Mondays/Wednesdays 6:00-8:30 p.m., Rm. UW1-030
Office: UW1-137
Office hours:
Mondays and Wednesdays, 12:45-1:45 and 4:45-5:45 p.m.
(except July 21), and by appt., from June 21 through August 18
In addition to the Civil War, the Great Depression, and World War II, the 1960s arguably constitute one of the historical and cultural watersheds of American history, and certainly have altered forever the course of American history and culture. Using original and secondary sources, we will explore the most turbulent decade of the twentieth century, examining the intersections of the civil rights, women's, and gay rights movements; the Cold War; the space race; the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations; and figures and forces in popular culture, including television, film, and folk and rock-and-roll music. We will focus particularly on the connections between ideas and culture in the 1960s.
We will take an interdisciplinary, American studies approach to the material, drawing from history, culture studies, literary studies, political science, and sociology to achieve a complex understanding of the sometimes bewildering forces that constituted the 1960s. Along the way, we will examine "meta-issues" involved in the American studies approach to culture, such as historiographical debates regarding the "meaning" of the 1960s decade, its precursors, and its legacy. For example, did the 1960s mark the end of a constrained, culturally infertile, and undemocratic period that oppressed women and minorities, or were the 1960s the beginning of the end of a formerly great nation that understood its purpose and its place in the international scene? Were they a time of liberation, or a time characterized by a consumer culture that has sentenced future generations to the amoral purposelessness of late capitalism?
By the end of this course, you should be able to analyze, with detail and complexity, the intersecting forces of the 1960s, and to apply the interdisciplinary methods of American studies to such analyses. In other words, you are developing, simultaneously, historical and cultural knowledge and the skills to understand it. You also will hone your speaking and writing abilities and your use of technology in the pursuit of understanding and the communication of ideas.
Students are encouraged to complete one upper-division course in American literature, history, or film before taking this course. Interdisciplinary Studies students should not register for this or any other 400-level course until they have completed at least one core course.
Course
texts (available in the UWB Bookstore [save your receipts for
a patronage
refund] and in library
reserve/reference).
Note: Click here
<http://www.bookstore.washington.edu/ubs/main.taf?area=attribute&page=university&catagory=uw_bothell&nav=on>
to order books online (free shipping). Click on the link for the
appropriate quarter, then enter the line number (LN) shown at the top
of this page for "UW SLN Code" (leave other spaces blank) and hit
'enter.' All items have been ordered; contact the bookstore if some
materials are not listed.
Article abstract #1
(due as part of midquarter portfolio on July 26) 15% Article abstract #2
(due as part of learning portfolio on Aug. 11) 15%
E-responses (several short postings in Blackboard) 15%
Learning
portfolio (including a reflective
paper of 600-1000 words, due Aug. 11) 10% 45%
TOTAL
100%
A note about grades: I know that students often need to juggle school, work, family, and other obligations. I never second-guess students' priorities, and I never think less of students who choose to devote more time and effort to one of these other obligations rather than to an assignment or the course as a whole. I respect the maturity of students who establish their priorities, make difficult choices, and accept the consequences of those decisions. Also, remember that your grade is based solely on my professional assessment of the quantity and quality of your work, not on your effort or on my opinion of you as an individual.
For an explanation of the University of Washington grading system, see <http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/front/Grading_Sys.html>.
Schedule:
M 06/21 Introduction; pre-write W 06/23 Associated Students*; Reeves*; pre-course questionnaire (click
on this link from online syllabus)
due by 5:50 p.m. View and discuss The 1950s: Promoting the American
Dream (The Twentieth-Century series, 50 min., BOMER MPI 7427);
discuss Reeves M 06/28 Discuss Morgan; view first 75 min. of Bonnie and Clyde (112
min., BOT 986) W 06/30 Kael* View last 37
min. of Bonnie and Clyde;
discuss Kael and film; OPTIONAL computer lab session from 7:30 to 8:30
in LB1-222 M 07/05 Morgan ch. 2 NO CLASS MEETING W 07/07 M 07/12 Discuss Morgan W 07/14 M 07/19 W 07/21 M 07/26 Morgan ch. 5; midquarter
portfolio
(including article abstract
#1)
due online by 5:50 p.m. W 07/28 M 08/02 W 08/04 Friedan*; complete
course-end questionnaire (click
on this link from online syllabus) after 8:30
p.m. today and before 5:50
p.m. on Aug. 9 M 08/09 Morgan ch. 7; e-response #4 due in Blackboard by 5:50
p.m.; course-end
questionnaire (click
on this link from online syllabus)
due by 5:50 p.m. W 08/11 Lipsitz*; learning
portfolio (including article
abstract #2 and reflective paper) due online by 5:50 p.m. M 08/16 W 08/18
by beginning of class
Morgan ch. 1
Davis*
Discuss Davis; view and
discuss The Real Malcolm X
(60 min., BOT 655)
Morgan ch. 3
E-response #1 due in Blackboard by 5:50 p.m.
View
and discuss Berkeley in the
Sixties (117 min., BOT 180)
Morgan
ch. 4
Discuss
Morgan
E-response #2
due in Blackboard by 5:50 p.m.
NO CLASS MEETING
Discuss Morgan; view
and discuss Turn on the
Revolution: Counterculture and the Psychedelic Revolution
(Rebels: A Journey Underground series, 47 min., BOMER FWA 021 pt. 3)
View Easy
Rider (95 min., on
reserve at Campus Media Center [BOTDVD-58] or rented on your own) OR
VIEW IN CLASS TONIGHT
OPTIONAL: View Easy Rider if you have not viewed it on your own
Morgan ch. 6; e-response #3
due in Blackboard by 5:50 p.m.
Discuss
Easy Rider; discuss
Morgan
Discuss Friedan
Discuss Morgan
Discuss Lipsitz and 1960s music
View and discuss The Graduate (106 min.,
BOT 71)
Conclusion
This schedule is subject to change. The most current schedule will always be posted here <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/BIS461Syl.html> for your reference, and changes will be announced in class, by e-mail, or both. This course requires a learning portfolio instead of a final examination.
Keep a copy of all submitted work. No extra credit or paper re-writes will be permitted except as noted, but I will gladly assist you with your work. In-class exercises cannot be made up for any reason because the group interaction is irreproducible. (See below for information on participation.) Late assignments will be accepted only in extenuating circumstances that could not have been anticipated, and only as specified; penalties will apply as specified. Keep all graded materials; Interdisciplinary Studies majors will need them for their senior seminar portfolio.
In accordance with University policy, I give Incompletes only if you are passing the course and attending class to within two weeks of the end of the quarter, and then only in extenuating circumstances that can be proven.
I will do my best to accommodate all documented disabilities (physical, learning, cognitive, or other). See <http://www.bothell.washington.edu/students/dss/index.html> for information.
I am very strict about deadlines, for two reasons: (1) I have very limited grading time, and late papers make it hard for me to return graded papers in a timely manner; and (2) I want everyone to have exactly the same amount of work time for the sake of fairness. Please do not put me in the position of trying to decide arbitrarily how late is "late." Take responsibility for getting work to me at the beginning of class when it is due, not ten minutes, two hours, or a day later. Rest assured that everyone is being treated equally.
IMPORTANT: I insist on academic integrity. You are responsible for
understanding all aspects of University regulations regarding
academic integrity. Breaches of academic integrity, including but not
limited to cheating (e.g., copying another person's work or
obtaining examination answers in a dishonest manner) and
plagiarism (i.e., using another person's words or ideas
without proper acknowledgment), whether intentional or
accidental, will result in a zero for the assignment or
examination; additional sanctions may be imposed by the University
administration. Note that American rules regarding plagiarism might
differ markedly from those in other countries. You can find more
information in the University Handbook and in the document, "Avoiding
Academic Misconduct" <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Integrity.html>.
I will help you any way I can so you can succeed while maintaining
academic integrity. I truly want you to do well. Visit my office
hours often!
About class communication:
Please carefully read the "Class Communication" document at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Communication.html>, which I consider to be part of this syllabus.
About participation:
Please carefully read the "Class Participation" document at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Partic.html>, which I consider to be part of this syllabus.
Be considerate of your instructors and classmates. Please turn off cell phones, pagers, and watch alarms before entering a classroom. Also, be aware that entering a classroom after class has started distracts your instructor and your classmates. If you must do it, please try to enter through a back door, if possible. That probably will distract your instructor (for which you should later apologize), but at least it will reduce the disruption you cause your classmates.
If you need to drop: You and I both invest a significant amount of time and effort having you in this course, so it is unfortunate when students do not complete a course that they began, especially a course in which other students were denied entry. Sometimes, however, students need to drop a course for good reasons. If that should become the case, I ask, as a favor, that you send me an e-mail message notifying me that you are dropping the course. Of course, I hope everyone who starts the course can complete it, so your work and time and mine are put to good use!
Welcome to the course!
This page last updated July 12, 2004.
