Email: MarkoMaunula@clayton.edu

Web address: http://a-s.clayton.edu/mmaunula/

This course takes a thematic look at various forces shaping the United States during the 20^th century. Prerequisites: Any 1000 or 2000 level HIST course.

This course intends to give you an overview of special themes that shaped the United States during the twentieth century. The past century was substantially different from the previous ones in American history. The westward expansion, perhaps the most substantial force shaping America during earlier centuries, was over. Both the politics and everyday life in America experienced serious transformations throughout the twentieth century. America emerged as the world’s leading superpower. New groups gained prominence in the nation’s culture, politics, and economy, including women, African Americans, and other minorities.

During this course, we will study and analyze some key forces shaping the nation’s recent past. Some of the topics we focus on include globalization, changing policies of race and gender, America as a superpower, the growing role of entertainment in America, and Cold War. While it is impossible to acquire a thorough, complete understanding of all aspects of America’s history during a single course, I believe we all can gain meaningful insights into the trends, policies, and events that have shaped this nation’s recent history.

The goals of this course include learning a relatively sophisticated understanding of the twentieth century United States. We will improve our knowledge of the historiography of recent American past, sharpen our research- and critical reading skills, and learn to observe the forces that created the contemporary United States.

It is the policy of CSU to afford equal opportunity in education to qualified students. Therefore, individuals with disabilities who need to request accommodations, or to obtain this document in an alternative format, should contact the Disability Resource Center (disabilityservices@clayton.edu ) Student Center 255, (678) 466-5445
 

Each CSU student is required to have ready access throughout the semester to a notebook computer that meets faculty-approved hardware and software requirements for the student's academic program. Students will sign a statement attesting to such access. For further information on CSU's Official Notebook Computer Policy, please go to http://itpchoice.clayton.edu/policy.htm

Ability to use the Windows ^TM operating system

Ability to use Microsoft Word ^TM word processing

Ability to send and receive e-mail using Outlook ^TM or Outlook Express ^TM

Ability to attach and retrieve attached files via email

Ability to use a Web browser.

Your final grade will break down as follows:

Midterm – 20%

Final – 20%

90 and above = A

80-89 = B

70-79 = C

60-69 = D

59 and below = F

The mid-term grade in this course, which will be issued on October 3, reflects approximately 30% of the entire course grade. Based on this grade, students may choose to withdraw from the course and receive a grade of "W." Students pursuing this option must fill out an official withdrawal form, available in the Office of the Registrar, by mid-term, which occurs on October 9. The last day to withdraw without academic accountability is Friday, October 9, 2009.

I will not schedule make-up tests except in cases of valid emergencies. If you have to miss a test, please provide me with a documented excuse: police report, doctor’s note, et cetera.

University Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend and participate in every class meeting. Instructors establish specific policies relating to absences in their courses and communicate these policies to the students throughout the course syllabi. Individual instructors, based upon the nature of the course, determine what effect excused and unexcused absences have in determining grades and upon students’ ability to remain enrolled in their courses. The University reserves the right to determine that excessive absences, whether justified or not, are sufficient cause for institutional withdrawals or failing grades.

I do expect you to visit our GeorgiaVIEW –site regularly. If I see no record of participation in online activities, I consider that as an absence from the course.

The books listed below are required for the class. Please let me know as soon as possible if you have a hard time finding the books or have any other problems with the texts.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of The Apes Wildside Press

Hunter S. Thompson, Hell’s Angels Ballantine Books

Matthew Avery Sutton, Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America  Harvard University Press

Terry H. Anderson, The Movement and The Sixties Oxford University Press

Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind Simon & Schuster

The following movies are also required for the course. Netflix, Blockbuster, or any other well-stocked video rental should have the copies available. If you have any problems, I highly recommend Movies Worth Seeing in the Virginia Highlands (1409 N. Highland Ave., Atlanta, GA 30306)

Mervyn LeRoy, Gold Diggers of 1933

George Clooney, Good Night and Good Luck

Billy Wilder, One-Two-Three

Taylor Hackford, Ray

Craig Brewer, Hustle and Flow

Presenting the work of somebody else as one’s own, unaccredited quotations, letting others do one’s work for him/herself, and other forms of academic dishonesty are strictly forbidden. Violators will be pursued and punished according to Clayton State University’s guidelines and regulations. Usually cheating results in disqualification from the course and the final grade of "F."

All instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Office of Student Life/Judicial Affairs. Judicial procedures are described at http://adminservices.clayton.edu/judicial/

Behavior which disrupts the teaching–learning process during class activities will not be tolerated. While a variety of behaviors can be disruptive in a classroom setting, more serious examples include belligerent, abusive, profane, and/or threatening behavior. A student who fails to respond to reasonable faculty direction regarding classroom behavior and/or behavior while participating in classroom activities may be dismissed from class. A student who is dismissed is entitled to due process and will be afforded such rights as soon as possible following dismissal. If found in violation, a student may be administratively withdrawn and may receive a grade of WF.

A more detailed description of examples of disruptive behavior and appeal procedures is provided at: 

http://a-s.clayton.edu/DisruptiveClassroomBehavior.htm

For issues concerning ethical rules, student life, student rights and responsibilities, et cetera, please consult the student handbook:

http://adminservices.clayton.edu/studentaffairs/StudentHandbook/foreword.htm

Era of reforms: Populism, Progressivism, and Socialism.

Suffragettes and sexual revolutionaries. The changing roles of women in the American life.

Rosie the Riveteer: Women and World War II.

Post-World War II feminism: From Betty Friedan to Anita Hill. Finish reading Aimee Semple McPherson.

The strange birth and youth of Jim Crow. Finish reading Tarzan of the Apes.

Immigration and the growth of multi-ethnic America.

World Wars I & II and the spreading vision of racial equality.

Civil Rights movement and the painful death of Jim Crow.

America’s growing vision of global leadership. World War I and its aftermath. Wilsonian vision versus isolationism.

World War II and the failure of isolationism.

Cold War comes and goes. From bipolar world order to the United States as the sole superpower. Finish reading A Rumor of War.

Globalization - from Bretton Woods to Seattle riots. Watch One-Two-Three.

America as a new economic powerhouse. "The business of this country is business."

Why the Great Depression? The reasons and realities behind the nation’s economic collapse. Watch Gold Diggers.

World War II and the new economic juggernaut.

From the world’s largest creditor to its leading debtor. The origins and emergence of the intertwined Ameriglobal economy.

Outlaw, the great American anti-hero. John Dillinger and the Great Depression anti-capitalist revolt.

The birth of counterculture. Beatniks, Hells Angels, and other subversives of the Cold War society. Finish reading Hell’s Angels.

What were the sixties? From activism to hedonism. Sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll. The rise and fall of the 1960s counterculture.

The 1980s. Wall Street and politics of neo-individualism. The rise of new conservativism.

Field hollers and guitar-pickers. Blues and the emergence of African American musical genius.

Jazz, America’s own art form. From hot to cool: Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis.

Soundtrack for the teenage rebellion. Rock’n’roll and the racial amalgamation of America. Watch Ray and Hustle and Flow.

TV-revolution and suburban transformation. The arrival of television and the changing social spheres in America. Watch Good Night and Good Luck.

The Lost Generation, Southern voices, and New York intellectuals. The rise of the Great American novelists, from Ernest Hemingway to Saul Bellow.

From cultural Darwinism to American pragmatism and contemporary cultural critics. American twentieth century philosophical tradition, from William Sumner to John Dewey and Cornel West. Finish reading The Closing of the American Mind.

From cultural backwaters to the destination of intellectual pilgrimages: The remarkable rise of American academia.