220.097 (20W) The Modern American Presidency: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 2020 Race

Wintersemester 2020/21

Registration deadline has expired.

First course session
06.10.2020 12:00 - 14:00 HS 3 On Campus
... no further dates known

Overview

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be necessary to make changes to courses and examinations at short notice (e.g. cancellation of attendance-based courses and switching to online examinations).

For further information regarding teaching on campus, please visit: https://www.aau.at/en/corona.
Lecturer
LV Nummer Südostverbund GSL01001UL, GSL02001UL
Course title german The Modern American Presidency: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 2020 Race
Type Course (continuous assessment course )
Course model Blended learning course
Online proportion 50%
Hours per Week 2.0
ECTS credits 3.0
Registrations 16 (25 max.)
Organisational unit
Language of instruction English
Course begins on 06.10.2020
eLearning Go to Moodle course
Seniorstudium Liberale Yes

Time and place

Please note that the currently displayed dates may be subject to change due to COVID-19 measures.
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Course Information

Intended learning outcomes

Students will walk away from the class having (co)developed a firm understanding of the historical, political, and constitutional contexts that have shaped the Modern American Presidency with an added view to appreciating its global relevance and effects.

By engaging with primary "presidential documents" (e.g. the US Constitution, the Federalist papers, policy documents, inaugural addresses, State of the Union speeches, and more), students will be challenged to (re)develop, (re)evaluate, and subsequently practice competences needed to maintain high levels of both historical as well as historiographic literacy. Since the "modern presidency" stands in an indispensable, reciprocal relationship with modern (news) media, students will also put critical media literacy skills into practice.

Teaching methodology including the use of eLearning tools

Cast in presidential rhetoric: ASK NOT WHAT THIS COURSE CAN DO FOR YOU; ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THIS COURSE.

Course mode: mini-lecture input, self-directed library research, group discussions, interpretative activities, peer-led/hosted/organized talks, close readings and critical contextualization of primary sources, work on Moodle, extracurricular events, etc.

Be prepared to critically formulate, present & discuss your own (!) thoughts on the topics/texts covered in class since a large part of this class will depend on your concerted input. This class is an interactive and peer-created course and thus students will be expected to engage in self-directed research and to take responsibility for guiding their peers through historical documents. All of the material you will need to get you started will be provided in digital form.

Course content

Historically, the Office of the President of the United States of America has not only been understood in terms of crises but perhaps, more importantly, it is also defined as perpetual crisis. This is somewhat unsurprising given the fact that the executive was created by a constitutional act designed to separate powers in order to actually unify a nation. Contrary to popular belief, American presidents did not always enjoy wielding those sweeping powers ascribed to them in the "modern" permutation of the office.

Set against the backdrop of the 2020 presidential race, our class will be dedicated to understanding both the origins and the workings of the "modern presidency," its development over the course of the 20th and early 21st century, and its indelible global impact which continues to affect our everyday lives (whether we’d like to acknowledge it or not). Following the failure of President Woodrow Wilson to create a new world order in the wake of World War I, the three Republican administrations following him combined with ecological disasters, such as the Dust Bowl, the onset of the Great Depression, and the United States’ gradual entrance into World War II created an environment of supercharged crisis conditions which were favorable to initiate the exponential growth and power accumulation of the executive branch; it is a process that has yet to produce a radical shift.

Both popular (mis)conceptions about the American presidency and the tangible socio-economic/socio-political effects the decisions of American presidents have on a global scale call for a firm understanding of the historical and constitutional realities undergirding the "most powerful office on Earth," especially in an election year.

Topics include but are not limited to:
* Imagining the presidency
* The president as a national symbol/presidents and national fatherhood
* Constitutional origins and powers of the presidency
* The cult of the presidency and the discourse of the presidency (special focus: inaugural addresses and state of the union speeches)
* What is "modern" about the modern presidency?
* The modern presidency as molded by the media
* The modern presidency as molded by campaigns and elections
* “[R]emember the ladies”: First Ladies
* “[T]he most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived”: The Vice Presidency
* Campaigning, would-have-beens, running mates
* White House staff and organization, structure and organization of the executive branch

Curricular registration requirements

THIS CLASS IS OPEN TO EVERYONE; should registration numbers exceed the maximum seats available, there will be a selection process based on the following categories:

  1. Undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at the Department of History
  2. Undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in various programs at the School of Humanities (KUWI) that have a particular focus on cultural history, cultural studies, and media studies
  3. Incoming international students of all backgrounds and disciplines
  4. Resident international students

Literature

Primary
Binkley, Wilfred. 2009. The Man in the White House: His Powers and Duties. The Johns Hopkins Univ. Press.
Dinunzio, Mario R. 2011. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Third American Revolution. Praeger.
Frantzich, Stephen E. 2018. Presidents in the Media: The Communicator in Chief. Routledge.
Gormley, Ken. 2016. The Presidents and the Constitution: A Living History. New York Univ. Press.
Jones, Charles O. 2016. The American Presidency: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford Univ. Press.
Milkis, Sidney and Michael Nelson. 2012. The American Presidency: Origins & Development, 1776-2011. Sage.
Newton Lott, Davis. 1994. The Presidents Speak: The Inaugural Addresses of the American Presidents, from Washington to Clinton. Henry Holt and Company.
Piffner, James P. 2010. The Modern Presidency, 6th ed. Wadsworth Publishing.

Secondary
Dietrich, John W. ed. 2005. The George W. Bush Foreign Policy Reader: Presidential Speeches with Commentary. Routledge.
Freedman, Lawrence. 2000. Kennedy’s Wars: Berlin, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam. Oxford University Press.
Kowalski, Jeremy. ed. 2019. Reading Donald Trump: A Parallax View of the Campaign and Early Presidency. Palgrave.
Leffler, Melvyn. 2017. Safeguarding Democratic Capitalism: U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security, 1920-2015. Princeton University Press.
Leuchtenburg, William. 2015. The American President: From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton. Oxford University Press.
McDowell, Gary L. 2010. The Language of Law and the Foundations of American Constitutionalism. Cambridge University Press.
Olivia, Mara and Mark Shanahan. eds. 2019. The Trump Presidency: From Campaign Trail to World Stage. Palgrave.
Polsby, Nelson W. et al. 2015. Presidential Elections: Strategies and Structures of American Politics. Rowman & Littlefield.
Powaski, Ronald. 2017. American Presidential Statecraft During the Cold War and After. Palgrave.

A comprehensive transmedial bibliography, which includes titles that are all available either in our library, via the class lecturer, or on the internet, will be provided on Moodle. Making use of these resources will be part of the graded performance (e.g. explicator talks, etc).

EVERY student is directed & required to obtain and read texts (primary & secondary) which are tied to individual assignments in order to successfully participate in the class. All texts that are tied to graded assignments will be provided in digital form. Other course material (slideshows, reading assignments, other relevant material etc.) will also be made available in digital form on Moodle.

Examination information

Im Fall von online durchgeführten Prüfungen sind die Standards zu beachten, die die technischen Geräte der Studierenden erfüllen müssen, um an diesen Prüfungen teilnehmen zu können.

Examination methodology

IN-CLASS:
1) Attendance/participation/reading assignments/work on Moodle,
2) Weekly "News Watch",
3) "Elections Explicator"-talks,
4) A "The presidents in context"-talk, OR: a "In their own words"-talk

WRITTEN:
5) A bibliographic essay

Examination topic(s)

You will need to achieve a positive grade in ALL pillars of assessment (parts 1-5) in order to receive a passing grade for the class ("sudden death-rule").

Sign up for assignments will be conducted via Moodle (first-come, first-served).

Assessment criteria / Standards of assessment for examinations

All written assignments MUST be submitted via Moodle before the given deadlines.

Late submissions of ANY assignments that have a deadline attached to them will generally NOT be accepted once the deadline has passed.

Any case of plagiarism will inevitably lead to immediate expulsion from the class.

Grading scheme

Grade / Grade grading scheme

Position in the curriculum

  • Bachelor-Lehramtsstudium Bachelor Unterrichtsfach Geschichte, Sozialkunde und Politische Bildung (SKZ: 411, Version: 15W.2)
    • Subject: Geschichte der Politik, der Staaten und Regionen (Compulsory elective)
      • GSL.001 Lehrveranstaltung zu Geschichte der Politik, der Staaten und Regionen 1 ( 2.0h VO, KS / 2.5 ECTS)
        • 220.097 The Modern American Presidency: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 2020 Race (2.0h KS / 2.5 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 5., 6., 7., 8. Semester empfohlen
  • Bachelor-Lehramtsstudium Bachelor Unterrichtsfach Geschichte, Sozialkunde und Politische Bildung (SKZ: 411, Version: 15W.2)
    • Subject: Geschichte der Politik, der Staaten und Regionen (Compulsory elective)
      • GSL.002 Lehrveranstaltung zu Geschichte der Politik, der Staaten und Regionen 2 ( 2.0h VO, KS, VU / 2.5 ECTS)
        • 220.097 The Modern American Presidency: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 2020 Race (2.0h KS / 2.5 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 5., 6., 7., 8. Semester empfohlen
  • Bachelor-Lehramtsstudium Bachelor Unterrichtsfach Geschichte, Sozialkunde und Politische Bildung (SKZ: 411, Version: 17W.2)
    • Subject: Geschichte der Politik, der Staaten und Regionen (Compulsory elective)
      • GSL.001 Lehrveranstaltung zu Geschichte der Politik, der Staaten und Regionen 1 ( 2.0h VO, KS / 2.5 ECTS)
        • 220.097 The Modern American Presidency: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 2020 Race (2.0h KS / 2.5 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 5., 6., 7., 8. Semester empfohlen
  • Bachelor-Lehramtsstudium Bachelor Unterrichtsfach Geschichte, Sozialkunde und Politische Bildung (SKZ: 411, Version: 17W.2)
    • Subject: Geschichte der Politik, der Staaten und Regionen (Compulsory elective)
      • GSL.002 Lehrveranstaltung zu Geschichte der Politik, der Staaten und Regionen 2 ( 2.0h VO, KS, VU / 2.5 ECTS)
        • 220.097 The Modern American Presidency: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 2020 Race (2.0h KS / 2.5 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 5., 6., 7., 8. Semester empfohlen
  • Bachelor-Lehramtsstudium Bachelor Unterrichtsfach Geschichte, Sozialkunde und Politische Bildung (SKZ: 411, Version: 19W.2)
    • Subject: Geschichte der Politik, der Staaten und Regionen (Compulsory elective)
      • GSL.001 Lehrveranstaltung zu Geschichte der Politik, der Staaten und Regionen 1 ( 2.0h VO, KS / 2.5 ECTS)
        • 220.097 The Modern American Presidency: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 2020 Race (2.0h KS / 2.5 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 5., 6., 7., 8. Semester empfohlen
  • Bachelor-Lehramtsstudium Bachelor Unterrichtsfach Geschichte, Sozialkunde und Politische Bildung (SKZ: 411, Version: 19W.2)
    • Subject: Geschichte der Politik, der Staaten und Regionen (Compulsory elective)
      • GSL.002 Lehrveranstaltung zu Geschichte der Politik, der Staaten und Regionen 2 ( 2.0h VO, KS, VU / 2.5 ECTS)
        • 220.097 The Modern American Presidency: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 2020 Race (2.0h KS / 2.5 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 5., 6., 7., 8. Semester empfohlen
  • Besonderer Studienbereich Besonderer Studienbereich Friedensstudien (SKZ: 900, Version: 05S)
    • Subject: Erweiterungsbereich (Optional subject)
      • Additional Courses from other Curricula ( 0.0h / 0.0 ECTS)
        • 220.097 The Modern American Presidency: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 2020 Race (2.0h KS / 3.0 ECTS)
  • Bachelor's degree programme History (SKZ: 603, Version: 11W.1)
    • Subject: Vertiefungsfach 1 (Epoche) (Compulsory subject)
      • Module: Zeitgeschichte
        • Eine weitere vertiefende Lehrveranstaltung (Zeitgeschichte) ( 2.0h VO/KU / 3.0 ECTS)
          • 220.097 The Modern American Presidency: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 2020 Race (2.0h KS / 3.0 ECTS)
            Absolvierung im 4., 5., 6. Semester empfohlen
  • Bachelor's degree programme History (SKZ: 603, Version: 11W.1)
    • Subject: Vertiefungsfach 2 (weiteres Fach) (Compulsory subject)
      • Eine weitere vertiefende Lehrveranstaltung ( 2.0h VO/KU / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 220.097 The Modern American Presidency: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 2020 Race (2.0h KS / 3.0 ECTS)
  • Bachelor's degree programme History (SKZ: 603, Version: 11W.1)
    • Subject: Gebundenen Wahlfächer (Compulsory elective)
      • Gebundenen Wahlfächer ( 0.0h LV / 36.0 ECTS)
        • 220.097 The Modern American Presidency: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 2020 Race (2.0h KS / 3.0 ECTS)
  • Master's degree programme History (SKZ: 803, Version: 11W.1)
    • Subject: Vertiefungsfach 1 (Compulsory subject)
      • Eine weitere vertiefende Lehrveranstaltung ( 2.0h VO/KU / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 220.097 The Modern American Presidency: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 2020 Race (2.0h KS / 3.0 ECTS)
  • Master's degree programme History (SKZ: 803, Version: 11W.1)
    • Subject: Vertiefungsfach 2 (Compulsory subject)
      • Eine weitere vertiefende Lehrveranstaltung ( 2.0h VO/KU / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 220.097 The Modern American Presidency: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 2020 Race (2.0h KS / 3.0 ECTS)
  • Master's degree programme History (SKZ: 803, Version: 11W.1)
    • Subject: Gebundene Wahlfächer (Compulsory elective)
      • Gebundene Wahlfächer ( 0.0h LV / 29.0 ECTS)
        • 220.097 The Modern American Presidency: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 2020 Race (2.0h KS / 3.0 ECTS)
  • Master's degree programme Media and Convergence Management (SKZ: 150, Version: 13W.2)
    • Subject: Electives II (Compulsory elective)
      • Electives II ( 0.0h XX / 8.0 ECTS)
        • 220.097 The Modern American Presidency: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 2020 Race (2.0h KS / 3.0 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 3. Semester empfohlen

Equivalent courses for counting the examination attempts

There is no equivalent course for the purpose of counting examination attempts.