Dr. Nathan Michalewicz
| Class Meetings | Student Hours |
|---|---|
| Tuesday / Thursday | Mon. / Wed. |
| 11:50 AM – 1:35 PM | 8:00 AM – 10:30 AM |
| – | 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM |
| McEwen 114 | Watkins 207 |
Overview
This course explores changes in war, state, and society brought about by the Great War, the Russian Revolution, and the Second World War. While the course focuses on Europe, it also deals with the broader impact of these wars across the globe. Students will discuss changing social mores, political and economic ideologies, and genocides that resulted from these wars.
Learning Objectives
Students who engage fully in this course will be able to:
- Understand political, intellectual, and cultural impacts of the Great War, the Russian Revolution, the Second World War, and the Holocaust.
- Critically analyze primary and secondary sources.
- Articulate arguments on the intellecual, cultural, and political changes wrought by the world wars of the 20th century on Europe and beyond.
- Support your arguments with primary and secondary sources in a reasoned and logical order following standard writing conventions.
Assignments
| Assignment | Weight | |
|---|---|---|
| Engagement | 20% | |
| Weekly Quiz question submissions | 15% | |
| Three (3) Quizzes | 15% | |
| 2 Unit Essays | 20% | |
| Research Essay | 30% |
Extra Credit
If you have three questions that you submitted placed on a unit quiz, you will receive 1% extra credit on your final grade. That means you can earn up to 3% extra credit on your final grade.
Required Reading
All readings, podcasts, and videos for this course will be available on Zotero. Students will not need to purchase any materials for this course. Everything will be available open-access or through the university library. For more information on Zotero, see this link on connecting and using Zotero.
Some readings are in .epub format (the format for e-books), so you will need an e-book reader. I recommend Calibre, Freda, or SumatraPDF (which reads many formats beyond PDFs).
Grading
Queens uses a plus/minus grade scale: B- receives less than 3 points, for instance. Grades in this class will follow the same pattern with one exception. Here are the numeric grades associated with each letter grade:
A = 90-100 B+ = 89-87 B = 86-83 B- = 82-80 |
C+ = 79-77 C = 76-73 C- = 72-70 |
D+ = 69-67 D = 66-60 F = 59-0 |
Notice a couple inconsistencies. One, I do not give an A-. In my experience, if you get an A, you deserved it without qualification. Also, there is not a D-. This difference is because Queens does not include a D-.
Late-Work Policy
This policy excludes the final assignment(s) (due after the final day of class) because I cannot provide an extension outside of extreme situations due to limits on when I have to turn in grades. Otherwise, see below.
Each student receives one (1) free extension for the course. If you request an extension 24 hours BEFORE the due date via email, I will provide a no-questions-asked (no excuse needed) 48-hour extension for an assignment. If the assignment is turned in after the 48-hour extension, the assignment will be deducted 10 points. Longer extensions are available only at the professor’s discretion on a case-by-case basis. If an extension is not requested 24 hours before the due date, the assignment will be deducted 10 points if the assignment is turned in late up to 6 days after the due date. If it is turned in seven (7) days after the deadline or later, the grade will be deducted twenty (20) points.
Work turned in 14+ days late
I will NOT accept any worker later than fourteen (14) days after the due date. Exceptions to this policy can be made at the discretion of the professor based on the student’s excuse.
Example:
If an assignment is due February 1, it will be reduced by 10 points if it is turned in (without an extension) between February 2 and February 7. It will be reduced 20 points if it is turned it between February 8 and February 14. It will not be accepted after February 14.
The Writing Center
- To make an appointment with a writing tutor, log on to www.queens.edu/tutoring to register or contact The Writing Center at writingcenter@queens.edu.
The Writing Center (part of the Center for Student Success) is a place for students at Queens University to receive peer feedback on their writing assignments. Writing Consultants in The Writing Center are your peers who come from a wide range of backgrounds and majors. They are trained to work across the disciplines to support student writing no matter where you are in the process.
There are three options for appointments:
- Face to Face – Monday to Thursday, 8 to 6 sessions are in the Michael Murphy Learning Studio (Knight-Crane Hall); Sundays and after 6 Monday to Thursday – sessions are in Everett Library (main floor)
- Face-to-Face Virtual (Synchronous)
- On RingCentral (link is in the tutor’s bio on WC Online)
- These options are best for brainstorming, idea development, understanding the assignment or when you are in the early stages of your writing project.
- Written Feedback (Asynchronous): submit your project for written feedback where the writing consultant gives you marginal responses to specific questions or concerns
- Feedback will be sent within 24 hours of submission of the text.
- This option is great for organizing, citation questions, and the polishing stage or your project.
Honor Code
The Honor Code, which permeates all phases of university life, is based on three fundamental principles. It assumes that Queens students: a) are truthful at all times, b) respect the property of others, and c) are honest in tests, examinations, term papers, and all other academic assignments. Please contact the Instructor if you believe a violation of the Honor Code has occurred. It is a violation of the Honor Code for a student to be untruthful concerning the reason for a class absence. See The Honor Code Book for more information on the process in the event of a suspected violation.
Every student is expected to produce their own work based on their own ideas and cite anyone else’s ideas or words appropriately. Certain material that an average person would consider common knowledge does not need to be cited. Such information would include that Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492 or that the American Revolution began in 1776. Other information, however, needs to be cited if it did not originate in your mind. See the Queens Library’s page on plagiarism: https://library.queens.edu/plagiarism/.
If you are suspected of violating the honor code, you will be reported to the honor council. If you are found guilty of the violation, you will receive a 0 on the assignment.
Queens AI Policy
The use of AI Tools is prohibited for coursework unless explicitly communicated by the course instructor.
If the instructor has given explicit direction(s) that AI Tools may be used (such as but not limited to ChatGPT, QuillBot, DALL-E, or Bard), the material produced must be acknowledged with a citation by the student for any assignment for which it was used. Their use should be limited so that they do not interfere with the student learning objectives for the assignment and the course.
My AI Policy
All submissions should reflect your work. Any use of AI to generate assignments is prohibited. If I suspect that you have used AI to generate part or all of your assignment, I will submit the assignment to the honor council for review. If you are found guilty of violating the honor code, and it is your first incident in the class, you will receive a 0 on the assignment. If it is the second incident, you will fail the class.
Student Accessibility Services
Queens University of Charlotte is committed to making reasonable accommodations to assist students with disabilities. If you have a disability which may impact your performance, attendance or grades in this course and require accommodations, you must first contact Student Accessibility Services at sashelp@queens.edu. The steps for receiving accommodations must be completed before accommodations can be given. The steps are available on the Student Accessibility Homepage. SAS is responsible for coordinating classroom accommodations and other services for students with disabilities. Please note that students are responsible for sharing their letter of accommodation with their instructors to receive classroom accommodations.
Student Complaint Process
Queens University of Charlotte is committed to providing an educational climate that is conducive to the personal and professional development of each individual. To ensure that commitment, the university has developed procedures for students to pursue grievances within the university community should such action become necessary. A student who has an unresolved disagreement or dissatisfaction with a faculty or staff member, another student, a student group, or an administrator has the right to file a written complaint without prejudicing his or her status with the university. For more information, please visit the Student Complaint Process page. For information regarding the online student complaint process, please visit the online student complaint process page.
QAlert
QAlert is the emergency notification system Queens uses to notify the campus community of an emergency, inclement weather, or class cancellations. It sends messages about the status of a given situation, as well as other details the campus needs to know. Students, faculty, and staff are automatically registered for QAlert through the university’s enterprise resource.
Religious Holidays
If any assignments or due dates interfere with your personal religious observation, I will be happy to make accommodations. Remember, within the first two weeks of the semester, the student must let me know the dates of major religious holidays on which the student will be absent or unavailable due to religious observances. Please, see the Queens Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion religious holiday calendar:
E-mail Communication
When writing emails to me, be sure to include a subject line, address me properly by my title and last name, and sign off with your name. Proper email formatting skills are required in post-university life.
Each student is issued a University e-mail address (username@queens.edu) upon admittance. The University uses this e-mail address for official communication with students. Students are expected to read e-mails sent to this account on a regular basis. Failure to read and react to University communications in a timely manner does not absolve the student from knowing and complying with the content of the communications.
Course Outline
Each week has its own page with more details on the readings, assignments, and activities for that day. Click on the links in the table below to go to that page.
| Week# (date) | Overview |
|---|---|
| 1 (8/26) | Class Introduction |
| Unit #1 | World War I |
| 2 (9/2) | The Cause of War |
| 3 (9/9) | The Experience of War |
| 4 (9/16) | War on the Home Front |
| 5 (9/23) | The End of the War |
| Unit #2 | Russian Revolution & The Inter-War Period |
| 6 (9/30) | Russian Rev part I |
| Oct. 3 | Unit 1 Quiz & Essay Due |
| 7 (10/7) | Russian Rev. part II |
| 8 (10/14) | No Class Tuesday (Fall Break) & Changing Politics |
| 9 (10/21) | Changing Society |
| Unit #3 | World War II |
| 10 (10/28) | Nazism and the Seeds of War |
| 11 (11/4) | War Begins |
| Nov. 7 | Unit 2 Quiz & Essay Due |
| 12 (11/11) | Total War |
| 13 (11/18) | Germany’s Allies |
| 14 (11/25) | The Final Solution & No Class Thursday (Thanksgiving) |
| 15 (12/2) | The End of the War |
| 16 (12/10) | Research Paper and Final Quiz Due Dec 10 |