“We used to think that revolutions are the cause of change. Actually it is the other way around: change prepares the ground for revolution.”

-Eric Hoffer

“Every Revolution was first a thought in one man’s mind, and when the same thought occurs to another man, it is the key to that era.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

PSCI 3062/ Revolution and Political Violence

Fall 2021

Instructor: Dr. Gregory D. Young

Office: Ketchum Hall, Room 212

Office Phone: (303) 492-4265

E-mail: gyoung@colorado.edu (Primary contact method)

Lecture Times: Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:35 – 10:50am in Hale Science 230

Syllabus: http://spot.colorado.edu/~gyoung/home/3062/3062_syl.htm

Office Hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays 1:00 - 2:00pm or Wednesday by appointment on Zoom

Teaching Assistant: Gustavo Perez

Office: Ketchum Hall, Room 411

E-mail: mailto:gupe2935@colorado.edu

Office Hours: Wednesdays 9:00am - 11:am & Thursdays 11:00am - 12:00pm or Friday by appointment on Zoom.

COURSE LINKS

· Thought Paper Question

· POD Assignments with Schedule for Reading Summaries & Current Event Presentations

· Power Point slides

· Link to Potential Midterm Questions

· Midterm Grading Statistical Summary

· Library Revolution Research Link

· Link to Final Exam Study Guide

Course Objectives and Description

The study of revolutions has always been part of the discipline of Comparative Politics and not International Relations. With the advent of “global jihad” advocated by radical Islamic terrorists and uprisings occurring across the Arab world in the “Arab Spring”, one could characterize revolution as now a world phenomenon. However, revolution has spread before in history, whether it was 1848 or 1968, unrest in one country against a government, spread to neighboring regimes. Globalization though has made many national ideas, issues and problems even more global. This course will study the classical theories of revolution and examine them through several national revolutionary case studies. The theories will then be applied to the contemporary transnational cases. Do the classical theories apply or does a new set of theories need to be generated? This course will examine two basic questions – Why revolutions happen? And why do they have the outcomes that they do?

Course Requirements

Required Reading

Gregory D. Young and Mateusz Leszczynski (2021), Revolution: Theorists, Theories, and Practice.

https://pressbooks.buffscreate.net/revolution/

There are no textbooks to purchase for this class. All course readings delineated in the course schedule are either from the above textbook or linked to this syllabus. The Open Access textbook for this course was created with a grant from OPEN CU in 2020.

READINGS AND CLASS PARTICIPATION

It is essential that students attend every class and be on time. Regular attendance and active participation in any class discussion will enhance your understanding of the course material and almost certainly improve your performance on the midterm exam, the two papers and on your final exam, which are together worth 85% of the course grade. Attendance is also a large portion of your 5% participation grade. More than five unexcused absences will result in a failing grade in the course. Notifying your instructor by email prior to class will constitute an excused absence. Send email absence notifications to gyoung@colorado.edu. In this fall term, the required readings are significant and range from 100 to 125 pages per week, as set out in the course schedule. Students should come to class having already completed (and thought carefully about) the assigned reading for each class period.

MIDTERM EXAM AND FINAL EXAM

The midterm exam will be held during normal class time on Tuesday, October 19^th. The exam will consist of several terms and one essay question. Students will write the exam in a BlueBook provided to the instructor in advance of the exam. The final exam will be Saturday, December 11^th (from 1:30-4:00pm). The question(s) for the final will be posted in the last week of class. The two exams are worth 50% of your final course grade.

READING SUMMARY & CURRENT EVENTS

By the end of the second day of class, all students will be assigned to PODs to complete reading summaries of the day’s assigned reading and present current events in the class for the same day. For each section of the reading, each POD of 2-3 Students will summarize all of the readings due in class that day. In a 1–2 page synopsis of each assigned article/chapter, the designated students will give an overview of the key points of the reading. The summary can either be in outline form or complete paragraphs. The summary should include an answer to the “so what? question, in other words, why should one read it when studying about war and peace. The Summary is due by midnight the day before that reading is discussed in class; the students will submit an electronic copy (email attachment in WORD) that the instructor will post on the web for the review of your classmates. The POD will briefly (5-10 minutes) present their summaries to the class.

      In addition, each POD will present a current event orally at the beginning of class each day. The presentation should be no more than five minutes in length. The source should be from a respected news source, be less than one week old and pertain in some way to issues related to war, peace or strategic defense. Each presenter should try to relate the article to some element of what we have been discussing in class. News reports on the Internet are acceptable sources. Presenters will pose a discussion question to the class at the end of their briefing. The POD will also submit an Ecopy of the current event article along with the reading summaries by midnight the night before. These Reading Summaries and the Current Event presentations are 10% of your final grade. Late Reading Summaries will be docked 10% per class day up to 50%. How the workload is distributed among POD members is up to the POD. All Pod members will receive the same grade. Each student in the POD will receive the same grade for this group project. However, each student will complete an evaluation of the other 1-2 students in their Pods on their participation.

WRITING ASSIGNMENT & RESEARCH PAPER

Thought Paper One: At the end of lecture on Tuesday, September 14^th, a thought question will be posed to the class and posted on the course web site. The question will relate to the topics in that week’s lectures. Students will write a two-page, single-spaced (Approximately 900-1000 words) response to the question to turn in the following Tuesday (21 Sept.) in class. An electronic copy in Word should be posted to course assignment box on CANVAS. Please include a word count on the first page. This paper should be properly documented and footnoted using the course readings. Papers will be graded 50% on content and 50% on grammar, punctuation and spelling. Late essays will be docked one grade per class day after the due date (e.g., A- to B-, C to D, etc.) up to 50%. The Electronic copies of this paper uploaded to CANVAS will be checked for plagiarism. This paper accounts for 10% of your final course grade. This shorter paper will allow you to get some feedback on your writing prior to undertaking the research paper.

Research Paper Two: Each student in the course will be required to complete a research essay that examines the theoretical origins of a revolution. This is a relatively short paper, so students must be concise. The paper will undertake an analysis of one historical revolution or civil war. The student will give a brief overview of the details of the revolt and then discuss the origin through the lens of at least three of the theories that we have examined in this class and discuss which best applies or which applies least and why. The ultimate question that each paper will answer is WHY the revolution situation occurred and why it did or did not succeed. Each student will choose a revolution from the following list to profile. Additional subjects may be added at the approval of the instructor. This second essay is due on Thursday December 2^nd. The essay will be uploaded to the assignment box on CANVAS. IT should be between 2200 and 2500 words in length (approximately 8 to 10 pages). Include a word count on the first page. Papers should be in 10-12 pitch in either Courier or Times Roman font. Late essays will be docked one grade per class day after the due date (e.g., A- to B-, C to D, etc.) up to 50%. Computer malfunction is not an acceptable excuse for an essay being late. Re-read your essay for clarity, grammar, spelling and punctuation, since poor execution of these elements will also affect your grade. Append a bibliography of all sources and provide footnotes where appropriate. The bibliography should not count towards the required word count. The essay will count 25% of your final grade.

List of Revolutions from which to choose

grading Criteria

Thought Paper 10%

Midterm Exam 25%

Research Paper 25%

Final Exam 25%

Reading Summaries & Current Events 10%

Attendance & Participation _______________ 5%

Total 100%

Final Course Grades will be curved unless a straight 90/80/70/60 etc… proves more beneficial to the students (higher overall grade average). If curved, the mean overall average will become the highest C+ grade, and two standard deviations below the mean will be necessary to fail the course. One standard deviation about the mean becomes the criteria for an A grade. The grading policy will be explained in detail on the first day of class.

Course Schedule Fall 2021

Day/Date	Topic	Assigned Reading due that day
Tues Aug 24	Course Administration	· None
Thur Aug 26	Course Introduction/Pod Assignment Writing in Political Science	· None
Tues Aug 31	Why did CU Rebel?	· Young & Leszczynski, Intro · Darnton, John (1972), “Antiwar Protests Erupt across U.S.”, New York Times, May 10, 1972 · Danish, Paul (2018), “Boulder Beat: Riot of 71”, Coloradan, Spring 2018 · Pettam, Sylvia (2009), “Anti-Vietnam War Activists Proposed Strike at CU”, Boulder Daily Camera, August 14, 2009
Thur Sep 2	Theories of Revolution: Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto Barrington Moore, Classical Modernization Theory	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 2 & 3
Tues Sep 7	Theories of Revolution: Chalmers Johnson, Revolutionary Change Crane Brinton, Anatomy of Revolution	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 4 & 9
Thur Sep 9	Theories of Revolution: James DeFronzo, Revolutions and Revolutionary Movements. Ted Gurr, Why Men Rebel	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 5 & 6
Tues Sep 14	Theories of Revolution: Charles Tilly, Europe in Revolutions: 1492-1992 Theda Skocpol, States and Social Revolutions, Thought Paper Assignment Posted	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 7 & 8
Thur Sep 16	The French Revolution	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 10
Tues Sep 21	The Russian Revolution(s) Trotsky’s theory of revolution Movie: The Russian Revolution Thought Paper Due	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 11
Thur Sep 23	Library Research Presentation	· None
Tues Sep 28	The NAZI Uprising Movie: The Rise of Adolf Hitler	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 12
Thur Sep 30	Counterinsurgency Theory & Strategy	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 13
Tues Oct 5	The Malay Insurgency	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 14
Thur Oct 7	The Vietnamese Revolution	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 15
Tues Oct 12	The Algerian Revolution	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 16
Thur Oct 14	Catch up and review for midterm	· None
Tues Oct 19	Midterm Examination	· Study
Thur Oct 21	The Bolivian Uprising	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 19
Tues Oct 26	The Cuban Revolution	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 21
Thur Oct 28	Che Guevara and the Guerilla Foco theory	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 20
Tues Nov 2	Go over Midterm Exam	· None
Thur Nov 4	Prague Spring & the Velvet Revolution: Czechoslovakia	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 17
Tues Nov 9	The Iranian Revolution and the Green Revolt	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 18
Thur Nov 11	Global Revolution: Arab Spring: (Part I)	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 22
Tues Nov 16	Global Revolution: Arab Spring: (Part II)	· None
Thur Nov 18	Ukraine Revolution & Russian Interventions	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 25
Tues Nov 23	Fall Break	· No Class
Thur Nov 25	Fall Break	· No Class
Tues Nov 30	An American Revolution? From the Left - The Anti Vietnam War movement, Occupy, Black Lives Matter Movement	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 23
Thur Dec 2	An American Revolution? (Part II) From the Right – The Alt-right, Neo Nazi & the white supremacists Research Paper Due	· Young & Leszczynski, Chap. 24
Tues Dec 7	Turkish Spring?	· The New York Times - The Green Roots of Turkey's Urban Unrest · Associated Press - Former Military Chief Gets Life Sentence in Turkey · The Huffington Post - Turkey Protests · International Herald Tribune - The Children of Taksim
Thur Dec 9	Some conclusions and Review for final examination	· Articles to be added.
Sat Dec 11	Final Examination (1:30-4:00pm)	Study, Study, & Study

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION:

Classroom Behavior

Both students and faculty are responsible for maintaining an appropriate learning environment in all instructional settings, whether in person, remote or online. Those who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with race, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, political affiliation, or political philosophy.  For more information, see the policies on classroom behavior and the Student Conduct & Conflict Resolution policies.

Requirements for COVID-19

As a matter of public health and safety due to the pandemic, all members of the CU Boulder community and all visitors to campus must follow university, department and building requirements and all public health orders in place to reduce the risk of spreading infectious disease. Students who fail to adhere to these requirements will be asked to leave class, and students who do not leave class when asked or who refuse to comply with these requirements will be referred to Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution. For more information, see the policy on classroom behavior and the Student Code of Conduct. If you require accommodation because a disability prevents you from fulfilling these safety measures, please follow the steps in the “Accommodation for Disabilities” statement on this syllabus.

As of Aug. 13, 2021, CU Boulder has returned to requiring masks in classrooms and laboratories regardless of vaccination status. This requirement is a temporary precaution during the delta surge to supplement CU Boulder’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement. Exemptions include individuals who cannot medically tolerate a face covering, as well as those who are hearing-impaired or otherwise disabled or who are communicating with someone who is hearing-impaired or otherwise disabled and where the ability to see the mouth is essential to communication. If you qualify for a mask-related accommodation, please follow the steps in the “Accommodation for Disabilities” statement on this syllabus. In addition, vaccinated instructional faculty who are engaged in an indoor instructional activity and are separated by at least 6 feet from the nearest person are exempt from wearing masks if they so choose. Students who have tested positive for COVID-19, have symptoms of COVID-19, or have had close contact with someone who has tested positive for or had symptoms of COVID-19 must stay home.

Accommodation for Disabilities

If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit your accommodation letter from Disability Services to your faculty member in a timely manner so that your needs can be addressed.  Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities in the academic environment.  Information on requesting accommodations is located on the Disability Services website. Contact Disability Services at 303-492-8671 or dsinfo@colorado.edu for further assistance.  If you have a temporary medical condition, see Temporary Medical Conditions on the Disability Services website.

Preferred Student Names and Pronouns

CU Boulder recognizes that students' legal information doesn't always align with how they identify. Students may update their preferred names and pronouns via the student portal; those preferred names and pronouns are listed on instructors' class rosters. In the absence of such updates, the name that appears on the class roster is the student's legal name.

Honor Code

All students enrolled in a University of Colorado Boulder course are responsible for knowing and adhering to the Honor Code academic integrity policy. Violations of the Honor Code may include, but are not limited to: plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, lying, bribery, threat, unauthorized access to academic materials, clicker fraud, submitting the same or similar work in more than one course without permission from all course instructors involved, and aiding academic dishonesty. All incidents of academic misconduct will be reported to the Honor Code (honor@colorado.edu); 303-492-5550). Students found responsible for violating the academic integrity policy will be subject to nonacademic sanctions from the Honor Code as well as academic sanctions from the faculty member. Additional information regarding the Honor Code academic integrity policy can be found on the Honor Code website.

The development of the Internet has provided students with historically unparalleled opportunities for conducting research swiftly and comprehensively. The availability of these materials does not, however, release the student from appropriately citing sources where appropriate; or applying standard rules associated with avoiding plagiarism. Specifically, the instructor will be expecting to review papers written by students drawing ideas and information from various sources (cited appropriately), presented generally in the student’s words after careful analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. An assembly of huge blocks of other individuals' existing material, even when cited, does not constitute an appropriate representation of this expectation. Uncited, plagiarized material shall be treated as academically dishonest, and the paper will be assigned an ‘F’ as a result.  Papers submitted by any student, written in part or in whole by someone other than that student, shall be considered to constitute fraud under the University Honor Code, and result in the assignment of an 'F' for the entire course. If the student is confused as to what constitutes plagiarism, he/she should review the CU Honor Code on this topic. If you have any questions regarding proper documentation in your writing, please discuss it with your instructor.

Sexual Misconduct, Discrimination, Harassment and/or Related Retaliation

The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) is committed to fostering an inclusive and welcoming learning, working, and living environment. CU Boulder will not tolerate acts of sexual misconduct (harassment, exploitation, and assault), intimate partner violence (dating or domestic violence), stalking, or protected-class discrimination or harassment by or against members of our community. Individuals who believe they have been subject to misconduct or retaliatory actions for reporting a concern should contact the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) at 303-492-2127 or email cureport@colorado.edu. Information about OIEC, university policies, reporting options, and the campus resources can be found on the OIEC website.

Please know that faculty and graduate instructors have a responsibility to inform OIEC when made aware of incidents of sexual misconduct, dating and domestic violence, stalking, discrimination, harassment and/or related retaliation, to ensure that individuals impacted receive information about their rights, support resources, and reporting options.

Religious Holidays

Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to deal reasonably and fairly with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or required attendance.  In this class, all absences are excused merely by notifying your instructor in advance. 

Cell Phone and Computer Policy

Needless to say, all cellular phones must be turned off and put away at the beginning of each class meeting. Classes failing to comply will be issued a stern warning on the first occasion. The entire class will have a pop quiz over the previous reading assignments/lectures on the second and subsequent occurrences. Phones, Laptops, tablets, MP3 players etc. will not be out on desks or used during any quiz or examination.

Laptop computers have been allowed in my classes for the 20 years that I have been teaching at CU, beginning this semester however they will not be allowed to be out or open in class. I still believe that they can assist learning in the classroom, but significant new research shows that taking notes by hand increases learning. Also, a new study shows that laptops open and displaying non-class materiel are distracting not only to the user, but the students in view of the laptop and inhibit learning. Students can apply for exceptions for reason of disability or a proven track record of in class note-taking on the computer. Here is a link to an article about laptop impact on education: “Laptops Are Great. But Not During a Lecture or a Meeting”, New York Times Op Ed, By SUSAN DYNARSKI NOV. 22, 2017

Please arrive on time and do not leave early. If you absolutely must leave early, please let me know at the beginning of class and sit near a door so you do not cause too much disruption. Similarly, if arriving late, please take a seat as quickly and quietly as possible. Take care of all your business before class begins; do not leave and return during class as this creates a disturbance to others.

Taking this course signifies acceptance of the terms and conditions stated in this syllabus.