HIHU 6314

The Culture of Colonialism

Professor Natalie Ring

Phone: 883-2365
Email: nring@utdallas.edu
Office: JO 5.610
Office Hours: Thursdays, 4 - 5:30 p.m. or by appointment

This course will explore the nature of western colonialism and imperialism in the past two
centuries focusing in particular on the question of culture. We will keep several broad questions
in mind when reviewing this literature. What is colonial rule? What is imperialism? What does
it mean to speak of culture under the conditions of colonial rule? How are questions about race,
gender, identity, tradition, and modernity raised by Western encounters with non-Western or not
quite Westernized peoples?

Readings:

The following books can be purchased at Off Campus Books.

David Arnold, Colonizing the Body: State Medicine and Epidemic Disease in Nineteeth-Century
India
Mary Renda, Taking Haiti: Military Occupation and the Culture of U.S. Imperialism
Edward Said, Orientalism
Ann Laura Stoler, Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power: Race and the Intimate in Colonial
Rule
Laura Wexler, Tender Violence: Domestic Vision in an Age of U.S. Imperialism
Course reader (see syllabus – articles are noted with a *)

Class Attendance and Participation: The success of this seminar depends on your regular
attendance and active participation. If you feel you cannot make a commitment to attend this
seminar every meeting then please drop the class. Since we meet twice a week for only six
weeks the pace of the course will be much quicker than usual and you cannot afford to miss a
meeting. Moreover, we are here to exchange ideas and learn from each other; thus lack of
attendance or participation hurts the entire class. Your participation grade will be based on your
presence in class, your contributions to weekly discussions and on your ability to listen to the
contributions of your colleagues.

Seminar Facilitation: During the course of the semester, you will facilitate the discussion for
one session. Depending on the number of students registered for the course you may have to do
this in conjunction with someone else (in this instance you will each receive an independent
grade). You are advised to give a brief introduction to the material (10-15 mins.) and create
discussion questions for the class, all of which you will turn into the professor at the conclusion
of the class.
Book Review: You will choose one of the following books from the syllabus listed below.

Mary Renda, Taking Haiti

David Arnold, Colonizing the Body
Ann Laura Stoler, Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power
Laura Wexler, Tender Violence

Write a 1000 word book review, and turn it in before we discuss the book in class. The book you
choose must not be the same book you facilitate the seminar for. The book review should meet
the following requirements:

• The review must be publisher-ready.

• It must be crafted for a specific journal (which you should note when you turn it in)
• It must place the book within the context of a larger body of literature.

Plan ahead wisely because once we have discussed the book you may no longer review it.

Annotated Bibliography: You will submit a 12-15 page annotated bibliography on a particular
subtopic in the history of colonialism and imperialism (your subtopic could be thematic, a time
period, or a specific research project). For example, you might focus on the history of U.S.
imperialism in the Philippines, colonialism and women, or Sub-Saharan African colonialism.
The bibliography should have a clear title outlining the subtopic. A bibliography of disparate
sources with no apparent connection will not warrant a high grade.

What is an annotated bibliography? An annotated bibliography is a list of citations of primary

documents and/or books and articles (secondary sources) in which each entry is followed by a
200-250 word descriptive paragraph. The descriptive paragraph (or annotation) should be
evaluative. The annotation is designed to inform the reader of the author’s point of view and
larger argument. In other words, an annotation is not merely a summary of the book or
document in question. This task entails analytical thinking, thorough library research, and the
ability to write a concise exposition of the source in question. Unfortunately, the UTD library
collection is incomplete, particularly with regard to arts and humanities literature. Therefore, it
alone will not be adequate. I suggest that you visit the SMU library for this assignment. If you
are unfamiliar with annotated bibliographies please consult examples in the reference section of
the library.

Grading Breakdown:

Attendance and participation 20%

Seminar Facilitation 20%
Book Review 20%
Annotated Bibliography 40%

Incompletes and Extensions: The general rule is do not ask for a one unless you have suffered
from serious illness or acute personal crises, such as the death of a relative. Please inform the
professor as soon as you are aware of a problem. Late work will be heavily penalized (1/3 letter
grade per day, weekends included). In order to obtain an incomplete you must have completed
70% of the coursework and must have a reasonable expectation of completing the course in the
specified time period. Failure to complete the course on the time specified will result in the
conversion of the incomplete to an F.

Academic Integrity Policy: Academic dishonesty of any kind on any assignment will not be
tolerated. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarism, collusion, and falsifying academic
records. For more information on what constitutes plagiarism or cheating and the repercussions
of doing so please see http://www.utdallas.edu/student/slife/dishonesty.html

Reading Schedule:

June 23: Course introduction

June 28: Colonialism and Imperialism in Theory

Nicholas Dirks, “Introduction: Colonialism and Culture”*

Ann Laura Stoler and Frederick Cooper, “Between Metropole and Colony: Rethinking a
Research Agenda”*
Homi Babhba, “Of Mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of Colonial Discourse”*
Patrick Wolfe, “History and Imperialism”*
Amy Kaplan, “Left Alone with America: The Absence of Empire in the Study of American
Empire”*
Donald E. Pease, “New Perspectives on U. S. Culture and Imperialism”*
Patrick Wolfe, “History and Imperialism: A Century of Theory from Marx to Postcolonialism”*

June 30: Orientalism and the “Other” (I)

Edward Said, Orientalism, pp. 1-197

Homi Babhba, “The Other Question: Stereotype, Discrimination and the Discourse of
Colonialism”*

July 5: Orientalism and the “Other” (II)

Edward Said, Orientalism, pp. 201-352

Nicholas Dirks, “Orientalism and the Exhibitionary Order”*

July 7:

Scheduled meetings with professor during class to discuss bibliography project

July 12: Paternalism and Colonial Power

Mary Renda, Taking Haiti

Matthew Jacobson, “Children of Barbarism: Republican Imperatives and Imperial Wards”*
July 14: Colonialism and the Intimate

Empires and Intimacies: Lessons from (Post) Colonial Studies: A Round Table
Ann Laura Stoler, “Tense and Tender Ties”*
Ramón A. Gutiérrez, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”
Lori D. Gizberg, “Global Goals, Local Acts”
Dirk Hoerder, “How the Intimate Lives of Subaltern Men, Women, and Children Confound the
Nation’s Master Narratives”
Mary A. Renda, “‘Sentiments of a Private Nature’”
Robert J. McMahon, “Cultures of Empire”
Ann Laura Stoler, “Matters of Intimacy as Matters of State:”

July 19: Colonialism, Domesticity and Gender

Ann Laura Stoler, Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power

Vince Rafael, “Colonial Domesticity”*
Amy Kaplan, “Manifest Domesticity”*

July 21: Colonialism, Culture and Visual Image

Laura Wexler, Tender Violence

Vince Rafael, “White Love: Surveillance and Nationalist Resistance in the U.S. Colonization of
the Philippines”

July 26: Empire and Race

Paul Kramer, “Empires, Exceptions, and Anglo-Saxons”*

Paul Kramer, “Making Concessions: Race and Empire Revisited at the Philippine Exposition, St.
Louis, 1901-5”*
Amy Kaplan, “Black and Blue on San Juan Hill”*
Kevin Gaines, “Black Americans’ Racial Uplift Ideology as ‘Civilizing Mission’”*
Gerald Horne, “Race from Power: U. S. Foreign Policy and the General Crisis of ‘White
Supremacy’”*

July 28: Colonialism and the Body

David Arnold, Colonizing the Body

Warwick Anderson, “Excremental Colonialism”*