READING LIST

Nicholas Lemann, The Promised Land (NY: Vintage, 1992).
Ellen Schrecker, The Age of McCarthyism (New York: St Martin's, 1994).
Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums (NY: Penguin, 1986).
Alexander Bloom and Wini Breines, eds. Takin' it to the Streets, second edition (NY: Oxford, 1995).
Robert J. McMahon, ed., Major Problems in the History of the Vietnam War, fourth edition (Houghton-Mifflin, 2008).
Samuel Freedman, The Inheritance. (NY: Touchstone, 1998).
Neil Jumonville and Kevin Mattson, eds., Liberalism for a New Century (California, 2007). 

There is a photocopy packet available at Target Copy on Tennessee St containing the lecture outlines.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS  

Read these requirements closely, because they tell you all you need to know about the operation of the class and the requirements for your paper.  Don't read these once and then forget them, because you'll be judged on the basis of them.

ATTENDANCE: I only take attendance on Fridays, partly to get to know students' names, and partly to make sure people give sufficient importance to this part of the course.  Part of your discussion grade is also a grade for attendance--which means showing up for lecture on time.  If you happen to be late for lecture once during the semester, I'll overlook it.  If you're someone who makes a habit of walking in after I begin lecturing then you'll feel the impact quite significantly in your semester grade.

READING: All students must complete the reading for the course.  (Note that several of the books are heavily abridged and are much shorter than they appear).  Weekly assignments are indicated in the syllabus.  It is very important for you to complete the reading in time for the Friday discussion. 

DISCUSSIONS: On Fridays, class will be devoted to a discussion of the issues raised in lectures and in the reading.  You will not be able to do well in the discussions if you haven't kept up with your reading.  It is expected that you will have finished the week's reading assignment by the time of the Friday discussion.  As much as possible, the discussions will be a friendly exchange of ideas and opinions.  The discussions are intended to be fun and enriching, not threatening.  Don't feel intimidated by a lack of background in history; often there is no one "right" answer to the questions being discussed, and undergraduates always do as well as graduate students in these sessions.  Part of your grade for the semester will be based on your active participation (talking) in the discussions, so it is important to show up and take part.  Their purpose is to give you practice speaking about and challenging ideas, instead of just memorizing them. 

PAPERS: There will be one paper, DUE IN CLASS ON MONDAY APRIL 7.  Undergraduates: 8 pages. Graduate students: 12 pages. All papers must be double-spaced, and printed by computer. No paper extensions, even in the event of a nuclear war. For every day the paper is late, it will drop a full grade (for example, from a B+ to a C+). Naturally, any plagiarism (having someone write the paper for you, or copying it from another source with attribution) will result in an immediate failure of the assignment and the possibility of failing the course.

Use endnotes to indicate page numbers for any quotes you use, or to tell the reader when you have borrowed ideas from another author. That is, put the book and the page number for the citation at the back of the paper. I'm not demanding perfect form for endnotes--but if you don't know how to do them at all then you should ask me. Any ideas that you adopt from a secondary source should also appear in your endnotes.

PAPER TOPIC: Choose an event or an issue that relates to something we have read about this semester. Then look in library indexes (JSTOR or Expanded Academic Index)  and find several articles from magazines, newspapers, or journals on that subject. Use only articles or ads between the years of 1945 and 1990. Find copies of those articles either on the second floor of Strozier Library or linked through the FSU library system. Then write an essay about the connections between those articles and one of the books on our reading list. (For extra credit, find a document in Pepper Library, Strozier Special Collections, or the WWII Institute that relates to your essay and include it in the discussion as well.)

For example, you could write about some articles on Elvis and connect them with a discussion of The Dharma Bums. What's similar and what's different about those two? Why or how are they connected? Or you could find articles on bomb shelters and connect that to the McCarthy book. Or you could find magazine ads portraying women in 1970 and compare those to the writing of the women's movement we've read. You get the idea. Be original, and write on something that interests you and that you think is important. This must not be a topic on which you have previously or are currently writing a paper for another class.Although research is involved, this is a think-paper rather than a research paper. I want to know your perceptions and ideas instead of you simply recording what the articles say. The papers will be graded on the strength of their ideas and the connections you make, their ability to advance a thesis or interpretation, and on how well they are written (the quality of the prose, use of language, spelling, punctuation, and syntax). Don't write in a turgid scholarly prose. More interesting papers will be more successful, so make it something you would want to read.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: Students with disabilities covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act should follow these steps: 1) Provide documentation of your disability to the Office of Disabled Student Services (08 Kellum Hall, 644-9566). 2) Bring a statement from the Office of Disabled Student Services indicating that you have registered with them to your instructor the first week of class. The statement should indicate the special accommodations you require.

EXAMS: There will be two exams during the course of the semester—a midterm and a final.  Both of the tests will be a combination of ten short identifications and one essay question.  As in the papers, the exams will be judged on the strength of their ideas, their ability to advance a thesis or interpretation, and their use of language, spelling, punctuation, and syntax.  Make sure to write legibly enough to be understood.  Bring blue books for the exam.  Put your name on the front, but not inside—to insure a neutral reading.

GRADES (FOR UNDERGRADUATES): Each of the four components of the class will count 25% toward the final grade: the two exams, the paper, and class discussion.

COURSE WEB SITE: This course has its own page, linked through my web site at: http://mailer.fsu.edu/~njumonvi

OFFICE HOURS: Wednesdays 11 am to noon, and by appointment.

== CLASS SCHEDULE ==    

THE DAWN OF THE COLD WAR

Week 1
Mon, Jan 7:  Opening.
Wed, Jan 9: The American century and American exceptionalism.
Fri, Jan 11:   The origins of the Cold War.
Reading: Ellen Schrecker, The Age of McCarthyism. Read Part I, chapters 1-2, 4-8, 10-12, 14-16.

Week 2
Mon, Jan 14:  Truman & the consolidation of the Cold War, 1945-54.
Wed, Jan 16: McCarthyism, 1948-1954.
Fri, Jan 18:    Discussion.

Reading: Ellen Schrecker, The Age of McCarthyism. Read Part II, chapters 1-2, 4, 6, 8-11, 14-17, 21.

Week 3
Mon, Jan 21: MARTIN LUTHER KING HOLIDAY
Wed, Jan 23:  The suburban, automotive society.
Fri, Jan 25:    Discussion.
Reading: Nicholas Lemann, The Promised Land.  Read pages 3-107
.             Read also the article "What Home Means to us Now," linked here.

SUBURBS AND THE LIBERAL CONSENSUS

Week 4
Mon, Jan 28: The Eisenhower decade, 1952-1960.
Wed, Jan 30: Affluence and the liberal consensus.
Fri, Feb 1:     Discussion.
Reading: Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums, first half.

Week 5
Mon, Feb 4:  The Beats.
Wed, Feb 6:  Humor & the loss of innocence: Bruce, Sahl, and Gregory.
Fri, Feb 8:     Discussion.
Reading: Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums, second half.

THE UNRAVELING OF THE LIBERAL CONSENSUS

Week 6
Mon, Feb 11: The civil rights movement, 1954-1963.
Wed, Feb 13: JFK and the New Frontier, 1960-1963.
Fri, Feb 15:    Discussion.
Reading: Alexander Bloom and Wini Breines, Takin' it to the Streets, pp. 13-38, pp. 103-152.

Week 7
Mon, Feb 18: Black Power and separatism after 1964.
Wed, Feb 20: LBJ and the Great Society, 1963-1968.
Fri, Feb 22:    Discussion.
Reading: Nicholas Lemann, The Promised Land, pp. 225-353.
              Read also the obituary of Miles Davis by Amiri Baraka, linked here.

Week 8
Mon, Feb 25:  MIDTERM EXAM. Bring blue books.
Wed, Feb 27:  The New Left, 1962-1970.
Fri, Feb 29:    Discussion.
Reading: Alexander Bloom and Wini Breines, Takin' it to the Streets, pp. 49-102, 331-341.

Week 9
Mon, Mar 3:   The counterculture, 1964-1972.
Wed, Mar 5:   The women's movement.
Fri, Mar 7:      Discussion.
Reading: Alexander Bloom and Wini Breines, Takin' it to the Streets, pp. 38-48, 383-434, pp. 227-286, 465-476, 493-520.

SPRING BREAK, MARCH 10-14

Week 10
Mon, Mar 17: Middle America, the Sunbelt, and the 1968 election.
Wed, Mar 19: The Vietnam War, 1964-1973.
Fri, Mar 21:    Discussion.
Reading: Robert J. McMahon, ed., Major Problems in the History of the Vietnam War. Read pp 33-58; chap 4 essays 2, 4, 5; pp 120-34; pp 159-71; chap 7 essays 2, 6, 7; pp 274-92; pp 357-61; pp 364-73; chap 13 essays 1, 3, 5-7, 9; pp 512-39. (Total pages = 127)

Week 11
Mon, Mar 24: The Nixon years, 1968-1974.
Wed, Mar 26: Watergate and the war at home.
Fri, Mar 28:    Discussion.
Reading: Alexander Bloom and Wini Breines, Takin' it to the Streets, pp. 287-329, 379-382.
              Read also this article on Richard Nixon, linked here.

Week 12
Mon, Mar 31: George McGovern, the New Politics, and the struggle in the Democratic Party, 1972-1990.
Wed, Apr 2:   Carter, the end of American affluence, & the temporary end of American exceptionalism, 1976-80.
Fri, Apr 4:      Discussion.
Reading: Samuel Freedman, The Inheritance, chapters 1, 2, 4, 6.

THE RISE OF THE CONSERVATIVE REVOLUTION

Week 13
Mon, Apr 7:    Affirmative action and the politics of race. PAPER DUE IN CLASS TODAY
Wed, Apr 9:   Postwar conservatisms and the rise of Reaganism.
Fri, Apr 11:    Discussion.
Reading: Samuel Freedman, The Inheritance, chapters 8, 10, 12, 14.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/jan-june07/integration_06-28.html

Week 14
Mon, Apr 14:  The Reagan Revolution, 1980-1988.
Wed, Apr 16: Liberalism: A Four Letter Word?
Fri, Apr 18:    Discussion.
Reading: Jumonville and Mattson, eds., Liberalism for a New Century, pp vii-32, 90-102, 145-209. (Total reading = 122 pages.)

Thr, Apr 24: FINAL EXAM from 10 AM to noon