ABOVE CLASS OPEN TO UNDERGRADUATES AND
EDUCATION MA’S ONLY
Need study skills help?  Then contact the Student Academic Center
(855-7313) for on-line authorization for EDUC-X101 (Learning
Strategies for History, two additional credits) that will be offered
2:30 MW or 4:00 MW.

This lecture class explores the fundamental social, cultural,
political, and economic forces shaping the most recent history of
the United States.  Beginning with the late 1980s, the course
focuses especially on defining “globalization” and its implications
for American society. Topics include: the Persian Gulf War and
the “New World Order”; the impact of immigration;
deindustrialization, outsourcing, and the spread of multinationals;
the rise of Al Qaeda and 9/11; and the U.S. response to terrorism,
including the “Bush Doctrine” and the Afghan and Iraq wars.   We
will also intensively study: the conservative political
revolution; “culture wars” over sexuality, abortion, and religion;
changing patterns of class, race relations, and family life; and the
economic and cultural impact of the information revolution.
Throughout, the class seeks to understand the historical roots of
contemporary life.

In pursuing these goals, the course emphasizes students’ development
of critical analytical skills through closely examining different
kinds of historical evidence and the expression of ideas through
writing papers and exams and participating in discussion.
Particularly because there is hardly any written history about this
period of American life yet, we will do what professional historians
have to do—study a broad range of primary sources including
speeches, congressional debates, government documents, court
rulings, newspaper and magazine articles, advertisements, memoirs,
films, and television programs.  Assignments, which average 65 pages
a week, include a variety of on-line materials, two books (D.
Clayton Brown, "Globalization and America since 1945" and Anthony
Swofford, "Jarhead: A Marine’s Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other
Battles"), and two films ("Bulworth" and "Lost in Translation").
	
Each student will write several brief papers (1 to 3 pages), two in-
class tests, and a final exam.  The grading formula is:
participation in discussion section, 30%; all the short papers, 15%;
two in-class tests, 15% each; and final exam, 25%.

There are no prerequisites for this course, which is open to
undergraduates from freshmen to seniors.