This course provides an overview of important topics in American history from Reconstruction to the present.  Surveying the fields of political, social, cultural, and diplomatic history, we will read recently published works that incorporate a variety of historiographical and methodological approaches.  The course is intended to familiarize students with the major currents in U.S. historiography while developing critical reading and writing skills.

•  Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution
•  Michael Kazin, The Populist Persuasion
•  Emily Rosenberg, Spreading the American Dream
•  Robert Wiebe, The Search for Order
•  Alan Trachenberg, The Incorporation of America
•  Nancy Cott, The Grounding of Modern Feminism
•  George Chauncey, Gay New York
•  James R. Grossman, Land of Hope
•  Lizabeth Cohen, Making a New Deal
•  Steve Fraser & Gary Gerstle, eds., Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order
•  Robert Buzzanco, Masters of War
•  Charles Payne, I've Got the Light of Freedom

The class will meet once a week for two hours.  Attendance and participation in discussion is essential and will be the most significant factor in grading.  Each week, students will submit a one-page précis of the book assigned for that class. Students will also be required to make periodic written and oral presentations related to the week's reading (see page 3). At the end of the semester, there will be a 12-15 page essay assignment asking you to integrate and reflect upon the themes of the course.
 

Jan. 25: Introduction: Course Objectives, Methods, and Format

• Foner, Reconstruction, pp. xix-280

• Foner, Reconstruction, pp. 281-612

• Kazin, The Populist Persuasion

• Rosenberg, Spreading the American Dream

• Wiebe, The Search for Order, pp. 1-223
• Trachenberg, The Incorporation of America, pp. 3-69, 101-139

March 8: Women's History

• Cott, The Grounding of Modern Feminism

• Chauncey, Gay New York

• Grossman, Land of Hope

• Cohen, Making a New Deal

April 12: The New Deal and Postwar Liberalism

• Fraser & Gerstle, The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order, pp. 85-211

April 26: Vietnam

• Buzzanco, Masters of War

• Payne, I've Got the Light of Freedom

Each week, a team of three students will be responsible for short in-class presentations on the reading for that session.  One student will be responsible for introducing and leading the discussion on the book itself; another will provide an annotated historiography/bibliography of the subject for that week; and the third will present a summary of the scholarly reviews which the book received. Although these discreet tasks should be prepared individually, I would encourage each team of students to meet sometime before class to share ideas and strategies.
 

Discussion Leader:

This individual should provide a brief introduction to the book and prepare a list of open-ended discussion questions for the class.  First, the discussion leader should make sure that students understand the basic thesis and argument of the book; he/she can then explore the more specific issues of sources, scope of topic, interpretation, writing style, organization, etc.
 

Historiographic/Bibliographic Presentation:

This assignment will vary depending on the subject we are examining. For certain topics in political and diplomatic history, there are well-defined historiographic schools of thought that can be easily delineated, with a bibliography arranged accordingly. For other topics, particularly those in the newer fields of social and cultural history, the debates are less clear cut. In this case, you will need to focus more on changing trends, methodologies, and subject matter, with an annotated bibliography of particularly important works.  In both cases, students will provide both written bibliographies (1-2 pages) and oral presentations (10-15 minutes). Please consult with me for advice on your particular topic.
 

Reviews:

At the end of each session, one student will present an oral summary (about 10 minutes) of the published scholarly reviews of the book under discussion.  The objective here is to see how professional historians evaluate each other's work and to raise points that the class may have overlooked.