History 386:
World War II
Professor Hugh Dubrulle
Department of History
Class Time:
TR 1:00 PM-2:15 PM
Classroom:
LL6 Alumni Hall
Office Hours:
MWF 11:00 AM-12:00 PM
and by appointment
Email:
Phone:
(603) 641-7048
Canvas:
https://canvas.anselm.edu/
Course Website:
https://dubrullesaintanselm
history386.wordpress.com/
Course Goals and Themes
What This Course is about
In terms of extent, destruction, and loss of life, World War II is one of the greatest wars ever
waged. A truly global conflict, its consequences were vast, and it did much to usher in the con-
temporary world. The war produced domestic changes of greater or lesser degrees in every state
involved, from Britain (the implementation of the welfare state) to China (the triumph of the
Communists). At the same time, the world’s center of political gravity shifted from Europe to the
United States and the Soviet Union. These developments in turn spawned others, including the
Cold War, decolonization, the emergence of European unification, and the rise of a much more
tightly integrated global trade regime.
In this course, we will study the origins and conduct of the war that produced these important
changes. As we investigate the forces that helped generate this conflict, we will follow Richard
Overy and take a long view that stretches all the way back to the 1890s. While taking this long
view, we will also take a broad one, recognizing that the war was global; although fighting broke
out in different places at different times, these various conflicts merged into a single contest. As
Franklin Roosevelt put it to one of his diplomats in 1941, “I believe that . . . we must recognize
that the hostilities in Europe, in Africa, and in Asia are all part of a single world conflict. . . . Our
strategy of self-defense must be a global strategy.”
While studying the way in which the war was fought, we will cover a wide variety of topics, in-
cluding the political decisions made by the various belligerents, the strategic and operational
courses they took, the conduct of campaigns, the development of technology, the mobilization
of national economies, and the various steps that led to the Holocaust.
The story of Yang Kyoungjong suggests the extent to which World War II was a global affair. According to this tale, Yang, an 18-year-old Korean, was drafted by the Japanese army in 1938. At the Battle of Khalkhin Gol (1939) in Mongolia, during the undeclared war between Japan and Russia, Yang was captured by the Soviets and placed in a labor camp. In 1942, as the Soviets scrambled to find manpower to counter the German inva-sion, they drafted him into their forces. He was captured by the Germans at the Third Battle of Kharkov (1943). The Germans had a habit of using Soviet POWs as soldiers on the Western front, so they sent him as part of an Ostbatallion to Normandy where he was eventually captured by American troops in 1944. Yang’s story became widely known when the historian Antony Beevor inserted it in The Second World War (2012), but documentary support for Yang’s existence is so sketchy that a number of scholars have called the entire yarn into question.
Dresden (1945)
Course Goals
The History Department has some learning outcomes for the major, but they are in draft form and require polishing. Moreover, they
are a bit generic, so let me tell you in my own words what I hope you learn from this class.
The first goal is a discipline-specific one: I want you to learn how historians think. In a prominent 2007 article, Thomas Andrews and
Flannery Burke have observed that historians traditionally tend to stress the “five C’s of historical thinking”: change over time, causality,
context, complexity, and contingency. I’d like you to understand these five C’s and how they apply to World War II.
The second goal is also discipline-specific: in an educational system that tends to stress skills at the expense of knowledge, I would like
you to know something about World War II which is one of the most important events of the contemporary age. You’ve heard words
like “appeasement,” “blitzkrieg,” and “area bombing.” I want to teach you what those things were (and weren’t) and why they’re signifi-
cant. You’ve also heard about the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union, and with the wisdom of
retrospect, you probably think these were bad ideas. But why were these decisions made, and why were they problematic? I want you
to know the answers to those types of questions.
The third goal sits somewhere between a discipline-specific and a mega-cognitive one:
through this course, I would like you to receive an education in politics and international
relations. Our study of World War II will compel us to look at important social, economic,
and cultural questions. However, while war influences and is influenced by these areas,
armed conflict is fundamentally a political act. To quote Carl von Clausewitz, “War is the
continuation of politics by other means.” The decisions made by the various belligerents
throughout the war have the potential to teach us a great deal about how politics and in-
ternational relations work.
The fourth goal is a mega-cognitive one: I would like this class to further your general edu-
cation by giving you an opportunity to develop skills you will need no matter what you end
up doing for a living. These include learning how to read critically, synthesize information,
cogitate deeply, and articulate your thoughts.
Themes of the Course
This class will focus on key decisions that took place at various levels—political, strategic, operational, tactical, and individual—both
before and during the conflict. In analyzing these decisions, we will have recourse to three important concepts that I borrow from the
historian Wayne E. Lee: capacity, calculation, and culture. We will investigate the role of each concept in influencing the judgment of
different actors involved in the war. Our assessment of these decisions will also look at matters from an ethical perspective. These as-
sessments will follow the historian Michael Bess who has written an excellent and accessible book on the war’s ethical dimension that
we will be reading.
Who I Am and Why I Teach This Course
I received my B.A in History from Pomona College and my M.A. and Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara. I
was a visiting assistant professor at the University of Oregon and then the University of Puget Sound before arriving at Saint Anselm
College where I’ve taught in the History Department for 18 years.
I fell into teaching history because from an early age, I found the
subject fascinating. It is full of amazing events and intriguing per-
sonalities. And the event that first convinced me of these truths
was World War II. Both of my parents grew up in France during
the war, and both of them used to tell vivid stories about the
conflict. My mother, who grew up in Lille, remembered traveling
the roads as a refugee with her parents during the German inva-
sion in 1940 and how she fell ill because her parents forgot to
Produced by French civil defense authorities, this map (right) indicates where a May 10-11, 1944 RAF raid on Lille dropped its bombs. The target was the Compagnie de Fives-Lille workshops (the big black
square right of center), where my grandfather worked, and the adja-cent marshaling yard. From a strategic perspective, the raid was a success—the rail lines to Paris were cut. The success, however, was dearly bought. The RAF lost 12 Lancaster bombers with 83 crewmen, and around 200 French civilians were killed.
Professor Dubrulle at The Foundry in
Manchester, NH
“The word interesting does not properly mean romantic. That is interesting in the proper sense which affects our interests,
which closely concerns us and is deeply important to us. Make history interesting indeed! I cannot make history more inter-
esting than it is, except by falsifying it. And therefore when I meet a person who does not find history interesting it does not
occur to me to alter history,—I try to alter him.”
J. R. Seeley, The Expansion of England (1883)
Yet, as I grew older, I also came to realize that history was not just a collection of great stories; it also helped explain the world. A seri-
ous study of history not only clarifies why the world is the way it is today but also allows us see the workings of human nature and
develop our judgment of people, places, and things. In other words, history is an anthropological discipline of the utmost importance.
As J. R. Seeley, one of the most influential of 19th-century British historians once wrote, history is the most “interesting” discipline:
Albert Dubrulle (1909-1953), my paternal grandfather (right) in 1934 when he was called up for a refresher course as a reservist in the French army. A civil engineer in civilian life, Dubrulle belonged to an engineering unit. When war broke out in 1939, this unit was stationed along the Maginot Line near the Swiss border. In 1940, when it became clear that the Ger-mans had turned the French fortifications and won the Battle of France, Dubrulle and his unit marched to Switzerland where he was interned. In 1941, he was released and returned to France where he took up his old position working in his commune (township) more or less as the director of public works.
bring her potty; the time the Germans installed an anti-aircraft battery in the field behind her house; and how the Compagnie de Fives-
Lille locomotive works where her father worked was bombed repeatedly by the RAF. My father also remembered hitting the roads in
1940 and being bombed by the infamous Stukas; the friendly German reservist who cared for the horses across the street; the impres-
sive spectacle of American P-38s and P-47s attacking his hometown’s railway station; and the liberation of his village by Patton’s 3rd
Army in September 1944.
Teaching Philosophy
One of the main points of the core curriculum is to turn you into a lifelong learner. In designing this class, I sought to walk the fine
line between offering you the scaffolding necessary for success and providing you with the space to take responsibility for your own
learning. This general outlook is reflected in my expectations which I have detailed elsewhere in this syllabus. Some of these expecta-
tions are more in the nature of requirements (e.g. you need to bring the readings to class), but some of them are what I consider best
practices (e.g. you ought to write out the answers to the quiz questions before class). I can compel the former but not the latter. And
that means that while I can provide you with an optimal environment to learn in class, you also have to carry the load.
Course Materials
Course Website
The most current schedule, the assignments, and policies are posted on the course website: https://dubrullesaintanselm
history386.wordpress.com/
On the website, you will find everything that’s on the syllabus—and more. The website should be your “go to” source for everything
related to the course.
Pilots on IJN Shokaku are briefed before taking off to bomb Pearl Harbor (1941)
Required Readings: Books
You will need to buy the following books for the course:
Evan Mawdsley
World War II: A New History
(2009)
Richard Overy
Origins of the
Second World War
(2016)
Michael Bess
Choices under Fire
(2008)
Wolfgang Benz
The Holocaust
(2000)
E. B. Sledge
With the Old Breed
(1981)
Required Readings: Canvas
All other readings are posted on Canvas (these will consist mostly of primary sources). We will also use Canvas for discussions and
essay submission. Go to: https://canvas.anselm.edu/
Colussus, the first computer ever created, was built in Bletchley Park, Birtain, to help break German codes (ca. 1943)
Course Grading and Assignments
The assignments in this course fall into four categories: class participation, classroom activities, essays, and examinations.
Class Participation/Canvas Discussion (20%)
I expect everybody to participate in class discussion, and I will do my best to encourage all of you to do so. I will base your grade in
this component of the class on the frequency and quality of your contributions to the conversation.
You can also earn points for class participation by using the Canvas discussion board (https://canvas.anselm.edu/). From time to
time, I will put questions on Canvas for discussion (I will make you aware of when that happens by posting an announcement on the
website). The Canvas discussion serves two purposes. It primes students for the discussions that will take place in class, and it helps
those who are uncomfortable with class discussion to participate in conversation.
Quizzes, Homework, and Other Exercises (20%)
You will notice that on the course website there is a page associated with each class meeting. These pages provide context for the
readings, and I expect you to consult them in their entirety. These pages also display a) potential quiz questions, b) homework assign-
ments, and c) discussion questions posted on Canvas.
The potential quiz questions are about the readings for that day (either the textbook or the primary sources). Every time you see
these questions on a page associated with a particular day, we may or may not have a quiz that day. If we have a quiz, I will give you a
six-minute, open-note, open-book quiz on one of the questions. I recommend that you print the questions before you start the read-
ing so you know what to look for. I also recommend that as you read, you jot down notes so that you have an answer (or a way to
locate an answer) ready at hand when you take the quiz. If you wish to write down answers for all the potential quiz questions so you
can copy the appropriate response on the quiz itself, please feel free to do so.
On other days, I may ask you to do a homework assignment whose topic and length are specified on the webpage associated with a
particular day in class. These short paragraphs will serve as prompts for class discussion.
Quizzes and homework assignments will be graded on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the highest grade). These assignments serve
several purposes. First, they encourage you to do your best to read and understand the course material. Second, they will give you a
sense of whether you actually understand the material and what steps you need to take to improve your reading skills. Third, they will
provide you with material and ideas to contribute to class discussion.
Research Project (30%)
This project will require you to pick a movie about World War II from a list of approved films and write a research paper about it. There
are several components to this assignment.
More details appear on the website.
Movie Analysis Form (5%) (due January
27): This assignment will require you to
view the movie you have selected and
make initial estimates about its themes
and argument. You will also have to fill in
important information about the film, in-
cluding date of release, the director pro-
ducer, main actors, and so on.
Bibliography (5%) (due February 10):
This project will require serious research
into the making of the film and the context
within which it was produced. For that
reason, you will have to compile a bibliog-
raphy of sources.
First Draft (10%) (due March 30): On this
date, you will have to turn in a polished
draft complete with citations.
Final Draft (10%) (due April 29): This
final paper will be due at the end of the
semester.
On the set for Noel Coward’s classic film, In Which We Serve (1942)
Examinations (30%)
There will be two take-home exams in this class. Both should be turned in via Canvas.
Midterm Examination (10%) (due February 28)
Final Examination (20%) (due Monday, May 4)
Course Polices
Attendance
According to the Student Handbook, since this course meets two times per week, students enjoy two “allowed absences” during the
entire semester to deal with a “brief illness, a personal obligation that conflicts with class, or participation in College-sponsored
events.” The consequences of missing more than two class meetings depends on a variety of factors, and I can’t outline every possible
contingency here. If you miss more than three meetings and make absenteeism a habit, though, I will contact the Dean’s Office, and
the appropriate dean will inquire into your circumstances. Whatever information the Dean’s Office chooses to share with me will help
determine the way I handle those absences. For example, if the Dean’s Office informs me that additional absences are the result of
some sort of personal crisis (e.g. severe illness, death in the family, etc.), I will make allowances. On the other hand, if the Dean’s Office
indicates that there is no legitimate reason for these absences, I will have to dock your participation grade accordingly.
Taking Quizzes and Turning in Homework
If you arrive late to class on a day that we are taking a quiz, you will only have what remains of the six minutes to complete your quiz.
If you miss the quiz completely, you will not be able to make it up unless you have a good excuse. I will be the final arbiter of what a
good excuse is.
The same rule applies to homework. I expect you to bring homework with you to class and turn it in at the end of class. If you do not
turn it in on time, you cannot obtain credit unless you have a reasonable explanation.
Essay Extensions and Late Papers
I will grant extensions for good cause, but you need to contact me, at the latest, on the day the paper is due. Otherwise, the essay will
suffer a penalty of 10% per day.
Essay and Exam Grading
After I’ve read and commented on your exams and the various assignments associated with the research project, I will hand them back
to you without a grade. I will then ask you to write a short paragraph, due at the next class meeting, that explains what grade you think
you ought to receive on your assignment. This paragraph should be based on (and engage with) the comments that I have written.
Access (Disability)
Students with appropriately documented disabilities are eligible for reasonable accommodations. It is the student’s responsibility to
contact and submit documentation of a disability to the Office of Disability Services in the Academic Resource Center (see Kenn Walk-
er). For more information, please consult the ARC’s statement regarding disability services.
Academic Honesty
According to the American Historical Association’s Statement on the Standards of Professional Conduct, “the expropriation of another
author’s text, and the presentation of it as one’s own, constitutes plagiarism and is a serious violation of the ethics of scholarship.” The
Statement goes on to assert the following: “Plagiarism includes more subtle and perhaps more pernicious abuses than simply expro-
priating the exact wording of another author without attribution. Plagiarism also includes the limited borrowing, without attribution, of
another person’s distinctive and significant research findings, hypotheses, theories, rhetorical strategies, or interpretations, or an ex-
tended borrowing even with attribution.” So what exactly does plagiarism look like? The Statement continues by stating that “the
clearest abuse is the use of another’s language without quotation marks and citation. More subtle abuses include the appropriation of
concepts, data, or notes all disguised as newly crafted sentences, or reference to a borrowed work in an early note and then extensive
further use without attribution.” If you would like more information on this topic, please refer to the AHA’s statement on plagiarism.
For even more information, please consult the college’s academic integrity tutorial which is located on the Geisel Library website.
All that being said, it is incumbent upon you to understand the College’s official definition of plagiarism and the procedures associated
with the investigation of plagiarism cases. You can find information regarding these issues on this page.
Why is plagiarism such a serious matter? First, it is a form of theft; plagiarizers take credit for work that is not their own, and they do
not give credit where credit is due. Second, they destroy the trust between professor and student that is indispensable to creating a
learning environment. Third, plagiarizers undermine the whole educational project which demands that students do their own work
and are assessed on the basis of that work.
Depending on the egregiousness of the infraction and the relative weight of the assignment, you can expect anything from a zero on a
particular assignment to failure in the class. I will also report you to the Dean.
Electronic Devices
The College has a detailed policy regarding the use of electronic devices in the
classroom. To summarize:
cell phones, pagers, PDAs, or similar devices shall not be used in class
text messaging or the access of information on these devices is forbidden
all such devices should be placed on silent (vibrate) mode and should be
put away during class
students are allowed to check these devices only if every single one of
them activates simultaneously; such an event would indicate that the Col-
lege’s emergency notification system has sent out a message
Laptops
Laptops are great for doing many things, but taking notes is not one of them.
The research is unequivocal on that point. Study after study indicate that:
laptops offer too great a temptation to play with social media, do online
shopping, check fantasy sports scores, and engage in any number of dis-
tracting activities
students with laptops tend to distract those around them
students equipped with laptops tend to write more than those who use
paper and pen, but the former retain less from class and take worse notes
students using laptops in class tend to perform worse overall in courses
than their peers who use more traditional modes of note-taking
My policy is as follows: I will not ban laptops from my classroom, but I urge
you not to bring them since they will undermine your ability to learn.
A US Marine uses a SCR-536 Field Radio
German soldiers outside of Kiev (1941)
Course Schedule
NOTE: For various reasons, I may have to modify the schedule. If I do, I will let you know, and the schedule on the website may be
changed accordingly.
Tuesday, January 14
Topic:
Introduction, Website Tour, Expectations
Readings:
Syllabus
Thursday, January 16
Topic:
Ideas and Concepts: The Eight C’s and the Three Levels of War
Readings:
Thomas Andrews and Flannery Burke, “What Does It Mean to Think Historically?” (2007)
Excerpt from Wayne E. Lee, Waging War: Conflict, Culture, and Innovation in World History (2016)
WEEK 1
WEEK 2
Tuesday, January 21
Topic:
Setting the Stage for War
Readings:
Mawdsley, pp. 12-44.
Bess, pp. 21-41.
Thursday, January 23
Topic:
The Origins of World War II
Readings:
Richared Overy, The Origins of the Second World War (2016)
WEEK 3
Tuesday, January 28
Topic:
The Origins of World War II
Readings:
Richared Overy, The Origins of the Second World War (2016).
Thursday, January 30
Topic:
The War of the Future
Readings:
Mawdsley, pp. 44-51
Excerpts from Erich Ludendorff, Total War (1934)
Kamikaze about to hit USS Missouri (1945)
Tuesday, February 4
Topic:
From Peace to War in Europe
Readings:
Mawdsley, pp. 75-103
Bess, pp. 58-75
Thursday, February 6
Topic:
Germany Triumphant
Readings:
Mawdsley, pp. 105-133
Excerpt from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Flight to Arras (1942)
WEEK 4
WEEK 5
Tuesday, February 11
Topic:
From the Battle of Britain to Barbarossa
Readings:
Mawdsley, pp. 285-296, 137-163
Fuhrer Directive No. 21: “Operation Barbarossa” (1941)
Letter from Adolf Hitler to Benito Mussolini about Operation Barbarossa (1941)
Fuhrer Directive No. 32: “Preparations for the Period after Barbarossa” (1941)
Thursday, February 13
Topic:
Widening the Asian War
Readings:
Mawdsley, pp. 55-73, 189-203
Bess, pp. 42-57
Yabe Teji on the Greater East Asia Co-Existence Sphere (1940)
Excerpts from the Japanese Imperial Conference: “The Essentials for Carrying out the Emperor’s Policies” (1941)
WEEK 6
Tuesday, February 18
Topic:
Turning Back the German Tide
Readings:
Mawdsley, pp. 166-187, 297-308
Excerpts from Erwin Rommel, The Rommel Papers (1953)
Fuhrer Directive No. 41 (1942)
Thursday, February 20
Topic:
Halting Japanese Expansion
Readings:
Mawdsley, pp. 204-233, 237-239
Excerpts from Masanori Ito, The End of the Imperial Japanese Navy (1956)
French soldiers in Northern France (1940)
WEEK 7
Tuesday, February 25
Topic:
Mobilizing the Nation for War
Readings:
Mawdsley, pp. 322-332
“Peoples at War” from Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millet, A War to be Won (2000)
Thursday, February 27
Topic:
The Battle for the World Ocean
Readings:
Mawdsley, pp. 249-283
WEEK 8
Tuesday, March 10
Topic:
Civilian Experiences
Readings:
Hope and Glory (movie) (1987)
Thursday, March 12
Topic:
Occupation, Resistance, and Collaboration
Readings:
Mawdsley, pp. 346-363
Excerpt from William Jordan, Conquest without Victory (1969)
WEEK 9
Tuesday, March 17
Topic:
The Holocaust
Readings:
Wolfgang Benz, The Holocaust (1995)
Thursday, March 19
Topic:
The Holocaust
Readings:
Wolfgang Benz, The Holocaust (1995)
WEEK 10
Tuesday, March 24
Topic:
Germany on Its Heels: The Italian, Russian, and French Fronts
Readings:
Mawdsley, pp. 308-312, 365-386
Lecture of the German Chief of the General Staff of Western Armed Forces (1943)
Joseph Goebbels, “Total War Speech” (1943)
Excerpts from Erwin Rommel, The Rommel Papers (1953)
Thursday, March 26
Topic:
Alliances and the Politics of Grand Strategy
Readings:
Bess, pp. 166-178
“Alliance Politics and Grand Strategy” from Jeremy Black, Rethinking World War II: The Conflict and Its Legacy (2015)
WEEK 11 Tuesday, March 31
Closing the Ring on Japan
Topic:
Readings:
Mawdsley, pp. 233-237, 239-247, 407-413
Yasumasa Nishiji, “Those Foresaken by God” from Tales by Japanese Soldiers (2001)
Excerpts from Viscount Slim, Defeat into Victory (1956)
Thursday, April 2
Topic:
Strategic Bombing
Readings:
Mawdsley, pp. 312-319, 386-405
Bess, pp. 88-110
Excerpt from Sir Arthur Harris, Bomber Offensive (1947)
WEEK 12
Tuesday, April 7
Topic:
Victory in Europe
Readings:
Mawdsley, pp. 312-319, 386-405
WEEK 13
Tuesday, April 14
Topic:
The Experience of the Pacific War
Readings:
Excerpts from Eugene Sledge, With the Old Breed (1981)
Thursday, April 16
Topic:
Ending the War in Asia
Readings:
Mawdsley, pp. 413-437
Bess, pp. 179-197
Excerpts from James Fahey, Pacific War Diary (1963)
WEEK 14
Tuesday, April 21
Topic:
The Atomic Bomb
Readings:
Bess, pp. 198-253
Thursday, April 23
Topic:
Aftermath and Legacies
Readings:
Bess, pp. 257-308
US B-24s bombing the refineries at Ploesti, Romania (1944)
WEEK 15
Tuesday, April 28
Topic:
Aftermath and Legacies
Readings:
Bess, pp. 309-346
Appendix I: Expectations for History 386
Rationale
Many students seem to understand what the college expects of them and what practices will contribute to their success, but many do
not. For that reason, I have generated this document which explains my expectations in this course. These expectations are based par-
tially on what the college requires and partially on what recent research has revealed about the behaviors that contribute to learning.
In this case, my main motive is that I want to do everything in my power to help you perform as well as possible.
The Foundation of Expectations: The Carnegie Credit Hour and 12 Hours of Work per Week
Have you ever wondered why most of your classes are worth four credits and what those four credits signify? The Carnegie Credit
Hour is the universal standard of measurement among American universities and colleges. This credit hour defines a unit of credit as
equal to a minimum of three hours of work per week for a semester. In other words, if you take a four-credit course, you are ex-
pected to do 12 hours of work per week on that course for the entire semester (3 hours per credit x 4 credits). Three of those
12 hours are time spent in the classroom (although you truly spend about two and a half hours per week in class—but that’s the con-
vention). That means you need to spend, on average, another nine hours per week on homework. This figure is an average. Some
weeks will be busier and others less so. Some students will require more while others require less. Whatever the case, this is my expec-
tation, because it is also the college’s expectation.
Do All the Assigned Readings Carefully
In this class, you will be assigned three types of reading:
the textbook
primary sources posted on Canvas or elsewhere
the text posted on the web site The textbook and primary source readings are obviously very important, but I want to put in a plug for the material on the web site.
Do not merely look at the homework assignments or the potential quiz questions. I usually write a fair amount on the web site to pro-
vide context for the reading, and this context is vital for understanding the assignments. So read the website carefully.
Prepare for Quizzes and Bring the Homework to Class
Sometimes you will need to prepare quiz questions for class, and sometimes you will need to turn in homework.
You only have six minutes to complete in-class quizzes. That means you have to prepare for the quiz before you take it. You can write
notes down. You can write the entire answer down. You can underline the appropriate section of the reading. Whatever works is fine.
What doesn’t work is skimming the reading, possessing only a vague idea of what the quiz is asking, and thumbing through the read-
ing to look for the answer. I’ve seen plenty of students try that, and it doesn’t work.
As for the homework, the point of those assignments is to focus your mind as you do the reading, put some ideas to paper, and have
that paper at hand during class discussion so you can contribute to the conversation. If you do not print the homework in a timely
fashion so that you have it in class, the purpose of the assignment is defeated. Do not mail the homework to me right after class; turn
it in at the end of our class meeting.
My Expectations regarding Laptops
Most research agrees that students who use laptops in class do not perform as well as those who rely on pen and paper to take notes.
Two reasons account for this difference. First, students with laptops tend to get distracted as they watch videos and use social media.
Second, students with laptops are not as good at taking notes. These research findings accord with my own experience of what hap-
pens to students who use laptops. I would also add from what I’ve seen that the use of laptops hurts the weakest students the most;
they are usually more easily distracted, and they have difficulty taking good notes to start with. This is why I urge you not to bring
them to class (even if I have not outright banned them). If you have a documented disability that necessitates your using a laptop, I
understand, and I am happy to make accommodations.
Bring the Readings to Class in Printed Form
I expect you to print the primary source readings. Studies indicate that students retain information better when they read it from a
printed page. Yes, IT has set a quota of 650 double-sided pages per semester; the cost of this quota is embedded in your Comprehen-
sive Fee. IT tracking reveals, however, that only 10% of students print more than that limit, so chances are pretty good that you won’t
reach it. If you do print more than 650 double-sided pages, you will be charged 7.5 cents per double-sided page over that limit. How-
ever, if you are in a class that requires much printing (e.g. Nursing), you can obtain an exemption from this rule, and I would be happy
to help you obtain such an exemption if necessary. However, even if you can’t get a break, and you print 300 double-sided pages in
excess of 650, that would only amount to $22.50. So just print the readings and bring them to class. I will check to see that you do so.
Take Notes/Use Pen and Paper
As I pointed out above, research indicates that students who use laptops are less effective at taking notes than students who employ
the traditional pen and paper. There are two reasons. First, students with laptops are more easily distracted. Second, if they can type
fast enough, those students with laptops who are not distracted tend to write down everything said in class. Unfortunately, good
notetaking does not consist in writing everything down; it consists in writing only what is important. Students with pen and paper
know they cannot write everything down, so they attempt to focus on what is important—a very valuable skill.
But above and beyond this question of laptops, students need to take notes. I am constantly surprised by the number of poorly per-
forming students who do not take notes in my classes. The part that surprises me is not that students who don’t take notes perform
poorly; what stuns me is that it never seems to occur to these students that they could improve their performance by taking notes. Buy
a notebook, and take notes. I will occasionally check your notebooks to see what you are writing down in them and if you can improve
your notetaking.
Speak in Class
I expect as many people as possible to participate in class discussions. I have explained why elsewhere in the syllabus. Speaking in
class will benefit you on many levels, so I encourage you to do so. If there is anything I can do to help you in this area, please let me
know.
Ask for Help
If you have difficulty understanding a particular concept or if you experience problems with specific types of assignments, please see
me. There is no better way to surmount the obstacles to academic success than by asking for help. In any event, you ought to get in
the habit of asking for help when you need it. You will encounter many situations in the rest of your working life where you will have
to do so.
Take Care of Yourself and Manage Your Time
Finally, I expect you to take care of yourself. That means eating right, getting enough sleep, exercising, and taking time off when you
need it. You can only do those things if you manage your time well. And managing your time well means keeping in mind why you are
here and what your priorities ought to be. I can’t organize your lives for you, nor would I wish to; you will have to figure out what’s
appropriate for you. All I can say is that with 168 hours per week, you ought to have plenty of time to do your schoolwork and engage
in various extracurriculars. If you don’t have enough time, then something needs to get cut, and it shouldn’t be schoolwork.
Japanese Special Naval Landing Force
(Marines) in Shanghai (1937)
