CLASS:
“Tonight Let’s All Make Love in London” (1967) – experimental documentary from Peter Whitehead on pop music and culture in 60s London – online at Vimeo
Show Trials of the Fifties and the Communist Action Program
The Joke
Exam Prep
Wed 3/11—Exam #2 & The Roots of Dissent in Eastern Europe
IN CLASS:
** Exam #2 ** at start of class
After the exam, I will present material from:
Hitchcock, “Part Three: Rebels” (243-246)
Hitchcock, ch. 11, “Cracks in the Wall: Eastern Europe, 1968-1981” (288-310)
Thurs/Fri—Weekly Film
Blind Chance. Dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1982, Poland, 122 min – available on Kanopy Viewer advisory for nudity, sex…
Complete the Film & History Worksheet before we meet on Monday after spring break
** SPRING BREAK — 3/14 – 3/29 **
PART 4. THE SEVENTIES & EIGHTIES
Week 10. Blind Chance & 1970s and 1980s
Mon 3/30—Blind Chance & Dissidence and Reform in Eastern Europe
BEFORE CLASS:
Watch Blind Chance and complete Film & History worksheet
Read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
Read Václav Havel, “The Power of the Powerless” (1978), in Open Letters: Selected Writings, 1965-1990(1992), 125-214
Note: this is a longer reading. It will take a bit of time to digest. But it is an essential document for understanding the history of dissent in Eastern Europe
You should come to class with a clear understanding of Havel’s central ideas
the nature of “post-totalitarian” systems
the lies that sustain
the possibilities for protest and reform
samizdat
dissent/dissidents
Before or after reading you might check out one of the short videos on Václav Havel
Presentations
TBD
IN CLASS:
Note: I will not take attendance for Seniors today, though they are still responsible for the film and readings – and we’ll continue to discuss Václav Havel on Wednesday
Viewer advisory for nudity, sex, drugs (rated NC-17)
Complete the Film & History Worksheet before class on Monday
Week 11. Bad Education & 1989
Mon 4/6—Bad Education & Britain in the 1980s
BEFORE CLASS:
Watch Bad Education and complete Film & History worksheet
Read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
Read Hitchcock, ch. 12, “Rule Britannia: The Thatcher Era” (311-341)
IN CLASS:
Discuss Bad Education
Britain in the 1980s
Wed 4/8—1989 and All That
BEFORE CLASS:
Read Hitchcock, “Part Four: Unity” (343-345)
Read Hitchcock, ch. 13, “The European Revolutions, 1989-1991” (347-379). There is a lot here! Read carefully on the rise of Gorbachev and the pressures that led to the unraveling of communist regimes in Hungary, Poland, and East Germany
Presentations
TBD
IN CLASS:
Look forward to Paper Assignment
Discuss the Revolutions of 1989
Introduce Goodbye Lenin! (2003)
Thurs/Fri—Weekly Film
Goodbye, Lenin! Wolfgang Becker, 2003, Germany, 121 min.
Mon 4/20—No Man’s Land & Europe and the Challenge of Integration
BEFORE CLASS:
Watch No Man’s Land and complete Film & History worksheet
Read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
Do some work on your paper
Reread the paper assignment
Brainstorm ideas – take notes on films and sources – outline a plan for your paper
You should come to class with – at the least – a one page plan for your paper (working title, thesis, outline with examples)
Read Hitchcock, ch. 15, “Who Is European? Race, Immigration, and the Politics of Division” (410-434) – ** will not be included on Exam #3 **
There is a lot of detail here. Hitchcock was examining events that were still unfolding at the time of his writing. You don’t need to read every word. Read carefully at the beginning and end. Read the start of each section. Read to understand the historical backdrop of immigration, integration (and lack thereof), and xenophobic politics. Ask yourself: what is the central point of this chapter?
IN CLASS:
Discuss No Man’s Land
Discuss Multicultural Europe
Workshop papers
Wed 4/22—European Unity
BEFORE CLASS:
Read Hitchcock, ch. 16, “The Elusive European Union” (435-464)
Once again, you need to take account of the space between today (2025) and the moment when Hitchcock was writing (2003). His historical analysis is spot on as he examines the movements toward European cooperation and unity. But note that his “today” was a time when the EU was 15 countries and preparing to integrate the newly democratic countries of eastern Europe. Today (2025), the EU consists of 27 countries (after major expansions in 2004 and beyond, and with the departure of Great Britain). Today (2025), 20 of these countries use the Euro as their currency. Once again, don’t let the detail overwhelm you. Focus on the central narratives and key turning points.
Presentations
TBD
IN CLASS:
Talk papers!
Discuss European institutions
Introduce The Spanish Apartment
Thurs/Fri—Weekly Film
The Spanish Apartment/L’Auberge Espagnole. Dir. Cédric Klapisch, 2002, France/Spain, 122 min.
