Why did the 1960s represent such an
opportune time for Americans to demand
radical change outside of the status quo?
This course will help answer that question and many more by examining the
United States during what many observers have described as a tumultuous
decade. Beginning with the Second World War and its aftermath, it seeks to
understand how the country’s subsequent position as a superpower shaped
its foreign and domestic policies. In the postwar struggle to promote
democratic principles over communistic threats throughout the world, the
U.S. also had to confront its own injustices largely based on issues of race,
class, and gender. Thus, primary emphasis will be placed on politics, social
movements, and cultural rebellions of the 1960s. Some topics will include,
but are not limited to, race riots, anti-war protests, new art forms, Great
Society legislation, the rise of neo-conservatism, empowerment movements
by people of color, Cold War brinksmanship in Cuba, and the escalation of
ground and air wars in Vietnam.
001: MWF 9:05-9:55, Fall 2015
Dr. Brandon K. Winford