HISTORY
201-H1
COLD
WAR CULTURE
FALL
2002
ABAC
3249
Dr.
Linda Pitelka
Office:
ABAC 3210
Office
Hours: MW 2:00-4:00; TTH 8:30-10:30
Phone:
529-9621. Home 454-1489 (9am-9pm
only please)
Email:
pitelka@maryville.edu
http://accweb.itr.maryville.edu/pitelka
“Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly found, given, and transmitted from the past.”
Karl Marx
“Who co
George Orwell
This course will immerse students in the historical development of the
United States from the eve of World War II to the fall of the Berlin wall. The
course will examine significant cultural, political, social, economic, and
intellectual developments of the period. The course will also emphasize the use
of films, novels, and other cultural products (such as advertising and fine
arts) as artifacts of the time.
The Cold War redefined the United States’ and Soviet Union’s roles in
the world and brought about wide-ranging changes in politics, economics,
technology and culture. The Cold
War profoundly shaped the culture of the United States and the world for fifty
years. Therefore, looking at the Cold War helps us to understand the
nature of the world today.
Course
Requirements:
All students are required to attend class meetings and take part in
discussions and other class activities. Written work will require students to
synthesize lecture materials as well as readings. Students must also read and
assimilate required readings, and be prepared to discuss readings on the
schedule given below.
Film Essay:
Because Cold War culture was an integral part of the
Cold War itself, it is important to understand the ways in which films both
reflected and influenced the political arena.
This paper will be a critique of some of the films we will see in class:
Atomic Café, Rebel Without a Cause, The Manchurian Candidate, and
Dr. Strangelove.
Attendance:
Seminars
require the consistent attendance and participation of everyone for their
success. Members of the seminar
rely on one another for dialogue, feedback, collaboration, and critique.
Absences are keenly felt by all.
Books:
Stephen
Whitfield, The Culture of the Cold War.
Beth Bailey, Sex in the Heartland
William Chafe, The Unfinished Journey.
Ann Moody, Coming
of Age in Mississippi
Philip Caputo, A Rumor of War
Jules R. Benjamin, A Student’s Guide to History
Other
Resources:
Cold War Websites: http://www.research.umbc.edu/~landon/Local_Information_Files/Cold%20War%20WEB%20Sites.htm
Papers:
Should follow the conventions of history papers, using endnotes or
footnotes. Refer to instructions in
Kate Turabian, A Manual for the Writing of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
or the Chicago Manual of Style.
Both are available in the library and on the Internet: Chicago
Manual - http://www.lib.ohio-state.edu/guides/chicagogd.html
Turabian - http://www.ithaca.edu/library/course/turabian.html
Grading:
Participation/Discussion
(includes short written assignments on readings and/or quizzes): 15%
of grade
Midterm Examination: 15% of grade
Final
Examination: 25% of grade
Cultural History Paper: 30% of grade.
I will distribute a list of possible topics.
The bibliography should include at least ten sources.
No more than three sources may be from the Internet and the instructor
must approve these in advance.
This syllabus is subject to change
at the discretion of the instructor to accommodate instructional and/or student
needs
Monday,
August 26: Introduction to the
course.
Begin reading: A
Student’s Guide to History
Wednesday,
August 28: The War Years
Discuss
Benjamin, A Student’s Guide to History, Parts 1 and 2.
Read: Unfinished Journey, chapter 1
Wednesday,
September 4: Cold War Origins
Read: Unfinished Journey, chapter 2
Monday,
September 9: Truman and the Cold
War
Read: Chafe, chapter 3
Begin: Culture of the Cold War, Chapter 1
Wednesday,
September 11: Hollywood and HUAC
Read: Culture of the Cold War, chapter 2
Monday,
September 16: Social Reform and
Activism
Read: Chafe, chapter 4
Continue: Culture of the Cold War, chapter 3
Video: Atomic Cafe
Wednesday,
September 18:
Read: Culture of the Cold War, chapter 4
Finish Atomic Café and discuss film and readings
Monday,
September 23: American Society in
the 50s
Read: Chafe, chapter 5
Cold War Culture, chapter 5
Begin video: Rebel Without a Cause
Wednesday,
September 25
Read: Cold War Culture, chapter 6
Finish video and discuss
Monday,
September 30: Civil Rights Movement
– 50s
Read: Coming of Age in
Mississippi
Read: Cold War Culture, chapter 7
Read: Chafe, chapter 6
Wednesday,
October 2: Civil Rights Movement in
the Fifties
Finish: Coming
of Age in Mississippi
Monday,
October 7: Kennedy and the Cold War
Read: Chafe, chapter 7
Read: Cold War Culture, chapter 8
Wednesday,
October 9: Kennedy and the Cold War
Read: Cold War Culture,
chapter 9
Video: Cuban Missile Crisis
Monday,
October 14: LBJ
Read: Chafe, chapter 8
Read: Sex in the Heartland, Introduction, chapter 1
Begin: Caputo, A Rumor of War
Wednesday,
October 16: Vietnam
Read: Sex in the Heartland, chapter 2
Continue: Rumor of War
Monday,
October 21: Vietnam (cont.)
Read: Chafe, chapter 9
Sex in the Heartland, chapter 3
Finish and Discuss: Caputo, A Rumor of War
Wednesday,
October 23: Coming Apart
Read: Moody, Coming of
Age in Mississippi
Sex in the Heartland, chapter 4
Writing
Assignment: What were the barriers Anne Moody faced? Which of them was most difficult for her to overcome, and how
did she do so? What do her
experiences reveal about American life in the 50s and 60s, and what do they
reveal about the Civil Rights movement? Examine
this in a brief essay (2 pages) due on the discussion day.
Monday,
October 28: The Radical Sixties
Read: Chafe, chapter 10
Moody
Sex in the Heartland, chapter 5
Video: Dr. Strangelove
Wednesday,
October 30: New Left
Read: Moody
Sex in the Heartland, chapter 6
Finish Dr. Strangelove and discuss
Monday,
November 4: 1968
Read: Chafe, chapter 12
Finish Moody and discuss. Short
papers due.
Wednesday,
November 6: Nixon
Read: Chafe, chapter 13
Sex in the Heartland, chapter 7
Read: Chafe, chapter 14
Sex in the Heartland, chapter 8
Film paper due
Monday,
November 18: Ending the Cold War
Read: Chafe, chapter 15
Wednesday,
November 20: Ending the Cold War
Read: Chafe, chapter 16
November
25-27 – Thanksgiving Holidays:
Monday,
December 2:
Presentations
Wednesday,
December 4:
Presentations
Monday,
December 9: Last day of class
Presentations
The
composition of any paper must be entirely the student's own work. If the exact
words of another are used, even to a limited degree, quotation marks must be
used and a documentary reference (a note) given. If information or ideas are
taken from another work, although not a direct quotation, a student must give
credit in the notes as to the source of the information. (I will distribute
complete instructions for all this before papers are assigned.) Failure to give
such credit is plagiarism, and is equivalent to cheating on an examination.
Submission of a paper which is copied from another work or written by someone
other than the student, or which contains fictitious notes, will be cause for
failure in the course.
IMPORTANT:
STUDENTS MUST KEEP NOTES AND SUBSEQUENT DRAFTS OF PAPERS UNTIL THE PAPER HAS
BEEN RETURNED WITH A FINAL GRADE. I MAY ASK TO SEE YOUR NOTES AND OTHER WORK IF
I HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR SOURCES.
PAPERS WITHOUT SOURCE CITATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.