(1) Wed 1/20 Course intro: the American People in the 21st century. Bring History of Our Time (hereafter abbreviated HOT), as we’ll read and discuss pp. 496-500. The syllabus will be handed out in class, or download the PDF here.
(2) Fri 1/22 America in 1945 (Little Paper #1 due)
Reading (bring to class): HOT 1-16 = McMahon
Background reading – read your textbook for what America was like in 1945. If you have, for example, the Moss book, that’s on pp 1-18, and if you’re using Foner’s Give Me Liberty! (GML), pp. 832-840.
Books for Professor Hangen’s Spring 2010 sections of HI 113:
Our textbook will be William Chafe, Harvard Sitkoff and Beth Bailey, editors, A History of Our Time: Readings on Postwar America 7th edition (Harvard University Press). You need to own this one, so buy it (in any condition, as long as it’s 7th edition).
You should also make sure you have a history survey textbook. If you took US History II at this college or elsewhere and still have a textbook that covers the period of 1945 to the present, then use the one you have, don’t go buy a new one.
If you don’t have a survey textbook that covers 1945 to now, then purchase the e-text of George Donelson Moss, Moving On: The American People Since 1945 4th edition (Pearson Longman). There are print copies in the bookstore, but you can buy the e-text directly from the publisher, which gives you online access to the book until summer at about half the price of the printed textbook. If you’re not a history major, or don’t plan to keep the book as a cherished possession forever, this is your most cost-effective option.
Additional course readings can be found on the web or will be posted online as PDFs; you will need (free) Adobe Reader or FoxIt Reader in order to open and use a PDF document. I recommend that you print the readings if you have your own printer, or bring your laptop to class to access them during our discussion.