History 502 – The United States From Roosevelt to Reagan

Syllabus and Survival Guide

Spring 2001

Thursday 7:00 pm – 9:50 pm, Sierra Hall 198

 

 

Instructor

 

Dr. Thomas W. Devine

Office Hours: Sierra Tower 624, Monday 10-11, Wednesday 1:30-2:30 and by appointment gladly given.

Phone: (818) 677-3550 (office) Email: tom.devine@csun.edu

 

Required Reading

 

The following books – listed in the order in which we will read them – are available at the Matador Bookstore.  Any other readings will be provided in class or put on reserve at the library.

 

  1. James N. Gregory American Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California
  2. Alan Brinkley, Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Couglin and the Great Depression
  3. William L. O’Neill, A Democracy at War: America’s Fight at Home and Abroad During World War II
  4. John E. Haynes, Red Scare or Red Menace? American Communism and Anticommunism in the Cold War Era
  5. Stephen J. Whitfield, The Culture of the Cold War [2nd edition]
  6. Chester Pach and Elmo Richardson, The Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower [rev. ed.]
  7. Jessica Weiss, To Have and to Hold: Marriage, the Baby Boom, and Social Change
  8. David Burner, Making Peace with the Sixties
  9. Michael H. Hunt, Lyndon Johnson’s War: America’s Cold War Crusade in Vietnam, 1945-1968
  10. William Pemberton, Exit With Honor: The Life and Presidency of Ronald Reagan

 

We will be reading selections from David Frum, How We Got Here: The 70’s – The Decade That Brought You Modern Life – For Better or Worse.  This is also available at the bookstore as an “optional” title.

 

To subvert the system and to save yourself some money, you might consider buying used copies of the books.  I would suggest the following web sites where you are likely to find used or discounted copies at significantly lower prices:

www.bookfinder.com; www.half.com; www.alibris.com; www.mysimon.com; www.abebooks.com

 

 

 

Objectives

 

--This course will offer an interpretive survey of political, cultural, and social trends in the United States from 1932 to the present.  If all goes according to plan, you will leave in May with a broader and deeper understanding of the events of this period and their significance in shaping present day U.S. society.

--You will also have the opportunity to become familiar with the historiography of this period.  Though the emphasis of the course will not be on historiographical issues, I will introduce and we will all discuss scholarly controversies where appropriate.  Each of you will also write a brief historiographical essay on a topic of your choice and read and comment on others’ essays.

--Since several of you are contemplating teaching careers, on occasion we will also address how the material we are studying could best be presented to high school and college students.

 

Requirements and Grading

 

Class Participation and Attendance                   --50%

Historiography Essay [5-7 pages]                     --25%

Thematic Essay [5 pages]                                 --25%

 

All grading will be done on the +/ – system.

 

Though I will make grammar and spelling corrections on your papers, you are not being graded on grammar and spelling per se.  A poorly written paper, however, usually fails to convey ideas effectively, so in this sense good writing does matter.  There is no way of separating “the writing” from “the ideas.” 

 

As you will find out, I read your papers very thoroughly and offer detailed constructive criticism.  Do not be discouraged by my “heavy edits” of your work.  Many students who recoil in horror at the “red ink” all over their essays are surprised to find that when they get to the last page, their work has received a decent grade.  My goal is to insure that every one of you leaves this class a better writer than when you entered.  You should make this your goal as well.

I also encourage you to ask me for assistance.  I have extensive experience in teaching writing skills and am willing to work with you one on one, sentence by sentence to improve your essays.  Take advantage of my offer – you may not get another like it in your graduate career.

 

Surviving

 

Course Format

--This is a seminar-style course in which active participation in the weekly discussions is crucial to the class’s success.  Our meetings will in fact be conversations – free, open, and informal exchanges of ideas – and I expect everyone to take part.  I have deliberately minimized the writing assignments and other “busy work” to give you adequate time to complete the assigned reading and to think about it critically BEFORE coming to class.  I have also chosen books that are approximately 200 pages of text so that you can realistically complete them in a one week period. 

--One person will be responsible for leading the discussion each week.  That person will compose a list of 8-10 questions that address the major themes and issues raised in the reading.  The discussion leader will meet with me briefly before class to go over his or her questions.  He or she will also provide each member of the class a copy of the questions before the seminar begins.  These questions will be the basis for discussion, though we will likely move on to other topics as well.  The discussion leader will also prepare a 2-page single-spaced précis of the reading and distribute that to the class.  (I can handle the Xeroxing if you have your questions and précis to me shortly before class.)  I also encourage you to compose a list of questions on the reading even when you are not the scheduled discussion leader, since formulating questions as you read will help you frame your ideas and assist you in articulating your arguments.

--In the last part of class each week, one person will present the findings of their historiography essay.  This will likely take the form of a 10-15 minute oral presentation with time for questions.  On those days when there is no presenter, I will give a brief summary of the relevant scholarship on that week’s topic.

 

Attendance

--Since class meets only once a week, it is important, and it is expected, that you will be at every session.  Inevitably, an occasion may arise when you are unable to attend.  Out of fairness to your classmates who do attend every week, however, each absence past the first two will adversely affect your final grade.  Also, given the heavy weight placed on in-class discussion, any absence is likely to detract from your participation grade.

 

Problems

--I appreciate that most CSUN graduate students are stretching themselves quite thin, often working full time while taking classes at night.  If you are feeling overwhelmed, find yourself falling behind, or are having any problems outside of class that are adversely affecting your performance in class, be sure to let me know.  Do not wait until the end of the semester when it will be too late.  I am more than willing to work with you to insure you “survive,” but I need to know you are having difficulties.  You will find that as long as you keep me up to speed, I will be very sympathetic.

 

Discussion Topics and Assignments

 

Schedule

 

29 January                  Introduction: An explanation of course objectives, mechanics, and procedures.

 

5 February                  Migration and Cultural Formation During the Great Depression

Reading:  Gregory, American Exodus

                                    Discussion Leader: _______________________

 

12 February                Political and Ideological Responses to the Great Depression

                                    Reading:  Brinkley, Voices of Protest

Discussion Leader: ___________________________

 

19 February                FDR and the New Deal

                                    No Reading Assignment

                                   

26 February                Over Here and Over There: America at War 1941-1945

                                    Reading:  O’Neill, A Democracy at War

                                    Discussion Leader:  ______________________

 

5 March                      The Origins of the Cold War

Reading:  John Lewis Gaddis, “On Moral Equivalency and Cold War History”

                 Robert Dallek, “Cold War Parochialism: The Truman Years”

                 David Reynolds, ed., The Origins of the Cold War in Europe: International Perspectives, Part One.

                 Thomas G. Paterson, ed., The Origins of the Cold War, 3rd ed., pp. 148-56, 204-212.

Discussion Leader:  ______________________

 

12 March                    Anticommunism Reconsidered

Reading:  Haynes, Red Scare or Red Menace?

                                                      Haynes & Klehr, Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America, pp. 8-22, 331-37

                                    Discussion Leader:  _________________________

 

19 March                    Anticommunism as the “American Way of Life”

                                    Reading:  Whitfield, The Culture of the Cold War

                                    Discussion Leader:  _________________________

 

26 March                    America in the Ike Age

                                    Reading:  Pach & Richardson, The Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower

                                    Discussion Leader:  _________________________

 

2 April                         Changes in the Land: The Postwar West

                                    Reading:  Donald Wooster, Under Western Skies, Chapter 8

                                                      Roger W. Lotchin, Fortress California, Chapter 6

                                                      Kevin Fernlund, ed., The Cold War American West, Chapter 5

                                    Discussion Leader:  _________________________

 

9 April                         SPRING BREAK

 

16 April                       Homeward Bound:  Family Life During the Cold War

                                    Reading:  Weiss, To Have and To Hold

                                    Discussion Leader:  ______________________

 

23 April                       Civil Rights, Student Unrest, and the Challenge to Postwar Liberalism

                                    Reading:  Burner, Making Peace With the Sixties

                                    Discussion Leader: _______________________

 

30 April                       Vietnam and the Challenge to Containment

                                    Reading:  Hunt, Lyndon Johnson’s War

                                    Discussion Leader:  ______________________

 

7 May                         “That Slum of a Decade:” America in the 1970s

                                    Reading:  Selections from Frum, How We Got Here

                                    Discussion Leader:  ______________________

 

14 May                       America’s Right Turn: The Reagan Years

                                    Reading:  Pemberton, Exit With Honor

                                    Discussion Leader:  ______________________

 

19 May                       Dinner at Chez Devine 7pm