HI3431 American Politics and Culture, 1939-1989

Course Organiser: Prof. Daniel Geary
Duration: All Year
Contact hours: 3 hours per week
Weighting: 20 ECTS
Assessment: 20% essay, 80% examination

This module offers an overview of American cultural history in the half century from the beginning of World War II in Europe to the end of the Cold War. Its particular focus is on analyzing the political meaning of cultural texts in their historical contexts. A wide variety of cultural texts will be examined, including fiction, film, television, music and visual art. The class includes an investigation of how American culture reflected, contested and shaped such historical trends as America’s emergence as a global superpower; the growth of a mass consumption economy; struggles for racial equality; changing gender roles; the rise of protest movements around the 1960s; the conservative drift of American politics since the 1970s; and post industrialism. Students will not only learn about a fascinating and important period in American history, but also gain experience in understanding cultural texts in their political and historical frameworks.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

• Outline the main themes and developments in the political and cultural history of the USA between 1939 and 1989
• Identify and contextualize the main interpretative trends and problems of the period
• Undertake an advanced analysis of a wide range of primary sources relating to the principal interpretative problems of the period
• Apply different techniques of evaluation and interpretation to primary sources in order to understand the political dimensions of cultural texts in their historical contexts
• Critique the leading scholarly contributions to the field in the light of the sources studied
• Provide an individual synthesis based on a reading of the primary sources and secondary commentaries
• Defend such a synthesis in written and oral presentations