CONN 359 | The United States in the 1960s

This course explores the history of the United States during the "long 1960s." Focusing especially on topics and themes in political, social, and cultural history, the course emphasizes the movements for change that challenged existing norms in arenas as varied as race relations, sexuality, gender, and foreign affairs, and engages the intersection of politics and art in these contests. Employing methods and sources from a range of disciplines, key themes in the course include the construction of cultural concepts of liberalism and conservatism, of gradualism and radicalism; the complications of alliance across racial, class and gender lines; Americans' often conflicting views of themselves, of the responsibilities of citizenship, and of their role in the world; the complex role of the media in shaping those understandings; the complicated relationship between activism and the counterculture on the one hand, and between events at home and abroad on the other; the exposure of secrecy and abuse of power in the government and a corresponding growth of distrust among the citizenry; and generational conflict. This course counts as an upper-division elective in the History Major