America in the Sixties module (HY32032)

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Credits

30

Module code

HY32032

  • Level 3
  • Semester 1
  • History - School of Humanities
  • Coursework 100%

Description

The aims of this module are to:

  • explore the social and political history of the United States in the 1960s
  • examine its relevance to the US today
  • examine debates over race, gender and sexuality during the 1960s
  • improve students' abilities to read original sources (in English translation) and use them to construct their own argument

Topics will include:

  • An appreciation of how public discourse on questions relating to race, gender and sexuality shaped the development of social and political attitudes during this period
  • The Cold War at home
  • JFK
  • The Civil Rights Movement
  • The Politics of the great society and its critics
  • The Vietnam war at home and abroad
  • Feminism and the Women's Rights Movement
  • Riots and Rebellions: the polarization of American society and politics
  • The rise of the New Right
  • The sixties legacy

Convenor

Dr Zoe Colley

Teaching

This module will be taught by direct contact with students for a total of three hours a week. 

Lectures will serve the purpose of delivering a broad overview of the themes and issues relating to weekly topics, and seminars will further explore certain aspects of the topic. 

Assessment

This module is assessed as follows:

  • Journal 35%
  • Presentation 15%
  • Essay 50%

Reading

  • Thomas Paterson., Major Problems in American History Since 1945. (2007).
  • David Farber., The Columbia Guide to America in the Sixties. (2003).
  • Peter Levy., America in the Sixties - Right, Left and Centre, A Documentary History. (1998).
  • Richard Goodwin., Remembering America in the Sixties: A Voice from the Sixties. (1998).
  • Mark Lytle., America's Uncivil Wars: The Sixties Era from Elvis to the Fall of Richard Nixon. (2005).
  • Michael Heale., The Sixties in America: History, Politics and Protest. (2011).
  • Douglas Miller., On Our Own: America in the Sixties. (1995).
  • John Greene., America in the Sixties. (2010).

Access the online reading list system

Courses

This module is available on following courses: