Readings and Discussions


September 5              Introduction 
                                                       

September 10            Movie:    The Atomic Cafe       

September 12            Movie:    The Atomic Cafe

September 17            The Cold War

September 19             The Cold War:    Politics and foreign policy

                                  The Truman Doctrine
                                   Zinn, A People's History of the United States, 1945-60
                                  Schrecker,  " Setting the Anti-Communist Agenda"
                                  Acheson's speech, January 12, 1950
                                  Excerpts from NSC-68 (April 7, 1950)
                                  McCarthy to the U.S. Senate (February 12, 1950)
                                  Discussion Questions

 

September 24            The Cold War:  The domestic front

                                 Movie:    Seeds of the Sixties

 
September 26               Schrecker, "The Legacy of McCarthyism"
                                    Rosenberg Verdict (1951)

                                    Kerouac, On the Road
                                  Holmes, "This is the Beat Generation"
                                  Allen, "Communists Should Not Teach in American Colleges"
                                   Homosexuals in the Government
                                  Higher Education's Appalling Responsibilities
                                  Mental Hygiene        
                                  Discussion Questions                                            

October 1          Origins of the Vietnam War, 1945-1963

October 3                 Vietnam Declaration of Independence
                                 Eisenhower Explains the Domino Theory
                                 JFK: Inaugural Address
                                  White House Statement on Vietnam, November 1954
                                  Rusk-McNamara Report
                                 McNamara on Vietnam (1995)

                                 Geneva Conference, 1954
                                         A U.S. Army advisor remembers his experiences (1962-63)
                                         Kennedy Reaffirms the Domino Theory
                                 Discussion Questions 

October 10                  Civil Rights

                                        Movie:  Breaking Boundaries

 

October 15                Farber, chapters 4 and 7
                                  King, Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963)
                                  King, I Have A Dream (1963)                   
                                  Malcolm X, The "Black Revolution" speeches (1964)
                                  Stokely Carmichael, Black Power (1966)
                                  Stokely Carmichael obituary (1998)

                                           Mississippi Freedom Project: Letters to Home
                                          Black Panther Platform (1966)
                                  JFK Speech ( June 11, 1963)

                                   Discussion Questions                 
       

October 17                Movie:  The Wild One (We are meeting in Building 200, room 203)
                                
Discussion Questions

October 22                Movie:  The Wild One
                                          Essay Writing
                                          Discussion Questions                                        

October 24           The Johnson Legacy:  Vietnam and the Great Society

                            Farber, chapter 5
                             Harrington, The Other America
                           Johnson, The Great Society (1964)

                                  Morgenthau, "Vietnam and the National Interest"
                                 Johnson's speech, April 7, 1965
                                 Johnson's Farewell Address, March 31, 1968
                                 U.S. Objectives in South Vietnam, 1964
                                 Johnson's Message to Congress, August 5, 1964
                                 Johnson's Decision to Commit Troops to South Vietnam
                            Discussion Questions
                       

October 29        American Women, 1945 - 1970
                         

October 31         Farber, chapter 1                          
                          A Purpose for Modern Woman (1955)

                          Modern Woman:  The Lost Sex (1947)
                          How to Be a Good Wife (1954)

                          Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (1963)
                          N.O.W. Statement of Purpose (1966)

                                Female Liberation c. 1970
                                Steinem, Women's Liberation (1970)
                          Manifesto of Shared Rape (1971)
                          Discussion Questions 

November 5        Student Protest and the New Left

November 7     Farber, chapters 6 and 7
                          A Call to Resist Authority (1967)
                          King, Declaration of Independence (1967)
                          Hayden, The Port Huron Statement (1962)

                                Savio's speech, FSM sit-in, December 3, 1964
                                Savio "The Berkeley Student Rebellion of 1964"
                                Students for Law and Order (December 1964)
                                Schlesinger, "The New Mood in Politics" (1960)
                          Discussion Questions 

November 14    The war:  various perspectives

 

November 19    Movie:  In a Dark Time
                          The Arrogance of Power (1966)
                         Life Publishes One Week's Dead in Vietnam (1969)

                         Proclamation of the Anti-Draft Resistance
                         A Soldier Remembers his Idealism (1965)
                         The Draft's Inequities (1969)
                         At War in Vietnam
                         Vietnam Veterans Against the War (1971)

                         Smith, "The Nurse With Round Eyes" (1971)                               
                         Farber,  chapter 10
                         Discussion Questions 
 

November 21 & 26       Culture/Counterculture

                          Movie:  Easy Rider 
                          William Shatner, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds...really...!                                              

                          Discussion Questions 

November 28    Nixon and the end of Vietnam

December 3    Cronkite, "We Are Mired in Stalemate" (1968)
                               Nixon's Speech on Vietnamization (1969)
                               Nixon's Speech on Cambodia (1970)
                               The Shooting at Kent State (1970)
                              "Pacification's Deadly Price", Newsweek, June 19, 1972
                               Jane Fonda's Hanoi Broadcast
                               Address to the Nation, January 23, 1973
                         Farber, chapter 11
                         Discussion Questions  - to be distributed in class