History 5473-01

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

E-mail: hgoodson@westga.edu Website: http://www.westga.edu/~hgoodson/

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

Course Description: This course will explore the social, political, cultural, and economic history of the United States since World War II. . This course will expose students to the major trends, events, and personalities of the period, as well as exploring the lives of ordinary people. Assignments will allow students to expand their historiographical knowledge and to sharpen their writing, interpretive, and research skills. Grad students will be held to higher standards of performance than will undergraduates.

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 you 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: Students will write a 4-5 page paper on each of the books we will read this semester. In addition, each student will write a 15-18 page term paper, which will be due on April 28.

Evaluation: The three exams will each account for 15 percent of the grade, class participation (including presentations and discussion of Major Problems) for 20 percent, the three short papers for a total of 15 percent, and the final paper for 25 percent.

Reading List (available at the campus bookstore):

Paul S. Boyer, Promises to Keep: The United States Since World War II (3^rd ed.)

Robert Griffith and Paula Baker, Major Problems in American History Since 1945 (2^nd ed.)

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

May 1 – Final Papers Due

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