[ Wesleyan Home Page ] [ WesMaps Home Page ] [ WesMaps Archive ] [ Course Search ] [ Course Search by CID ]
Academic Year 2000/2001

War, Technology and Society
GOVT 285 SP

Social existence involves both cooperation and conflict, and social conflict often spills over into physical violence. But while most societies condemn physical violence between individuals, they condone and encourage collectively organized violence in the form of warfare. No modern society has not taken part in warfare, so an understanding of war is clearly essential to any understanding of human existence. This course will examine war as a social, political and historical phenomenon. We will look at the way in which wars have led to the consolidaton of political power and the acceleration of social change. We will focus in particular on the role played by technology in the interaction between war and society. Our examples will include ancient Greece, medieval Japan, and the rise of the modern European states, through to World War II and Vietnam.

MAJOR READINGS

Brian Downing, THE MILITARY REVOLUTION AND POLITICAL CHANGE William H. McNeill, THE PURSUIT OF POWER John Keegan, THE FACE OF WAR John Keegan, A HISTORY OF WARFARE Martin Van Crefeld, TECHNOLOGY AND WAR plus photocopy package.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Three short papers, term paper and final.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS GOVT    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-26-2001

Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions. Please include a url, course title, faculty name or other page reference in your email

Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459