History 4473-01

The U.S. Since 1945

Spring 2005

Professor: Steve Goodson

Place and Time: Pafford 208, T-Th 3:30-4:45

Office: TLC 3224 Office Phone: (678) 839-6042 History Department Office: (678) 839-6508

Office Hours: MW 2:30-5:00, T-Th 2:00-3:20; or by appointment.

Website: http://www.westga.edu/~hgoodson/

Course Description: This course will explore the social, political, cultural, and economic history of the United States since World War II. In addition to providing a factual background on postwar U.S. history, this course should help students develop and sharpen their reading, writing, and analytical skills.

Exams: There will be two midterm exams and a final exam. Exam questions will be drawn from the assigned readings, from class discussions, from lectures, and from any other material (films, music, handouts, etc.) presented in class. The final exam will not be cumulative. Make-up exams will be given only if the student provides a written doctor’s excuse. It is the student’s responsibility to let me know in advance if he or she will have to miss an exam.

Class Participation: I do not intend for this to be predominantly a “lecture” class. I will do my share of talking and explaining, but this is an upper level/graduate course, and each student will be responsible for coming to class prepared to discuss the important themes and points in that day’s reading. In order to encourage students to do the reading, there may be short in-class writing assignments as well as unannounced quizzes. Attendance will be taken daily and a student’s attendance record will play a significant role in determining his or her final grade. Students are expected to arrive in class on time and to remain until class is ended. Inappropriate classroom behavior (talking, sleeping, etc.) will severely damage a student’s final grade. Please turn off cell phones before entering class!

Assignments: Each student will be required to prepare brief (3-4 pages) papers on each of the books we will read this semester. In addition, each student will write an end-of-term paper (7-9 pages) which will be due on April 28.

Evaluation: The three exams will count for a total of 55 percent of the grade, the three book papers for a total of 15 percent, the end-of-term paper for 15 percent, and class participation for 15 percent.

Reading List (available at the campus bookstore):

Paul S. Boyer, Promises to Keep: The United States Since World War II

Alice Hoffman, Seventh Heaven

Philip J. Caputo, A Rumor of War

Melissa Faye Greene, Praying For Sheetrock

Tentative Class Schedule

Date and Required Reading

Jan. 11 – Introduction

Jan. 13 – Chapter 1: Crucible of Change: World War II and the Forging of Modern America

Jan. 18, 20 – Chapter 2: “Not Since Rome and Carthage”: Into the Cold War

Jan. 25, 27 – Chapter 3: Uneasiness at Dawn: Domestic Trends in the Early Postwar Years

Feb. 1, 3 – Chapter 4: Modern Republicanism and Suburban Togetherness in the 1950s

Feb. 8 – Chapter 5: The Other Side of the Picture Window: Outsiders, Dissidents, and Critics in the 1950s

Feb. 10 – Seventh Heaven

Feb. 15 – First Exam

Feb. 17 – No Reading

Feb. 22, 24 – Chapter 6: The Cold War Heats Up: From Sputnik to Vietnam

March 1 – Chapter 7: The Liberal Hour

March 3, 8 – Chapter 8: The Civil Rights Movement at Flood Tide

March 10 – Chapter 9: Radicalization: Black Power, the New Left, and the Counterculture

March 15 – Chapter 10: Out of Control: War in Vietnam, Protest at Home

March 17 – Second Exam

March 21-25 – Spring Break

March 29 – A Rumor of War

March 31, April 5 – Chapter 11: 1968 and the Nixon Years

April 7, 12 – Chapter 12: Reform in the Nation, Crisis in Washington

April 14 – Chapter 13: Picking Up the Pieces: Post-Watergate America

April 19 – Praying for Sheetrock

April 21 – Chapter 14: Prime-Time Politics: The Reagan-Bush Years

April 26 – Chapter 15: America at the Turn of the Century: Prosperity, Scandal, a Changing Society

April 28 – Chapter 16: A Sea of Troubles, Glimmers of Promise, as a New Century Dawns

Final Papers Due

Thursday, May 5 – Final Exam (2:00-4:00)