From the first encounters with Native Americans to the present, a series of pivotal moments have had an enduring influence on American society, culture, and politics. In each class, three modules will focus on three pivotal moments, such as King Philip’s War, Nat Turner’s Rebellion, the Scopes trial, the Civil Rights movement, the women’s movement, the emergence of Elvis Presley, the sexual revolution, the rise of environmentalism, the Reagan Revolution, and 9-11. In each module, students will first place the main subject of the module in context, and then seek to understand how it changed American society. The last week of each module will be devoted to a consideration of how the subject of that module has become part of American collective memory.Note: This course fulfills the U.S. Society (GU) requirement for students under GenEd and American Culture (AC) for students under Core.
Students cannot receive credit for this course if they have successfully completed any of the following: ANTHRO 0848, GUS 0848, History 0848, or SOC 0848.