Course
Objectives
1. To develop a working knowledge of the most
important changes and continuities in American thought and culture from colonial
times to the present.
2. To become familiar with using primary and secondary
sources in order to develop a critical appreciation of history as lived
experience, history as written by historians, and history as used by governments
or other institutions to shape public opinion.
3. To
gain practice in using the skills of historical analysis: writing
accurate descriptions; making effective evidence-based arguments; making
comparisons and contrasts; developing reliable explanations;
constructing thoughtful interpretations of the meaning and significance of
historical events.
Learning
Outcomes
1.
Students will demonstrate the ability to distinguish between primary and
secondary historical sources and to use these sources critically.
2. Students will demonstrate the ability to assess the
strengths and weaknesses of competing points of view on issues addressed in
primary and secondary sources.
3.
Students will demonstrate the ability to utilize skills of description,
comparison and contrast, and synthesis in the construction of analytical essays
based on evidence from primary and secondary sources.
Students who need course adaptations or accommodations because of a
disability are invited to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD)
in the Cowell Building on campus (phone: 510.430.2264; email: disability@mills.edu).
Course
Structure and Requirements
This is a lecture/discussion course that will examine thought and culture
in America from colonial times to the 1990s through intensive reading and
discussion of influential texts. This course takes ideas seriously,
including ideas associated with religious belief systems. Ideas are considered
in the various contexts, material as well as personal, social and political, in
which they were developed and acted upon. American thought
and culture will be considered in the larger context of world
history. No previous college level knowledge of American
intellectual and cultural history is assumed.
Books to Purchase:
Robert
M. Crunden, A Brief History of American Culture, North Castle Books, M.E.
Sharpe, 1996. (BH)
Eric
Foner, The Story of American Freedom, Norton, 1998. (SAF)
George
Marsden, Religion and American Culture, 2nd Edition, Harcourt, 2001. (RAC)
Required Reading Available on Reserve
David
Hollinger and Charles Capper, The American Intellectual Tradition,
Volumes I and II, Fourth Edition, Oxford University Press, 2001.
(AIT)
Basis
for Grading:
Class
participation 10%
(includes attendance and contribution to discussions)
Take-home
essays 60% (three essays, each
worth 20%)
Class
presentation 15%
Book
review
15%
Take-home
Essays:
The essays must utilize both primary and secondary sources from the assigned
reading. Additional primary sources, accompanied by
complete citations, provided they are used in conjunction with, and supplement,
the assigned readings may also be used, and must be used if students wish to
qualify for an “A” grade. Additional secondary
sources may be used, but not as a substitute for primary sources.
Material from lectures should be used whenever the subject of the essay
has been covered in lectures. Essays must be five pages maximum, typewritten,
and double-spaced. Use a type font no smaller than 12. Staple the pages in the
upper left-hand corner and do not use a cover page or a folder. Essays
will be assigned letter grades. Grading will not be based on a grading
curve. Essays will be graded on composition as well as
substance. Guidelines for writing analytical history essays
are available at: http://bss.sfsu.edu/issel/reviews.htm
Written
work will be assigned letter grades. Grading will not be based on a
grading curve. All written work will be graded on
composition as well as substance.
First
Essay (choose one) DUE SEPTEMBER 25
1.
Describe the influence of Puritanism on American thought and culture, with
specific reference to the writings of John Winthrop, Anne Hutchinson, and Roger
Williams.
2. Describe the influence of “the
Enlightenment” on American thought and culture, with specific reference to the
writings of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and James Madison
3. Describe the influence of the discourse about “Equality of the
Sexes” on American thought and culture, with specific reference to the
writings of Judith Sargent Murray, Sarah Grimke, and Catherine Beecher.
Second Essay
(choose one) DUE NOVEMBER 6
1.
Compare and contrast the antislavery and proslavery viewpoints, with specific
reference to the writings of William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Martin
Delany, John C. Calhoun and George Fitzhugh.
2. Compare and contrast antebellum with post-Civil War women’s rights
advocates, with specific reference to the writings of Catherine Beecher,
Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Margaret Fuller, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Charlotte
Perkins Gilman
3. Compare and contrast the two major versions of Social Darwinism and
Progressivism, with particular reference to the writings of William Graham
Sumner, Lester Frank Ward, Jane Addams, Woodrow Wilson, and Oliver Wendell
Holmes.
Third
Essay (choose one) DUE DECEMBER 4
The
questions below require you to create a synthesis based on all pertinent primary
and secondary sources from the course reading and lectures. Take
into account as many causal factors as possible.
1. Explain how the Spanish American War and World War I influenced
American thought and culture, with particular reference to the writings of W.E.B.
DuBois, Woodrow Wilson, Randolph Bourne, and John Crowe Ransom.
2.
Explain how the New Deal and World War II influenced American thought and
culture, with particular reference to the writings of Sidney Hook, David
Lilienthal, Reinhold Niebuhr, Gunnar Myrdal, Martin Luther King, Jr., and
Malcolm X.
3. Explain how the Cold War influenced American
thought and culture, with particular reference to the writings of Whitaker
Chambers, John Courtney Murray, Daniel Bell, W.W. Rostow, C. Wright Mills, Noam
Chomsky, Samuel Huntington, and Ralph Ellison.
Class Presentations:
Each
student will present an oral report based on a selected excerpt from the work of
a prominent writer during the discussion time scheduled for Thursday classes.
This will be a 15 to 25 minute presentation describing the document and
analyzing its significance for understanding American thought and culture.
Each student will submit a summary of 3 to 4 pages at the time of the
presentation. All of the selections are included in The
American Intellectual Tradition on reserve in the library.
Book
Reviews:
Each
student will also prepare a critical review of a book selected in consultation
with the instructor. Reviews are due anytime during the
semester but no later than Dec. 6. The book review and the
class presentation may be on the same or similar topic. Guidelines
for the books reviews are available at: http://bss.sfsu.edu/issel/reviews.htm
Class
Procedures:
Completion
of reading assignments in advance of class meetings and consistent presence and
participation in class are fundamental requirements for the course. If
it is necessary for you to be late or absent, it is your responsibility to
inform the instructor and to make arrangements for covering any material missed.
An excessive number of absences (more than three) will result in the
lowering of the final grade by five percentage points per absence. Please
arrive on time to class. Occasional instances
of arriving late may be unavoidable, but habitual lateness is rude and
demonstrates disrespect to the instructor and to other students. Please
turn off cell phones, and plan to remain in class during the entire meeting.
Students should review the guidelines below in order to prepare for
active and productive participation in discussions. Lectures
will not merely review the assigned reading but will instead expand upon issues
of controversy and interpretive questions related to the topic. Getting
the most out of lectures requires that you read the material on the lecture
topic in the assigned books before the lecture, so that you can be prepared to
understand the additional information provided in the lecture. Attendance
at lectures, conventional wisdom to the contrary
notwithstanding, is not a “passive” experience, at least not to those who
choose to be fully – in mind as well as body – present.
All
written work will be evaluated on the basis of substance and composition.
Students are responsible for keeping copies of all written assignments
that they submit. The due dates for assignments are
made well in advance of the due dates, so there should be no reason
for extensions to be granted. Consequently, all
late papers will be penalized: by one grade if the paper
is not submitted in class on the due date; by another
grade for every class meeting the paper is delinquent (no papers will
be accepted after one week; a grade of F will be
recorded). All course work must be completed in order to
receive a passing grade in this class. Only a doctor's
written excuse or a similar documentation in writing of medical
treatment, university sports team responsibility, or employment-related
emergency will exempt a student from the above requirement.
Guidelines
for Class Participation:
Class
participation will count 10% of your course grade and will be based on the
criteria below.
1.
Are the
points you make in discussion substantive and relevant to the topic under
consideration? Are your comments linked to the comments of
others?
2.
Do your
comments indicate that you have been listening carefully to the lecture and to
the discussion?
3.
Do your
comments clarify and highlight the important aspects of earlier comments and do
they lead to a clearer statement of the concepts and data being covered?
4.
Do your
comments show that you are willing to interact in a positive and supportive
manner with other class members and the instructor?
5.
Do your
comments show evidence of analysis beyond a simple reaction based primarily on
emotions, values, ideologies?
6.
Do your
comments show your ability to distinguish among different types of analytical
approaches, i. e. economic, political, social, cultural, psychological,
linguistic, ideological, ethical, moral, etc.?
7.
Do your
comments indicate your desire to advance our understanding of the subject matter
by developing an appreciation of the complexity of human behavior?
8.
Do your comments indicate your willingness to examine and entertain new
ideas and
perspectives while at the same time adopting a skeptical and critical
spirit?
Class and Exam Schedule. Readings should be completed
prior to the Tuesday meetings.
Aug. 30
Introduction to the Course
Week
1: A City on
a Hill
reading:
BH,
Preface, Prologue & Chapter 1
RAC, Intro, Prologue, and pp. 15-37
SAF, Intro & pp. 3-12
Tues.
Sept. 4 Lecture: Puritans and
their Wilderness
Thu. Sept. 6 Discussion:
“Introduction,” 3-4, John Winthrop, 7-15 Anne Hutchinson,
28-38 & Roger Williams, 39-46
Week
2: Republican Revolutionaries
reading:
BH,
Chapters 2 & 3
RAC,
38-56
SAF, 12-28
Tu. Sept. 11 Lecture: American
Enlightenments
Th. Sept. 13
Discussion: “Introduction,” 95-97 & Franklin,
99-112, Thomas Paine,
125-132 & Thomas Jefferson, 133-136 & 183- 200 Alexander Hamilton
,
137-142 & James Madison, 155-163, Brutus & Murray, 143-54,
164-171
& Adams, 113-124, 172-180
Week
3: Democracy
in America
reading:
BH,
Chapter 4
RAC,
Chapter 2
SAF, Chapters 2 & 3
Tu.
Sept. 18 Lecture: Competing
Visions of American Democracy
Th. Sept. 20 Discussion:
Sarah Grimke, 268-283, Orestes Brownson, 294-309,
Henry Carey, 324-334, George Bancroft, 284-294, Catherine Beecher,
310-324.
Week
4: Revivalists
and Romantics
reading:
BH,
Chapter 5
RAC,
Chapter 2
SAF, Chapter 4
Tu.
Sept. 25 Lecture: Revivalism
and Reform in Antebellum America
Th. Sept. 27 Discussion:
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 341-368 & Henry David Thoreau,
403-416, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, 369-383, Margaret Fuller, 384-402,
Week 5: Manifest Destinies
reading:
BH,
Chapter 6
RAC, Chapter 2
SAF, Chapter 5
Tu.
Oct. 2 Lecture:
Contested Visions of American Progress
Th.
Oct. 4 Discussion:
William Lloyd Garrison, 253-267, “Introduction,” 443-445,
John C. Calhoun, 447-456 & George Fitzhugh, 470-480, Martin Delany,
481-496, Frederick Douglass, 497-512, Abraham Lincoln,
513-529.
Week
6: Survival
of the Fittest
reading:
BH, Chapter 7
RAC,
Chapter 3
SAF,
Chapter 6
Tu.
Oct. 9 Lecture:
Darwinism and Social Darwinism
Th. Oct. 11 Discussion:
“Introduction,” 3-4 (Vol. II), William Graham
Sumner, 20-
29, Lester Frank Ward, 30-38.
Week
7: Subjective
Necessities
reading:
BH,
Chapter 8
RAC,
Chapter 4
SAF, Chapter 7
Tu.
Oct. 16 Lecture: The
Question of Women’s Rights
Th. Oct. 18 Discussion:
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 39-44, Charlotte Perkins
Gilman, 45-51, Jane Addams, 131-136.
Week
8: Populists
and Progressives
reading:
BH,
Chapters 7 & 8
RAC,
Chapters 3 & 4
SAF, Chapter 7
Tu.
Oct. 23 Lecture: American
Idealism in Transition
Th. Oct. 25 Discussion:
“Introduction,” 109-110 & William James, 112-122,
Woodrow Wilson, 123-130, Oliver Wendell Holmes, 137-140,
Thorstein Veblen, 141-155
Week
9: Benevolent
Assimilation
reading:
BH,
Chapter 9
RAC, Chapters 3 & 4
SAF, Chapters 6 & 7
Tu.
Oct. 30 Lecture: The
Debate about American Identity
Th. Nov. 1 Discussion:
W.E.B. DuBois, 156-161, Randolph Bourne, 171-189,
John Crowe Ransom, 207-218
Week 10: Red
Scares and Monkey Trials
reading:
BH,
Chapter 10
RAC,
Chapter 5
SAF,
Chapter 8
Tu.
Nov. 6 Lecture: Thought
and Culture in the Turbulent Twenties
Th. Nov. 8 Discussion:
John Dewey, 162-170, H.L. Mencken, 190-198, Margaret
Mead, 199-206
Week
11: American Dilemmas
reading:
BH,
Chapters 11 & 12
RAC,
Chapter 5
SAF, Chapters 9 & 10
Tu.
Nov. 13 Lecture: A New
Deal for American Thought and Culture?
Th. Nov. 15 Discussion: “Introduction,”
231-232 & David Lilinethal, 243-248,
Sidney Hook, 219-228, Gunnar Myrdal, 249-257, Reinhold
Niebuhr,
258-265.
Tu. Nov. 20 Religious Freedom and
American Thought and Culture
Discussion: Murray, “We Hold These Truthts” 316-323.
Week 12: Modernism
and its Discontents
reading:
BH,
Chapters 13 & 14
RAC
Chapter 6 and 247-267
SAF, Chapters 11 & 12
Tu.
Nov. 27 Lecture: The
Ambiguous Legacy of Victory in World War II
Th. Nov. 29 Discussion: Chambers,
Arendt & Erickson, 273-314,
Bell, Rostow & Mills, 338-361, King, Friedan, & Malcolm X,
376-390 & 398-405.
Week
13: Contemporary American
Thought and Culture
reading:
BH,
Chapter 15
RAC,
Chapter 7: 268-290
SAF, Chapter 13
Tu.
Dec. 4 Lecture:
Is Contemporary America Experiencing Culture Wars ?
Th. Dec. 6 Discussion:
Clement Greenberg, 233-242 & Susan Sontag, 391-397,
Ralph Ellison, 422-439, Kwame Anthony Appiah, 470-481,
Nancy Chodorow, 440-451 & Judith Butler, 463-469