1:25-2:15P     TR     SW119

Above section open to freshmen and sophomores only
Above section carries culture studies credit

How did life on this planet change in the decades following World War
II, which saw the inauguration of the United Nations, the fall of the
Soviet Union, the rise of global mass culture, the birth of the
internet, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the development of new
ideas about gender roles, and so many other dramatic transformations?
How can we best put these trends and events into longterm perspective
and assess what is and is not novel about the increasingly globalized
world of today?  How can we appreciate the ways that lifestyles of the
present differ in more and less developed parts of the world?  These
are the kinds of questions we will explore together in this class, via
lectures, film clips, talks by guest speakers, and other means, as
well as through readings that will range from a book on struggles for
human rights in various parts of the world, to a novel on coming of
age under Communism, to memoirs and works of reportage.  The goal of
this class is to supply students with a range of skills and techniques
that can take with them beyond the classroom and apply whenever they
want to place contemporary events into a meaningful historical
framework.