Summer Institutes
The U.S. and the World: Expressions of Power, Past and Present
Online orientation dates: Approximately 6 hours, completed between June 4 and June 29
Course dates: July 9-13, 2012
Course time: 8:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Location: Reading High School (Reading, Massachusetts)
Follow-up session: October 2, 2012, 4:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
PDPs offered: 67.5
Graduate credits offered: 3
Fee: No fee
What constitutes power on an international stage? How is power extended and maintained, how is it challenged, and what erodes it? With an emphasis on 1898 to the present, this course will examine America's rise to world power, looking beyond war making and formal diplomacy to the broader cultural, political, and economic dimensions of foreign relations. Exporting consumer goods and political ideals, "winning hearts and minds" through foreign aid, waging "wars" on poverty, terrorism and drugs, and protecting American prestige and influence have all been expressions of U.S. power abroad. We'll investigate how these themes played out in particular regions (for example, Mexico and the Caribbean; the Middle East), looking back to earlier historical precedents and forward to present situations. Finally, we'll ask if the U.S. is in decline as a world power today, and consider whether our current global commitments are an extension of or a departure from historical trends.
Recommended for educators of grades 6-12
Open only to teachers in the "History Connected" Teaching American History grant (Danvers, Dracut, Haverhill, Lowell, North Reading, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield, & Wilmington Public Schools).
