Register as a user on Voices – go to wooster.edu and create your user profile, if you don’t already have one. I’ll send an invitation to add you as an author on our Voices page.
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. – at TCM
Thurs/Fri—Weekly Film
Watch on your own
Rome, Open City. Roberto Rossellini, 1945, Italy, 105 min.
Available here on Kanopy– you may need to create a Kanopy account if you don’t already have one
Take a few notes in your course notebook as you watch and when you are done. Take note of: most important scenes, important lines, and film elements (composition, lighting, sound) that are remarkable
PART 2. IN THE AFTERMATH OF WAR: THE LATE 1940s
Week 2. Open City & Germany 1945
Mon 1/20—MLK Jr. Day
No class
Please attend MLK Jr. Day events
Wed 1/22–Open City / The Aftermath of War and Germany 1945
BEFORE CLASS:
Read blog post on film on our Course Website(available by Sunday at 5pm)
Read William Hitchcock, The Struggle for Europe, “Introduction” and “Aftermath” (1-12), read carefully – you need your own copy of Hitchcock, but I’ve made this first part available in our Moodle Readings folder
Read Hitchcock, ch. 1, “German Midnight: The Division of Europe, 1945” (13-39)
Bring your film notes to class
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
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 – it is important preparation – I’ll collect it in class
Week 3. Murderers Are Among Us & Reconstructing Britain (Week of 1/31)
Mon 1/27—The Challenge of Postwar Reconstruction
BEFORE CLASS:
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)
Read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
IN CLASS:
Aftermath & the Question of Germany
Documents on Postwar Europe
Discuss Murderers Are Among Us
Wed 1/29—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
Complete the Film & History Worksheet before class on Monday – I’ll collect it
Scene Analysis Group
Alex, Emma, Josie, Riley
Week 4. Third Man & Late Forties in the West (and East)
Mon 2/3—The Third Man & Postwar Reconstruction
BEFORE CLASS:
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
Read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
IN CLASS:
Discuss The Marshall Plan and the Welfare State
Cold War Historiography
Third Man Scene Analysis
Discuss The Third Man
More:
S. High Commission for Germany (HICOG), “Me and Mr. Marshall” (1948) at YouTube
Wed 2/5–Rebuilding Western Europe & A Look to the East
BEFORE CLASS:
Read Hitchcock, ch. 3, “Democracy Embattled: France, Italy, and West Germany” (69-97)
Read Hitchcock, introduction to ch. 4, “Behind the Iron Curtain: Communism in Power, 1945-1953,” 98-100.
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:
Look forward to Exam #1
Marshall Plan Films
Discuss France, Italy, West German
Introduce postwar Eastern Europe
Introduce Bicycle Thieves
Thurs/Fri—Weekly Film
The Bicycle Thieves [aka The Bicycle Thief]. Dir. Vittorio De Sica, 1948, Italy, 93 – available on Kanopy
Complete the Film & History Worksheet before class on Monday
Scene Analysis Group
Bernie, Caleb, Eva, Matt
Week 5. Bicycle Thieves & Exam #1
Mon 2/10—Bicycle Thieves & Postwar Search for Meaning
BEFORE CLASS:
Read Simone de Beauvoir, “Women’s Situation and Character,” The Second Sex (1949) – available in our Moodle Readings folder
Read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
Review Hitchcock, previously assigned sections (to prepare for exam)
Prepare to discuss Bicycle Thieves
Follow link on Moodle to download Safe Exam Browser and test it out with the Practice Quiz
IN CLASS:
Simone de Beauvoir and the Postwar Search for Meaning
Italian Neo-Realism and The Bicycle Thieves
Prepare for the first exam
For more:
Simone de Beauvoir explains “One is not born… a woman” – at Youtube
Wed 2/12—Exam #1 & Europe in the 50s
IN CLASS:
EXAM #1 at start of class
After the exam, I will present material from
Hitchcock, “Part Two: Boom” (127-129)
Hitchcock, ch. 5, “The Miraculous Fifties” (131-161)
More:
Opening scene of La Dolce Vita (Dir. Federico Fellini, 1961) – at Youtube
Trailer to The Marriage of Maria Braun (Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1979) – at Youtube
Complete the Film & History Worksheet before class on Monday
Scene Analysis Group
Cody, Ian, Madelyn, Will
PART 3. BOOM YEARS: THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES
Week 6. Mon Oncle & End of Empire
Mon 2/17—Mon Oncle & The Transformation of Europe
BEFORE CLASS:
Read Victoria de Grazia, Irresistible Empire: America’s Advance Through 20th Century Europe (2005) [selections]- available in our Moodle Readings folder
Read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
Nixon and Khrushchev at the Moscow World’s Fair (1959) – online at Youtube
Wed 2/19—The End of Empire
BEFORE CLASS:
Read Hitchcock, ch. 6, “Winds of Change: The End of the European Empires” (162-192)
Read handout: “How to Think (and Talk and Write) Like a Historian” – on our Handouts page
Thurs/Fri—Weekly Film
Battle of Algiers. Gillo Pontecorvo, 1965, Algeria/Italy, 125 min. – available on Kanopy
Complete the Film & History Worksheet before class on Monday
Scene Analysis Group
Julian, Katie, Kevin
Week 7. Battle of Algiers & Fifties in the East (and West)
Mon 2/24—Algerian War & The Challenges of Decolonization
BEFORE CLASS:
Read “The Twilight of Imperialism” from Perry, et al, eds., Sources of Twentieth-Century Europe – available in our Moodle Readings folder
Jawaharlal Nehru, “India’s Resentment of British Rule” (1942-5)
Ho Chi Minh, “Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Vietnam, September 2, 1945”
Ferhat Abbas, “The Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic Demands Independence” (1960)
Read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
Wed 2/26—The Fifties & Sixties, East & West
BEFORE CLASS:
Read Hitchcock, ch. 7, “Hope Betrayed: The Khrushchev Years, 1953-1964” (193-220)
Skim Hitchcock, ch. 8, “The Gaullist Temptation: Western Europe in the 1960s” (221-241). For our purposes, it is enough to read the introduction to the chapter. I’ll present some of this material in class
IN CLASS:
Battle of Algiers as fantasy
Eastern Europe After Stalin
And Western Europe
Introduction to Cléo
More:
“Khrushchev Denounces “Dictator” Stalin (1956),” British Pathé newsreel – online at Youtube
“Poland Acclaims Gomulka,” British Pathé newsreel on Władysław Gomułka – online at Youtube
British Pathé Newsreels of the Hungarian Revolution – online at Youtube
And – for a contrast – American newsreels on the same subject – online at Youtube
Complete the Film & History Worksheet before class on Monday
Scene Analysis Group
Amelia, Cristiana, Ezra
Week 8. Cléo and the Sixties
Mon 3/3—Cléo, Consumer Society & The Sixties
BEFORE CLASS:
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
Read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
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 3/12—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 — 3/15 – 3/30 **
PART 4. THE SEVENTIES & EIGHTIES
Week 10. Blind Chance & 1970s and 1980s
Mon 3/31—Blind Chance & Dissidence and Reform in Eastern Europe
BEFORE CLASS:
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
Read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
Presentations
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IN CLASS:
Note: I will not take attendance for Seniors today, though they are still responsible for the film and readings
Viewer advisory for nudity, sex, drugs (rated NC-17)
Complete the Film & History Worksheet before class on Monday
Week 11. Bad Education & 1989
Mon 4/7—Bad Education & Britain in the 1980s
BEFORE CLASS:
Read Hitchcock, ch. 12, “Rule Britannia: The Thatcher Era” (311-341)
Read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
IN CLASS:
Discuss Bad Education
Britain in the 1980s
Wed 4/9—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
Josie F. on Northern Ireland and “The Troubles”
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.
Complete the Film & History Worksheet before class on Monday
Note—Paper Due Soon
Note that Paper Assignment is due at the end of next week
PART 5. EUROPE TODAY
Week 13. No Man’s Land & European Unity
Mon 4/21—No Man’s Land & Europe and the Challenge of Integration
BEFORE CLASS:
Prepare for Exam #3
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?
Read blog post on film on our Course Website (available by Sunday at 5pm)
IN CLASS:
Discuss No Man’s Land
Discuss Multicultural Europe
Workshop papers
Wed 4/23—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
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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.
