Note: A placement exam will be required when you arrive on site.

Advanced

This course is designed for students who have completed or tested out of a minimum of four semesters (or six quarters) of college-level Spanish. However, students must take a placement exam to determine the course level into which they will be able to enroll.

The objective of this course is to examine first, the tensions which arose between the states on both sides of the Atlantic following the defeat of Germany in 1945; and secondly its transformation into economic, political and military cooperation. This cooperation has assured the stability of liberal democracies and consolidates the dependence of the Old Continent on a strengthened United States.

The course will give the student a general understanding of the relations between America and Europe from the end of World War II to today. In order to achieve this, it will be necessary to contextualize the cause of the bi-polar world order created by World War II, known as the Cold War. We will analyze the foreign diplomacy of America and its results Western Europe and Latin America.

CLASS FORMAT
Class participation in the discussions of the key questions of each theme is highly valued. When possible, audiovisual material will be implemented to illustrate the distinctive historical periods that are studied. Students will write papers relating to the historical questions that the professor will discuss and the text. Each paper will not be longer than 2-3 pages. Due dates will be announced in class, along with an explanation of the assignment, giving the student sufficient time to complete the work.

EVALUATION
Oral participation is very important, and every student should actively participate in class. Participation will be noted on a daily basis, and will take into account the participation, initiative, and creativity during classroom assignments.
The final evaluation will consist of the following aspects:
Participation: 20%
Papers: 40%
Final Exam: 40%

TEXTS
- Díez Espinosa, J.R. (et al.) (2000), Historia del Mundo Actual (desde 1945 hasta nuestros días). Universidad de Valladolid. Valladolid.
- Martínez Carreras, J.R. (1996), Historia del Mundo Actual. Marcial Pons. Madrid.
- Pereira Castañares, J.C. y Martínez Lillo, P.A. (1995), Documentos básicos sobre historia de las relaciones internacionales (1815-1991). Edit. Complutense. Madrid.
- Zorgbibe, Ch.(1997), Historia de las relaciones internacionales. Vol II. Del sistema de Yalta a nuestros días. Alianza. Madrid.

AGENDA
Introduction
Topic 1: International Relations as a topic of study in Contemporary History. Transatlantic relations after World War II.
Topic 2: The Second World War and its consequences.
Topic 3: The new post-war international order. The Cold War and the new spheres of influences
Topic 4: Transatlantic relations. Instruments of the Capitalist western block.
Topic 5: The United State, Europe, and Latin America. The foreign diplomacy of North America.
Topic 6: The economic growth and the Western state of wellbeing.
Topic 7: The constitutional Pact of the postwar period.
Topic 8: “Fordism”: innovation, technology, and mass consumption
Topic 9: The consolidation of democratic regimes.
Topic 10: The new social movements
Topic 11: Post-industrial society in the west, the process of globalization.