Click on course title for more information.
SPRING QUARTER 2008
HSTAA 303 (Spring 2008) - Modern American Civilization From 1877
This is a survey course of the United States from the Reconstruction Era to the present, focusing on the relationship between state and society, economic and technological change, and struggles for civil and economic rights. The course covers pivotal events, transformative public figures, and social and cultural forces shaping the modern U.S., its relationship with its own citizens, and its changing role in the world. ALSO OFFERED SPRING 2009.
WINTER QUARTER 2008
HIST 494 (Winter 2008) - Left, Right, and Center: Party Politics in Modern America
This senior seminar explores the evolution of the national Democratic, Republican, and independent political parties over the course of the twentieth century. We address how shifting demographics, market changes, and social issues changed the composition of the major national parties over time, and examine key political leaders who shaped the identity and future of their political party – from Teddy Roosevelt to Franklin Roosevelt, Strom Thurmond to Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon to Ronald Reagan, to two Bushes and two Clintons. Readings and discussion cover the major social movements that shifted party allegiances, watershed elections, cultural and social issues shaping party platforms, and the growing influence of the independent voter. Our work in this seminar will consider differing approaches to and definitions of 'political history' over time, and how this subfield relates to the broader sweep of American historican scholarship. Successful participation in this class will provide an opportunity for critical analysis and understanding of evolution of the party system and its relative significance, and an understanding of historical antecedents to present-day national political debates.
HSTAA 590/PB AF 599 (Winter 2008) - The State and Social Policy
This graduate readings course focuses on the emergence of the broadly defined American welfare state, including health care, social insurance, employment, and anti-poverty programs , from the Progressive Era to the present. Our readings and discussions will trace this history from the reform movements of late-19th-century cities, through the establishment of early state-level programs for women and children, to the New Deal, the Great Society, and “the end of welfare as we know it.” We will consider how and why social welfare provision in the US is different from international counterparts, and more broadly consider the historiography of welfare states here and abroad.
TO BE OFFERED 2008-2009
HIST 490 - The History of Suburbia
This upper-level undergraduate/graduate seminar explores the suburbanization of cities in the United States and around the world, from the nineteenth century to the twenty-first. Considering the role of politics and policy, economics, technology, and popular culture, we will examine the many different kinds of suburbs and their broader societal impact.
HSTAA 509/510 - United States Urban History
This graduate seminar explores the historiography of urban America and changing interpretations of the American city and its inhabitants. We read major works in the field of U.S. history, exploring in particular the history of urban governance and reform, city planning, urban space and neighborhood segregation, urban “crisis” and recovery, and the tension between the urban and the non-urban in American culture and politics. The course also considers American cities in an international context, identifying major international trends and influences upon American urban policy and planning, and comparing and contrasting the drivers of urbanization in other nations and continents.
Course archives |
