


Professors: Darren Bardell
Eligible for English 151B & 163, Completed History 117A & 117B
Catalog Description:
This course surveys the post-World War II role of the United States in
World affairs and explores the socio-political development of the nation from
1945 to the present. It will emphasize the growing cultural pluralism of twentieth
century America. It is not intended to satisfy the History/Government requirement
for transfer or the General Education requirement at CSU..
Course Content:
1. Background:
a. Manifest Destiny: U.S. Expansionism in the 19th Century
b. From Isolation to Intervention: The U.S. Enters the World Stage
2. The World's Superpower
a. Collapse of the Old Order, rise of the New
b. The Onset of the Cold War
c. Cold War Crisis
i. Berlin
ii. Korea
iii. China
d. Shifts in Policy Making
e. Foreign Policy Establishment
3. Postwar Adjustments, 1946-1953
a. From War to Peace
b. The Fair Deal
i. Domestic Economics
ii. Civil Rights
c. Anticommunism at Home
i. Domestic Surveillance
ii. McCarthyism
iii. Nixonism
d. The Promise and Perils of Progress
4. Eisenhower Republicanism
a. Domestic Politics
b. Republican Foreign Policies
i. New Look
ii. Summitry
iii. The Dulles Brothers
c. The Third World and the Cold War
i. Vietnam: The French and U.S. Money
ii. Interventionism: Iran, Guatemala, Lebanon, Cuba
5. Life During the 1950
a. Gender and Family
i. Rosie Returns Home
ii. Baby Boom
iii. The Burbs
iv. Sexual Politics
b. The Culture of Consumption
i. Travel and Sports
ii. TV
iii. Music: Pop vs. Rock and Roll
iv. Emergence of the Youth Culture
c. Race, Ethnicity, and Urban Issues
i. African Americans
ii. Mexican Americans
iii. American Indians
iv. Asian Americans
v. Urban Life and the ¿Invisible Poor¿
6. The Promise and Perils of the 1960s
a. JFK
i. The Election of 1960
ii. New Frontier, Camelot
iii. JFK as Cold Warrior
1. Cuba: Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis
2. Indochina: Laos, Vietnam
3. Berlin
iv. Assassination
b. LBJ
i. The Great Society and War on Poverty
ii. The Warren Court
c. From Civil Rights to Black Power
i. Historical Background: From Douglas and Garvey to B.T. Washington and Dubois
ii. Ike and JFK years
1. Lunch Counters, Marches, and Busses
2. Brown v. Board: Separate not Equal
iii. LBJ Years
1. Civil Rights Act of 1964
2. MLK
3. Urban Riots
4. Black Power
d. New Conservatism
e. The Youth Movement
i. New Left
ii. Radical Politics from the Campus to the Streets
iii. SDS
1. Civil Rights
2. Anti-War Movement
iv. The Counter Culture: Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll
f. 1968: The Turning Point and Days of Rage
i. Tet Offensive: Impact Abroad and at Home
ii. Chicago
iii. Assassinations and Riots
iv. Fall of LBJ
g. The Search for Empowerment
i. African American Politics
ii. Mexican American Politics
iii. American Indian Movement
iv. A New Women¿s Movement
v. Gay and Lesbian Empowerment
h. Nixon
i. Cold Warrior: Kissinger and World Politics, 1969-1976
ii. Vietnam and Cambodia
iii. Economy
iv. Watergate
v. Ford¿s Presidency
7. The 1970s: Times of Turmoil and Malaise
a. Carter Presidency
i. Economic Problems
ii. Foreign Policy Problems
iii. Image Problem and the Election of 1980
b. A Gathering of Giants
i. The Military Industrial Complex
ii. Business Giants
iii. Energy and Ecology
iv. Land and Real Estate
c. Popular Culture
i. Film and TV
ii. Sports
iii. Music
iv. Religion
8. A Conservative Turn, 1980-1992
a. Reagan
i. Domestic Politics
ii. Voodoo Economics
iii. Drugs and HIV
iv. The New Cold War, 1981-1987
b. George Bush
i. Domestic Politics
ii. The Economy ¿Stupid¿
iii. Persian Gulf War
c. The Image Industry
i. Reagan Revisionism, Film and TV
ii. The Politics of Cultural Confrontation
9. New Democrats
a. Clinton
i. 1992 Election
ii. First Term
1. First Lady
2. Economy
iii. Second Term
1. Legal Battles
2. Foreign Policy
iv. The New Economy
1. Globalization
2. .com boom
3. Outsourcing
b. Republicans Fight Back
i. Contract with America
ii. Religious Conservatism
c. The 2000 & 2004 Elections
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Questions, Comments, and/or Suggestions: AKirshner@ohlone.edu

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