HHS 126: US History since 1865

Schedule, Reading List, & Assignments

The schedule and assignments are subject to change during the semester. If you rely on a printed version of this schedule, please check back here regularly to make sure you have the most current version.

Last revised: April 24, 2015

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Date Topic Reading Assignment Assignment
       
Tues 1/20 Introduction    
Thurs 1/22 Freedom, the Civil War, and Reconstruction - Foner, xiii-xxii & 95-113 reading response 1 due
       
Tues 1/27 The Failures of Reconstruction - Edwards, New Spirits, pages 1-37 (Canvas)
 
Thurs 1/29 No class meeting    
       
Tues 2/3 Reconstruction - Revisit Edwards, New Spirits, pages 1-37
Thurs 2/5 Industrialization - Edwards, New Spirits, pages 38-59 (Canvas)
reading response 2 due
       
Tues 2/10 Freedom in the Gilded Age - Foner, 115-137 Essay 1 topic due
Thurs 2/12 Progressivism - Foner, 138-161
reading response 3 due

       
Tues 2/17 No Class - Monday Schedule    
Thurs 2/19 Digital History of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era Notes on Digital History Essay 1 due
       
Tues 2/24 Capitalism and Democracy at the Turn of the 20th Century - Foner, 162-194 reading response 4 due
Thurs 2/26 Henry Ford - PBS, Henry Ford
- Taylorism on ABC World News Report
 
       
Tues 3/3 The Open Door and the Great War - Revisit Foner, 162-194
- Origins of World War I
 
Thurs 3/5 Snow Day!    
       
Tues 3/10 Depression and New Deal - Foner, 195-218 Group presentation - see Canvas for details
Thurs 3/12 The New Deal Order in Historical Perspective    
       
Tues 3/17 & Thurs 3/19 No Class - Spring Break    
       
Tues 3/24 World War II - Foner, 219-248 reading response 5 due
Thurs 3/26 Cold War: Containment and Propaganda - Foner, 249-273
reading response 6 due
       
Tues 3/31 Cold War: More Propaganda In-class viewing:
- The Cold War: Reds, 1948-1953
- Eisenhower's Farewell Address, January 17, 1961 (transcript and archival materials)
- Soviet Animated Propaganda, Part I
 
Thurs 4/2 The Sixties - Foner, 275-305
- King, "Beyond Vietnam," April 4, 1967 (listen to the audio and /or read the transcript)
reading response 7 due
       
Tues 4/7 The Vietnam War - Hunt, ed., A Vietnam War Reader, preface and introduction
- Schulzinger, American Diplomacy in the Twentieth Century, 270-288 (Canvas)
- The Vietnam War, Part I (photos)
 
Thurs 4/9 The Vietnam War - Hunt, ed., A Vietnam War Reader
- PBS, Two Days in October (see also the PBS website)
Essay 2 due - Vietnam War
       
Tues 4/14 Energy Crisis - Digital History, 1970-2000
 
Thurs 4/16 1970s: Rock and Roll and then what?
Watch one (or both) of the following documentaries:
- Born to be Wild: The Golden Age of American Rock, 1970s
- NY77: The Coolest Year in Hell
reading response 8 due - see Canvas
       
Tues 4/21 Conservatism and the 1970s - Foner, 307-332
reading response 9 due
Thurs 4/23 Civil Unrest    
       
Tues 4/28 The End of the Cold War Concepts to study for final exam Essay 3 topic due
Thurs 4/30 Review and Synthesis    
       
Tues 5/5 Dear Future Historians...   Essay 3 due
       
Monday 5/11 Final Exam: Peirce 120, 1 - 5 pm    


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