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Course Requirements:
Students are expected to attend lectures twice a week; to read the weekly
assignments; and to meet in sections once a week to discuss both the lectures
and the readings. Each student will also be asked to write two papers
(see assignments below); to take a midterm examination in class on March
4; and to take a final examination in exam period. Papers, exams,
and section participation will each constitute one-third of the grade for
the course. Papers will be evaluated for both content (evidence and
argument) and style of presentation. Writing style is less important,
of course, on exams, but both argument and evidence are critical there
as well. Section participation will be measured by a combination
of attendance, preparation, and participation. Students who do not
attend sections will, needless to say, have no opportunity to be evaluated
for the other elements.
This syllabus, along with other information about this course, will
be available on the History W3651 home page, which you can access through
the history department website on the Columbia web (www.columbia.edu/cu/history).
Reading Assignments: Specific
assignments for discussion sections are noted in the schedule beginning
on page 2. All readings are available for purchase at Labyrinth Books
(536 West 112th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam) and on reserve
at Butler. Paper assignments will be distributed separately.
The following assignments should be completed before the midterm examination:
Elaine Tyler May, Homeward Bound, chapters 1, 3-7
George F. Kennan, Memoirs, 1925-1950, pp. 3-23, 199-215,
239-297, 313-367
Ellen Schrecker, The Age of McCarthyism, Part One, Part Two
(Sections 4, 5, 7, 13-18, 22)
Kenneth T. Jackson, The Crabgrass Frontier, chapters 13-16
Nicholas Lemann, The Promised Land, pp. 3-221
William Chafe, Civilities and Civil Rights, Introduction,
Part I
Martin Luther King, Jr., Why We Can't Wait, Chapters 1, 5
The following assignments should be completed by the end of the term:
Carl Husemoller Nightingale, On the Edge, Part I
Tom Wolfe, Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers,
pp. 3-94
Larry Berman, Planning a Tragedy, chapters 4-5
Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried,, 1-32,
41-64, 99-126, 137-150, 183-199
David Farber, ed., The Sixties, pp. 149-316
Jonathan Schell, The Time of Illusion, pp. 1-38, 52-103,
137-170, 201-230, 257-387
Kristin Luker, Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood,
Chapters 1, 5-9
E. J. Dionne, Why Americans Hate Politics, Chapters 2, 3, 5
and
Part Two
Course Schedule:
Week of January 19:
W: Legacies of World War II
ASSIGNMENT: Elaine Tyler May, Homeward Bound, chapters
1, 3-7
Week of January 26:
M: Origins of the Cold War
W: The Korean War and the Politics of Anti-Communism
ASSIGNMENT: George F. Kennan, Memoirs, 1925-1950, pp. 3-23,
199-215, 239-297, 313-367
Week of February 2:
M: The Great Fear
W: Harry Truman and the Post-New Deal Order
SECTION: Ellen Schrecker, The Age of McCarthyism, Part One,
Part Two (Sections 4, 5, 7, 13-18, 22)
FIRST PAPER DUE IN SECTIONS THIS WEEK
Week of February 9:
M: The Impact of Abundance
W: The Cultures of the 1950s
SECTION: Kenneth T. Jackson, The Crabgrass Frontier, chapters
13-16; Nicholas Lemann, The Promised Land, pp. 3-107
Week of February 16:
M: Emerging Agendas
W: The Changing Dynamics of Race
SECTION: William Chafe, Civilities and Civl Rights, Introduction
and Part I; Martin Luther King, Jr., Why We Can't Wait, Chapters
1, 5
Week of February 23:
M: Eisenhower and the Liberal State
W: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Politics of Action
SECTION: Nicholas Lemann, The Promised Land, 109-221
Week of March 2:
M: The Great Society
W: MIDTERM EXAMINATION
Week of March 9:
M: Liberalism and Civil Rights
W: The Racial Crisis
SECTION: Carl Husemoller Nightingale, On the Edge, Part
I; Tom Wolfe, Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers, pp.
3-94
Week of March 16: SPRING VACATION
Week of March 23:
M: Why Were We in Vietnam?
W: Vietnam: The Quagmire
SECTION: Larry Berman, Planning a Tragedy, chapters 4-5
; Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried, 1-32, 41-64, 99-126, 137-150,
183-199
Week of March 30:
M: The New Left and the Crisis of the Sixties
W: Remaking American Culture
SECTION: Terry H. Anderson, "The Movement and Business," George
Lipsitz, "Youth Culture, Rock 'n Roll, and Social Crises," and Keenth Cmiel,
"The Politics of Civility," in David Farber, ed., The Sixties, pp.
175-234, 263-290
Week of April 6:
M: Crisis and Reaction, 1968
W: The Feminist Revolution
SECTION: Kristin Luker, Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood,
Chapters 1, 5-9; Alice Echols, "Nothing Distant about It," and Beth Bailey,
"Sexual Revolution(s)," in David Farber, ed., The Sixties, pp. 149-174,
235-262
Week of April 8:
M: Nixon's Search for Order
W: The Crisis of Authority
SECTION: Jonathan Schell, The Time of Illusion, pp. 1-38,
52-103, 137-170, 201-230, 257-387
Week of April 15:
M: The Age of Limits
W: The Rise of the Right
SECTION: David Farber, "The Silent Majority and Talk about Revolution,"
in Farber, ed., The Sixties, pp. 291-316; E. J. Dionne, Why Americans
Hate Politics, Chapters 2, 3, 5
SECOND PAPER DUE IN SECTIONS
Week of April 22:
M: The Age of Reagan
W: Post-Cold War America
SECTION: E. J. Dionne, Why Americans Hate Politics, Part
Two
PAPER ASSIGNMENTS
First Paper Assignment (due the week of February 2):
You have been asked to read several chapters from Elaine Tyler May's
Homeward Bound, which makes a number of observations about the character
of American culture and the American family in the age of the Cold War.
After reading May's book, we ask you to identify a document that you think
illustrates some theme in Cold War culture, and to write a short paper
(no more than 5 double-spaced pages) about what you think we can learn
from it. The document can be a book, a magazine article, an advertisement,
a work of art or illustration, a film, a piece of music, a television program,
or virtually anything else as long as it predates 1955 and seems to you
to be a useful window into the character of its time. You may,
if you wish, use your document to comment on May's arguments, but you are
not required to do so.
Second Paper Assignment (due the week of April 15):
The second paper should be 8-10 double-spaced pages in length and should
deal with a topic of your choice, to be discussed with and approved by
your section instructor. The paper can deal with any subject or period
in postwar American history (although papers dealing with issues that are
very contemporary will require particular justification), and it should
be based at least in part on primary sources.
Graduate Student Requirements
History department and graduate students in other Arts and Sciences
departments are exempted from the papers and exams assigned to undergraduates
in this course. Instead, you are asked to write a historiographical
essay examining the scholarly literature on an issue of significance in
postwar American history. Papers should be no longer than 15 double-spaced
pages and are due the week of April 22.
Graduate students outside the GSAS departments (in GS, MALS, SIPA, TC,
or other programs or schools) may choose either the undergraduate or graduate
student requirements.
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