HIST 608 (CRN 37046)
COLLOQUIUM: TWENTIETH-CENTURY U.S. HISTORY
SPRING 2013
FRIDAY, 2:00 - 4:50, 375 MCKENZIE HALL

Professor Ellen Herman
Department of History
University of Oregon

office: 335 McKenzie Hall
phone: 346-3118
e-mail: eherman@uoregon.edu
office hours: TBA

This course is designed to acquaint graduate students with the historiographical terrain of twentieth-century U.S. history. It is not comprehensive—covering every subfield, period, subject, or theme in ten weeks is not possible—but it does aim to showcase trends in current scholarship. Weekly readings include significant monographs that illustrate the analytical frameworks, theoretical sensibilities, questions, sources, and genres of writing that have been influential in recent scholarship. During the course of the term, we will have several opportunities to speak with historians whose books appear on the syllabus.

The weekly reading and discussion are the heart of this course and a great deal depends on your preparation and participation. To facilitate that worthy goal, students will rotate responsibility for leading weekly discussions, alone or with a colleague.

WRITING REQUIREMENTS

The writing requirement will be a historiographical review essay, approximately 15-20 pages in length. You will select one of the required books in the course, to which you will add two or three additional titles. Please begin by consulting this selected bibliography, but if you have other books in mind, just let me know. Your essay should accomplish two things at once. It should review the titles under consideration and use them to identify and evaluate key historiographical trends and debates in the subfields under consideration. In addition to your finished essay, I also want to review the notes you keep on the books you have chosen to write about.

There are a number of good places to begin looking for models for this kind of essay. You might consider the relatively lengthy reviews published in Reviews in American History. Essays in the following collections are also useful: Jean-Christophe Agnew and Roy Rosenzweig, eds. A Companion to Post-1945 America. Cambridge: Blackwell, 2002 and Harvard Sitkoff, ed. Perspectives on Modern America: Making Sense of the Twentieth Century. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Rowman & Littlefield publishes a series, "Debating 20th-Century America," that is designed to illustrate interpretive conflicts as well as present primary sources. The "Major Problems in American History" series, published by D.C. Heath and Houghton Mifflin, does something similar. Finally, the American Historical Association has recently issued a pamphlet series, American History Now, that aims to cover historiographical trends in many major fields.

thinking Requirements

Grades

Your final grade will depend largely on the quality of your written work. But because all of us will benefit from your active participation, grades will also reflect your completion of the required reading, weekly preparation, and engagement in discussion.

Course Calendar

Week 1

Week 2

The Borders of Citizenship, Belonging, and the Nation-State

APRIL 12: REFORMS AND REFORMERS

Pearson, Susan J. The Rights of the Defenseless: Protecting Animals and Children in Gilded Age America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011.

We will meet in Knight Library Proctor 42 from 2-3 pm in order to speak with Professor Pearson via two-way teleconferencing.

APRIL 19:THE NATIONAL, THE INTERNATIONAL, AND THE TRANSNATIONAL

Slate, Nico. Colored Cosmopolitanism: The Shared Struggle for Freedom in the United States and India. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2012.

APRIL 26: IMMIGRATION

Hernandez, Kelly Lytle. Migra!: A History of the U.S. Border Patrol. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010.

We will meet in Knight Library Proctor 42 from 2 - 2:30 pm in order to speak with Professor Hernandez via two-way teleconferencing.

MAY 3: KNOWLEDGE POLITICS, KNOWLEDGE INSTITUTIONS

Loss, Christopher P. Between Citizens and the State: The Politics of American Higher Education in the 20th Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011.

We will meet in Knight Library Proctor 42 from 2-3 pm in order to speak with Professor Loss via two-way teleconferencing.

The Rights Revolution and Its Discontents

MAY 10: RIGHTS, IDENTITIES, AND CULTURE WARS

Self, Robert O. All in the Family: The Realignment of American Democracy since the 1960s. New York: Hill and Wang, 2012.

Professor Self will be joining us in person.

MAY 17: CONSUMPTION, POLITICS, AND RELIGION

Moreton, Bethany. To Serve God and Wal-Mart: The Making of Christian Free Enterprise. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009.

May 24: GENDER AND SEXUALITY

Plant, Rebecca Jo. Mom: The Transformation of Motherhood in Modern America. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2010.

We will meet in Knight Library Proctor 42 from 2-3 pm in order to speak with Professor via two-way teleconferencing.

MAY 31: POVERTY AND THE WELFARE STATE AT THE END OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Chappell, Marisa. The War on Welfare: Family, Poverty, and Politics in Modern America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009.

Professor Chappell will be joining us in person.

New Directions

JUNE 7: BODIES, DISABILITIES

Schweik, Susan M. The Ugly Laws: Disability in Public. New York: New York University Press, 2009.

We will meet in Knight Library Proctor 42 from 2-3 pm in order to speak with Professor Schweik via two-way teleconferencing.