History 3415
Tues., 3:30-6:00
Hale 236
Spring 2011
Professor Pittenger
Office: 258 Hellems
Phone: 303-492-8431
E-mail: mark.pittenger@
colorado.edu
Office hours:
Thurs. 2:00-5:00, and by appointment
American Thought and Culture, 1940-1960:
The Culture of Politics, and the Politics of Culture
This course will be an interdisciplinary inquiry into the nature of American life during the era of
World War II and the early Cold War. Unlike a traditional history course that might focus mainly on the political, economic, and military events of these years, we will consider those factors as the backdrop for our central concerns: the politics of culture and the impacts of cultural and social change on politics. Themes include the impact of the war on movies, music, and the popular mood; interactions of race and culture (Japanese-American life in Seattle and in the internment camps, Native Americans in the Pacific war and on a New Mexico reservation, Jackie
Robinson and the racial integration of professional baseball); popular perceptions and political implications of the atomic bomb; postwar suburbanization, gender roles, and the emergence of television; the Beat rebellion in the arts and popular culture; the racial politics of jazz; modernist painting; Elvis; juvenile delinquency movies; and the impact of McCarthyism on Hollywood.
Amid the tremendous diversity of events, movements, and trends during the 1940s and 1950s, we will look for unifying themes and lines of development that may give these years coherence and comprehensibility as a historical period.
Required Books
John Diggins, The Proud Decades
Monica Sone, Nisei Daughter
Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony
Jules Tygiel,
Baseball’s Great Experiment
John Hersey, Hiroshima
Karal Ann Marling, As Seen on TV
Jack Kerouac, On the Road
Walter Bernstein, Inside Out
All assigned books are also available at Norlin on 24-hour reserve; the readings for
February 15 are available on the CULearn site for this course.
Evaluation
There will be a take-home midterm (20% of the final grade), a take-home final exam
(20%), and a term paper of fifteen to twenty pages (40%). Late exams or papers will be penalized. Well-informed class participation, which is crucial for the success of a seminar, as well as several brief assignments related to the readings, will account for the remaining 20% of your grade. In our classroom discussions, I put a high value on good questions, as well as on good answers or arguments.
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Topics and Assignments
Jan. 11: Introduction
Part I: The 1940s
Jan. 18: Society and Politics in the Shadow of War
John Diggins, The Proud Decades , to p. 122
Library assignment
Jan. 25: The War Within: Who Counts as an American?
Monica Sone, Nisei Daughter
Two-page summary due
Feb. 1: Coming Home
Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony
Feb. 8: The American Dilemma: Spikes Up!
Jules Tygiel, Baseball’s Great Experiment
Feb. 15: Anxiety, Contingency, and Art (all readings on CULearn)
William Graebner, The Age of Doubt , xi-39
Harold Rosenberg, “The American Action Painters”
Lewis Erenberg, “Things to Come: Swing Bands,
Bebop, and the Rise of a Postwar Jazz Scene”
Take-home midterm distributed
Feb. 22: Topics, Research and Writing I: defining a topic
Take-home midterm due
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Part II: Cold War Culture
Mar. 1: The Cold War and the Age of Eisenhower
John Diggins, The Proud Decades , 122-350
Library assignment
Mar. 8: Topics, Research and Writing II: getting to know the library (Norlin E303)
Mar. 15: Living with the Bomb
John Hersey, Hiroshima
Prospectus and bibliography for term paper due
Mar. 22: The Home Front
Karal Ann Marling, As Seen on TV
Mar. 29: SPRING BREAK!
Apr. 5: Breakout
Jack Kerouac, On the Road
Apr. 12: Being Red: Are you now, or have you ever been. . . ?
Walter Bernstein, Inside Out
Final date to turn in partial (5-10 pp.) or complete draft of term paper, both paper and electronic
Apr. 19: Paradoxes of Mass Culture
No reading assignment; work on papers
Apr. 26: Conclusions
Term papers due
Take-home final exam distributed
The take-home final exam will be due in my office between 7:30 A.M. and 10:00 A.M. on
Thursday, May 5.
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Other Matters
Accommodation for Disabilities: if you will need an accommodation because of a disability, please submit to me a letter from Disability Services during the first two weeks of the term so that we can determine how to address your situation. You can reach Disability Services ( N200
Center for Community, ) at 303-492-8671, or on the web at http://www.Colorado.EDU/disabilityservices .
Religious Obligations: If you have religious commitments that may interfere with class attendance or with the completion of a scheduled assignment, please let me know during the first two weeks of the term so we can make appropriate arrangements. Details on campus policies are available at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/fac_relig.html
.
Academic Honesty: The CU Honor Code establishes the principles of academic honesty and integrity for all members of our community. In this class, you will be expected to adhere to those principles; failure to do so will result in serious sanctions. We will devote some class time to discussing how to use and document sources for particular assignments, and what constitutes illegitimate use of others’ work. I will also always be glad to discuss individually any uncertainties or concerns you may have about these issues—I recognize that they are not always clear-cut. The Honor Code website is www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode ; under
“Resources” in the Student Information section, you will find lots of helpful information on what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. The History Department’s guidelines on writing
( http://www.colorado.edu/history/guidelines/index.html
) and on documentation
( http://www.colorado.edu/history/guidelines/referencing.html
) will serve as the standard references for writing and documenting the term paper.
Discrimination and Harassment: The University’s policies on discrimination, sexual harassment, and amorous relationships apply to all students, staff and faculty. Any member of the community who believes s/he has been the subject of discrimination or harassment based upon race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status should contact the Office of Discrimination and Harassment (ODH) at 303-492-2127, or the Office of Judicial
Affairs at 303-492-5550. Information about the ODH, the above referenced policies, and the campus resources available to assist individuals in connection with discrimination or harassment can be obtained at http://www.colorado.edu/odh
Classroom Decorum : Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an open, respectful, and comfortable learning environment. Students who fail to adhere to these behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Faculty have the professional responsibility to treat students with understanding, dignity and respect, to guide classroom discussion, and to set reasonable limits on the manner in which students express opinions. Additional information may be found at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html
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