HISTORY 367

The United States in the 1960s

Allan M. Winkler

Fall Term 2004

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course examines political, social, and cultural changes in the United States in the turbulent decade of the 1960s. It begins by describing the consensus that existed in the 1950s, and then explores such topics as: the civil rights movement; the women's movement; the expansion of the welfare state; the war in Vietnam; the rise of political protest; and the growth of a counter-culture. The course presupposes no background and provides whatever framework is necessary to deal with the major issues being discussed.

COURSE EXPECTATIONS

This course seeks to encourage critical thinking about the sources we will examine. We will look at documents -- both primary and secondary materials -- and ask questions about their authenticity and their validity. We will examine the arguments of authors, and seek to understand the attitudes and values they express. At the same time, we will try to explore different ways of interpreting the past. We will juxtapose the arguments of policy makers, and historians sympathetic to their positions, with the writings of both radical and conservative critics and try to understand the nature of the emerging dialogue in both social and political terms. Finally, the course seeks to develop an understanding of the discipline of history as a subjective exercise, in some ways an art form, in which the historian tries to piece together an impression of the past. You should finish the semester with the understanding that there is no such thing as an objective assessment that explains everything about the past, and with the awareness that all we can try to do is approximate some sense of reality.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

• Class Attendance: Tuesday & Thursday, 8:00-9:15 AM
• Oral History Exercise: Due Tuesday, September 16
• Two Mid-Term Exams: Thursday, September 30 & Thursday, November 11
• Four-Page Paper: Due Tuesday, November 23
• Final Exam: Tuesday, December 14, at 12:30 PM

ATTENDANCE

Attendance WILL be taken at each class. Your attendance -- and participation -- are required. If you are absent from class 4 or more times, you will not pass the course.

FORMAT

The class will follow a discussion format, and each session will focus on the assigned reading and on material -- songs, slides, films, documents -- presented in class. Participation is a necessary and important part of the course.

EXAMINATIONS

All 3 exams will be essay tests. The final exam will be comprehensive and will cover all work done throughout the term.

PAPER

The 4-page paper wil be an analysis of one of the following books: Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi; Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique; Tom Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried, or Alix Kates Shulman, Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen. It is meant to be a critical analysis of the work, indicating what the author is trying to do, and assessing how well he or she accomplishes the task. It should be well-thought out and well-written. Good writing makes for a good argument.

ORAL HISTORY EXERCISE

Oral History is an important part of doing research in the contemporary period. You will be asked to take a tape recorder (which can be borrowed from Applied Technologies, if you do not have one) and interview someone about his or her experiences in the 1960s. The actual interview should last about 10 minutes. You will be required to turn in the questions you plan in advance to ask, the tape itself, and a typed transcript. Further details will be provided in class.

GRADING

• Oral History Exercise --------------------------------- 10%
• First Mid-Term Exam --------------------------------- 15%
• Second Mid-Term Exam -----------------------------15%
• Four-Page Paper -------------------------------------- 15%
• Class Participation ------------------------------------ 20%
• Final Exam ----------------------------------------------- 25%

REQUIRED BOOKS

• David R. Farber, The Age of Great Dreams: America in the 1960s
• Alexander Bloom & Wini Breines, eds. "Takin' it to the Streets" (2nd ed.)
• Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi
• Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique
• Alix Kates Shulman, Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen
• Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried
• Tom Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
• Ernest R. May & Philip D. Zelikow, eds., The Kennedy Tapes
• Allan M. Winkler, The Cold War: A History in Documents
  

OTHER COURSE MATERIALS

Frequently, photocopied materials will be handed out in class or provided on-line. These are intended for discussion, and are ingegral parts of the course. If you are absent, you are still responsible for obtaining and examining these materials.

WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS

WEEK 1

• August 24 - Introduction to the Course: Overview of the Period
• August 26 - The Cold War at Home and Abroad
  • READ: Winkler, Chapters 1-4
    

WEEK 2

• August 31- The 1950s
  • READ: Farber, Preface & Chapters 1 & 3 and Bloom & Breines, Prologue
• September 2 - The 1950s (continued)
  • Documents to be provided
    

WEEK 3

• September 7 - NO CLASS -- MONDAY/TUESDAY SWITCH DAY
• September 9 - Politics of the 1960s
  • READ: Farber, Chapter 2
    

WEEK 4

• September 14 - John F. Kennedy & the New Frontier
  • Documents to be provided
• September 16 - NO CLASS: ROSH HASHANAH
  • ORAL HISTORY EXERCISE DUE

WEEK 5

• September 21 - Lyndon B. Johnson & the Great Society
  • Documents to be provided
    
• September 23 - Foreign Policy of the Kennedy Years
  • Documents to be provided
    

WEEK 6

• September 28 - The Cuban Missile Crisis
  • READ: May & Zelikow, The Kennedy Tapes, entire
• September 30 - FIRST MID-TERM EXAM
  

WEEK 7

• October 5 - Civil Rights
  • READ: Farber, Chapters 4 & 5
• October 7 - Civil Rights (continued)
  • READ: Bloom & Breines. Chapter 1
    

WEEK 8

• October 12 - Civil Rights (continued)
  • READ: Bloom & Breines, Chapter 3 and Farber, Chapter 9 (2nd half)
• October 14 - Civil Rights (continued)
  • READ: Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi
    

WEEK 9

• October 19 - Vietnam
  • READ: Farber, Chapters 6 & 7
• October 21 - Vietnam (continued)
  • READ: Winkler, Chapter 5
    

WEEK 10

• October 26 - Vietnam (continued)
  • Bloom & Breines, Chapter 4
• October 28 - Vietnam (continued)
  • READ: O'Brien, The Things They Carried, entire
    

WEEK 11

• November 2 - The Women's Movement
  • READ: Bloom & Breines, Chapter 8
• November 4- The Women's Movement (continued)
  • READ: Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, entire
    

WEEK 12

• November 9 - The Women's Movement (continued)
  • READ: Shulman, Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen (entire)
• November 11 - SECOND MID-TERM EXAM
  

WEEK 13

• November 16 - The New Left
  • READ: Farber, Chapter 9 (1st half) and Bloom & Breines, Chapter 2
• November 18 - The Counter-Culture
  • READ: Farber, Chapter 8 and Bloom & Breines, Chapter 5
    

WEEK 14

• November 23 - The Counter-Culture (continued)
  • READ: Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (entire)
  • FOUR-PAGE PAPER DUE IN CLASS
• November 25 - NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING
  

WEEK 15

• November 30 - Nixon and 1968
  • READ: Farber, Chapter 10 and Bloom & Breines, Chapter 6
• December 2 - 1968 and After
  • READ: Bloom & Breines, Chapter 7
    

WEEK 16

• December 7 - Legacy
  • READ: Farber, Chapter 11
• December 9 - Legacy (continued)
  • READ: Bloom & Breines, Chapter 9
    

WEEK 17

• FINAL EXAM - Tuesday, December 14, at 12:30 PM
  
  

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Allan M. Winkler
Department of History
Miami University
Last updated: August 24, 2004
URL: http://www.users.muohio.edu/winkleam/hst367.htm