HISTORY 3481H / 4481H OS
Cuban-Canadian-U.S. relations
Trent University, Thornton Road Campus (Oshawa) Summer 2012
Professor Robert Wright
Room 110
COURSE SYLLABUS
This version of the syllabus was posted on 12 April 2012.
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Introduction
As an ally of the United States, Canada has always been bound to accept what Pierre Trudeau once called “orthodox alliance priorities.” As founding members of NATO and NORAD, Canadians were committed Cold Warriors and staunch allies of the United States. Yet starting with Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, Canada has always charted an independent course in its relations with the Castro government in Cuba. When the United States imposed its economic embargo on the island in 1960, and the next year severed diplomatic relations, Canada refused to follow suit. There remains to this day a bipartisan consensus in Washington that communist Cuba should be treated as an international outlaw, and that every effort short of war should be made to undermine the Revolution. There remains in Canada an equally strong bipartisan consensus that Cuba is an illiberal society in need of reform but that dialogue rather than confrontation is the best diplomatic means of achieving this goal.
History 3481/4481 examines the evolution of Canadian and American relations with Cuba since the nineteenth century, with a particular emphasis on the Castro era. Diplomatic, political, trade and military (strategic) relations will figure prominently, but so, too, will personal relations (e.g. Pierre Trudeau's friendship with Fidel Castro versus John Kennedy's obsession with eliminating him). The course will conclude with a look at contemporary Cuban-Canadian-U.S. relations, including Canada's role in the tourism, performing arts and resource sectors of the Cuban economy, and various American initiatives for a "post-Castro" Cuba.
History 3481/4481 is scheduled to meet on Monday and Wednesday mornings between 9 am and noon.
There will be no tests or exams in this course.
Students in History 3481H will be required to write a 500-word book review and a 3000-word research paper.
Students in History 4481H will be required to write a 500-word book review and a 3500-word research paper.
Course Goals
As a cross-listed third- and fourth-year course, History 3481/4481 provides students with the opportunity to explore the relationship between Cuba and North America in depth, both through class discussion of scholarship in the field and through advanced independent research. Students should be able to use their advanced knowledge of the field and skills in critical thinking, historical writing, historical approaches and methodologies to conduct research using primary and secondary sources, produce an original analytical argument based on the evidence, and situate it in the appropriate historiographical and theoretical contexts. Students should be able to communicate their arguments to the instructor and their peers with clarity, accuracy, and logic through major research papers and class presentations. Upon completing the course successfully, students should understand the conventions of historical writing, the rules of academic integrity and professionalism, the importance of personal initiative and accountability, and the evolving nature of historical knowledge. They should also be able to evaluate historical writing effectively through examinations of sources, arguments, and methodologies.
Grades
| Book review |
15% |
| Research prospectus |
10% |
| Research paper |
45% |
| Seminar Participation | 30% |
Books
Selected chapters of the following books will be required reading in History 3481/4481. Note: books listed as required readings are not required purchases. Copies of all required readings not available online will be placed on reserve at the Trent Library at the Thornton Road campus, so if you lack either the resources or the inclination to purchase these books, there will be other ways of keeping up with your readings.
Lamrani, Salim, ed. Superpower Principles: U.S. Terrorism
Against Cuba. New York: Common Courage Press, 2005.
ISBN 1567513409.
Schoultz, Lars. That Infernal Little Cuban Republic: The United States and the Cuban Revolution. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009. 9780807832608
Stern, Sheldon M. The Week the World Stood Still: Inside the Secret Cuban Missile Crisis. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0804750776
Wright, Robert. Three Nights in Havana: Pierre Trudeau, Fidel Castro and the Cold War World. Toronto: HarperCollins, 2007. ISBN 0002158000
Schoultz, Lars. That Infernal Little Cuban Republic: The United States and the Cuban Revolution. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009. 9780807832608
Stern, Sheldon M. The Week the World Stood Still: Inside the Secret Cuban Missile Crisis. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0804750776
Wright, Robert. Three Nights in Havana: Pierre Trudeau, Fidel Castro and the Cold War World. Toronto: HarperCollins, 2007. ISBN 0002158000
All other required readings in this course take the form of scholarly articles, which can be accessed via the Trent Library.
Seminars
The History 3481/4481 seminar will meet for three hours weekly. Students will be expected to read and reflect on assigned readings and to come to class prepared to discuss them critically. Students' participation grades will be based on the quality of their contributions, not the quantity. Participation grading will be consistent with Trent University standards for academic integrity, professionalism and accountability. Insofar as seminar participation represents a significant proportion of students' overall grade in the course, the importance of regular attendance should be underscored.
Book Review
The first written assignment will be a critical book review. The total number of book pages under review should be approximately 300.
Note: a book review is not a book report. The purpose of a review is not merely to describe the contents of books in narrative form but to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of books, to estimate their contribution(s) to knowledge, to assess their relationship to each other and to the scholarly field in question, and to provide an opinion to their prospective readers of their general worth. The best strategy for familiarizing yourself with the ways and means of writing review essays is to read some. It will be considered part of your preparation for your review essay to familiarize yourself with the genre if you have not already done so. Click here for Wright's tips on writing book reviews.
A review prospectus will be required, containing a full bibliographic citation for the book you plan to review. This book must deal with an aspect of Cuban-North American relations, and it should be less than a decade old. The preparation of your review essay should give you a solid footing as you begin to consider the topic of your research paper.
The review prospectus will not be graded but it must be submitted in advance of your review essay.
Both the review prospectus and the review essay should be submitted via email. Click here for instructions on formatting and emailing assignments.
Length: 500 words.
Due dates: review prospectus 22 May 2012; review 29 May 2012.
Research Paper
The research paper has been conceived with two primary objectives in mind. The first is to acquaint students more closely than has been the case thus far with the scholarly literature in an area of historical study which is of special interest to the student. The second is to acquaint students with some of the processes by which historians conduct original research.
Students may select topics of their own choice, with the proviso that each student must submit a prospectus in advance of her/his essay, in which s/he must specify the nature and scope of her/his topic, as well as the resources s/he plans to use. A thorough prospectus will include a short synopsis of a student's aims, as well as a bibliography of sources. Third-year students must utilize a minimum of ten scholarly sources; fourth-year students must utilize a minimum of fifteen scholarly sources.
The purpose of the prospectus is two-fold: it will allow the instructor to consider the proposal of the student and to make specific recommendations about sources and approaches that might be used (thus creating between student and instructor a "customized" topic); and it will provide a medium by which the student and the instructor can maintain close contact about the progress of the research.
The prospectus will be graded and must, therefore, be submitted in advance of the research paper. The paper must conform to the topic as selected by the student and as "customized" by the student and the instructor. If it does not, the student will receive a grade of zero on both the prospectus and the paper.
Both the research prospectus and the research paper should be submitted via email. Click here for instructions on formatting and emailing assignments. Click here for some tips on writing essays.
Length: 3000 words for History 3481H; 3500 words for History 4481H.
Due dates: research prospectus 5 June 2012; research paper 29 June 2012.
Final Examination
There will be no examinations in this course.
Office Hours
Mondays and Wednesdays after class, or by appointment.
Late Policy
All course work must be submitted by 29 June, 2012.
Academic Integrity
Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, is an extremely serious academic offence and carries penalties varying from a 0 grade on an assignment to expulsion from the University. Definitions, penalties, and procedures for dealing with plagiarism and cheating are set out in Trent University’s Academic Integrity Policy. You have a responsibility to educate yourself - unfamiliarity with the policy is not an excuse.
For Wright's policy on plagiarism, click here.
Access to Instruction
It is Trent University's intent to create an inclusive learning environment. If a Trent Oshawa student has a disability and/or health consideration and feels that he/she may need accommodations to succeed in this course, s/he should visit the Disability Services Office at Room 111 or call (905) 435-5100.
Dropping Courses
Please see the Trent University Academic Calendar for University Diary dates, Academic Information and Regulations, and University and departmental degree requirements.
HISTORY 3481H / 4481H SEMINAR SCHEDULE
14 May
Seminar: Introduction to the course.
Required Reading: None.
16 May
Seminar: Fidel Castro.
Required reading: None.
Film: Fidel (Estela Bravo director, Bravo Films, 2001).
23 May
Book review prospectus due via email.
Seminar: Background on Cuba.
Required reading: Lars Schoultz, That Infernal Little Cuban Republic, ch. 1, 3; and John Corbin, "Cubanos, Americans and Modes of Being Between in Pre-Castro Cuba" Third World Quarterly 26:3 (2005).
28 May
Seminar: The United States and Revolutionary Cuba.
Required readings: Lars Schoultz, That Infernal Little Cuban Republic, ch. 4-7.
30 May
Book review due via email. Click here for instructions on formatting and emailing assignments.
Seminar: The Cuban Missile Crisis.
Required reading: Sheldon M. Stern, The Week the World Stood Still.
4 June
Seminar: Cuban-Canadian Relations.
Required reading: Robert Wright, Three Nights in Havana, ch. 6-9, Epilogue.
6 June
Research prospectus due via email.
Seminar: Canada and Cuba after the Soviet Collapse.
Required readings: Yvon Grenier, "Canada's Trilateral Relations with Castro's Cuba" Molot & Hampson, eds., Vanishing Borders (Toronto: Oxford, 2000); Robert Wright, "Northern Ice: Jean Chrétien and the Failure of Constructive Engagement in Cuba" in Robert Wright and Lana Wylie, eds., Our Place in the Sun: Canada and Cuba in the Castro Era (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010); and Wylie, "Perceptions and Foreign Policy: A Comparative Study of Canadian and American Policy Toward Cuba" Canadian Foreign Policy 11:3 (Spring 2004).
11 June
Seminar: Terrorism.
Required reading: Salim Lamrani, ed., Superpower Principles.
13 June
Seminar: Cuba and the United States.
Required Readings: Dan Burton, "Staying the Course: Bringing Change to Cuba through Continued Pressure" Harvard International Review 20:4 (Fall 1998); Richard Levins, “Why Radicals Are Sucked In By Right-Wing Anti-Cuba Propaganda” Independent Media Centre (August 2005); and Julia E. Sweig, "Fidel's Final Victory" Foreign Affairs (January/February 2007).
29 June
Research paper due via email. Click here for instructions on formatting and emailing assignments.