LEAD 165 - Going Nuclear: American Culture in the Atomic Age

Institution:

Williams College

Subject:

Leadership Studies

Description:

Ever since the Manhattan Project produced atomic weapons for Harry Truman to use against Japan at the end of World War II, atomic science has fueled Americans' fears, hopes, nightmares, and fantasies. This course will examine all aspects of American nuclear culture, from scientists' movements to abolish atomic weapons and expand peaceful atomic energy production to dystopian fiction about the nuclear apocalypse. It will investigate the role of the nuclear arms race in the cold war and the development of civil defense and bomb shelter culture in the United States. Using scholarly books and articles, primary sources, novels, and films, we will explore the interactions between science, diplomacy, and culture in the nuclear age. As this is a writing intensive course, we will focus on analyzing sources, writing clearly and effectively, and making persuasive arguments. Students will not only learn about history, but they will learn to think and write as historians.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

First-year or sophomore standing

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Seminar

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.williams.edu

Phone Number:

(413) 597-3131

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Four-one-four plan

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