We have a course here on the books at the University of Florida, though
other priorities have kept me from teaching it in the last few years.
Below is the syllabus, though this would need to be updated.   I will
probably offer it again in the Spring Semester 2000.  Sorry, but most of the
formatting gets lost when I paste things in from Microsoft Word.
Best wishes,
Geoffrey Giles



Fall Semester 1993
Professor Geoffrey j. Giles
IDH 2931 Section 7210

ALCOHOL IN HISTORY

Alcohol is the western world's most widely-used drug.  The goal of this
seminar is to explore the role it has played historically in politics,
society and the economy.  The course will have a broad, comparative scope
that will seek to establish common historical patterns in a number of countries.
In early sessions, students will be introduced to the relatively new field
of the "social history of alcohol", and will be given some instruction more
broadly in the rudiments of critical historical methods.  Throughout the
course there will be in-depth discussions of the assigned readings, and each
student will eventually discuss his/her research with the class.

Assignments
Grading will be based on the following:
Four 600-word reaction papers to specified books (30% of final grade); an
essay examination (30%); a 5,000-word, major research paper, using as far as
possible primary sources (e.g. parliamentary debates on prohibition,
temperance pamphlets) as well as scholarly, secondary literature (40%) [DUE
30 NOVEMBER].
Please note that a make-up examination is ONLY ever granted by PRIOR
agreement with me BEFORE the exam takes place, in cases of documented
medical or other emergency.
Attendance at all sessions is mandatory.  Please keep in mind the university
guidelines on academic dishonesty, especially plagiarism, so that you do not
unintentionally commit a breach of conduct in your writing.

Readings
Susanna Barrows &
Robin Room (Eds.)       Drinking: Behavior and Belief in Modern History.
Jack S.Blocker, American Temperance Movements. Cycles of Reform.
Joseph R. Gusfield,     The Culture of Public Problems: Drinking Driving and the
Symbolic Order
W.J. Rorabaugh,         The Alcoholic Republic.
Boris M. Segal,         Russian Drinking. Use and Abuse of Alcohol in
Pre-Revolutionary Russia.
Harry Gene Levine,      "The Discovery of Addiction. Changing Conceptions of
Habitual Drunkenness in
America," Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 39, 1, 1978, pp. 143-174

Recommended reading:
Mass-Observation,       The Pub and the People. A Worktown Study.
Geoffrey J. Giles       "Temperance before the temperance movements," History of
Education, 20,4, 1991, pp. 295-305

Course Outline
Aug     24      Introduction - the social history of alcohol
        26      Alcohol - what is it? / History - how do you do it?
        31      Using historical sources        [MEET IN FOYER OF LIBRARY WEST]
Sept     2      Writing book reviews /  Russian temperance posters
         7      Ancient and medieval drinking customs
         9      Alcoholism - do we know what it is?
        14      The English alehouse from 1200 to the present
        16      Research into SHA
                   21   Temperance before the temperance movements
        23      The alcoholic republic (Rorabaugh)      [BOOK REPORT DUE]
        28      Temperance in 19th-century children's literature
        30      The construction of a problem (Gusfield)        [BOOK REPORT]
Oct      5      The invention of addiction? (discussion of Levine)
         7      Research into SHA
        12      Problems with public statistics on private drinking
        14      American temperance movements (Blocker) [BOOK REPORT]
        19      The many worlds of drink (Barrows/Room Pt. 1)
        21      ESSAY EXAMINATION
        26      Hamburg's taverns and the historian
        28      Politics, ideology and power (Barrows/Room Pt. 2)
Nov             2       Drink and Russia (Segal)        [BOOK REPORT]
         4      Inebriate, expert and state (Barrows/Room Pt. 3)
         9      Perspectives on drinking and social history (B/R Pt.4)
        11      NO CLASS - VETERANS' DAY
                   16   Research reports and discussion
        18      Research reports and discussion
        23      Research reports and discussion
        25      NO CLASS - THANKSGIVING DAY
        30      Adulteration of drink   [RESEARCH PAPER DUE]
Dec              2      Research into SHA
         7      Drunkenness, class and the law
         9      Concluding discussion: will alcohol ever be fully accepted? What are the
best strategies                                         for moderation?



Professor Geoffrey J. Giles
Undergraduate Coordinator
Department of History, PO Box 117320
University of Florida
Gainesville FL 32611-7320

Office phone: (352)-392-0271
Home phone: (352)-375-3587
Home fax: (352)-379-0935
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Home page: www.clas.ufl.edu/users/ggiles