The United States in the 1960s and 1970s: Cultural and Political Aspects

Course number: JTB304

Instructor: doc. PhDr. Francis D. Raška, PhD.

E-mail: francisraska@gmail.com

Office hours: Tuesdays from 3:30 PM until 4:30 PM and Wednesdays from 3:30 PM until 4:30 PM in Room C419

PURPOSE OF THE COURSE

This course aims to help students think critically about the events and overall impact of the ideas of the 1960s and 1970s on the United States. Students should foster and improve their analytical capabilities by questioning what they read rather than accepting the opinions of others at face value. All readings will be sent to students electronically.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION PROCEDURES

Each student will be awarded a final mark at the end of the semester, which will be determined by three factors:

Class participation 30%

Term paper 50%

Oral examination 20%

Grading is based on the Dean's Measure no. 20/2019: https://fsv.cuni.cz/deans-measure-no-20/2019

91% and more => A
81-90% => B
71-80% => C
61-70% => D
51-60% => E
0-50% => F

Students will be expected to read the assigned materials. Attendance in class sessions and participation in class discussions are required and each student will be required to submit a term paper containing 8 to 10 double-spaced pages at the end of the semester. In order to avoid any problems, I will need to know term paper topics beforehand. During the first weeks of the course, we will agree as a group on the submission dates for the topics and the term papers themselves. If a student repeatedly fails to read the assigned materials and/or does not attend the course regularly, I reserve the right not to accept his/her term paper at the end of the term. This translates into “No work, no credit.” Past experience has taught me that, largely on account of other university requirements and responsibilities, students need help with time management and guidance in their work. Therefore, I have decided upon several courses of action. First, I will insist that students let me know how they are getting on with their work throughout the course of the semester. Second, some time will be spent during the first session(s) discussing what is expected in a term paper. Third, all students can expect to be examined orally on the topic of their term paper at the end of the term. Questions asked during individual examination sessions may involve the given term paper topic as well as the research methods employed. The utlilization of others’ ideas must be cited. Failure to cite the words and/or ideas of others constitutes plagiarism. The Faculty of Social Sciences has very severe penalties for plagiarism, including expulsion. I ask each of you to be very careful and make sure that you cite all sources consulted. It is in your interest. Finally, I would like to stress that, in order for the course to be successful, we need to work together as a group of dedicated, mature scholars whose members communicate constructively with one another. Let the festival of learning begin!

TEXTS

Anderson, Terry H., The Sixties, 5^th Edition, New York and Oxford, 2018.

Cowie, Jefferson, Stayin’ Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class, New York, 2010.

Dear, John, Thomas Merton, Peacemaker: Meditations on Merton, Peacemaking, and the Spiritual Life, Maryknoll, NY, 2015.

Gaillard, Frye, A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s, Our Decade of Hope, Possibility, and Innocence Lost, Montgomery, AL, 2018.

Goldberg, Danny, In Search of the Lost Chord: 1967 and the Hippie Idea, New York and London, 2017.

Rymsza-Pawlowska, M.J., History Comes Alive: Public History and Popular Culture in the 1970s, Chapel Hill, 2017.

Schrecker, Ellen, The Lost Promise: American Universities in the 1960s, Chicago. 2021.

Strain, Christopher B., The Long Sixties: America, 1955-1973, Oxford, 2017.

Windham, Lane, Knocking on Labor’s Door: Union Organizing in the 1970s and the Roots of a New Economic Divide, Chapel Hill, NC, 2017.

COURSE TOPICS AND ASSIGNED READINGS

Perspectives on 1960s “Idealism”

Readings:

1. Strain, Christopher B., The Long Sixties: America, 1955-1973, pp. 1-17.

2. Anderson, Terry H., The Sixties, pp. 1-46.

3. Anderson, Terry H., The Sixties, pp. 47-75.

Civil Rights, Vietnam, and the Anti-War Movement

Readings:

4. Gaillard, Frye, A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s, Our Decade of Hope, Possibility, and Innocence Lost, pp. 200-258.

5. Schrecker, Ellen, The Lost Promise: American Universities in the 1960s, pp. 85-162.

6. Dear, John, Thomas Merton, Peacemaker: Meditations on Merton, Peacemaking, and the Spiritual Life, pp. 68-137.

Social and Cultural Radicalism in the 1960s

Readings:

7. Gaillard, Frye, A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s, Our Decade of Hope, Possibility, and Innocence Lost, pp. 393-458

8. Goldberg, Danny, In Search of the Lost Chord: 1967 and the Hippie Idea, pp. 207-291.

Unpleasant Hangover: The Early to Mid-1970s

Readings:

9. Strain, Christopher B., The Long Sixties: America, 1955-1973, pp. 162-198.

10. Rymsza-Pawlowska, M.J., History Comes Alive: Public History and Popular Culture in the 1970s, pp. 1-66.

Desperate Times: The United States during Jimmy Carter’s Presidency

Readings:

11. Windham, Lane, Knocking on Labor’s Door: Union Organizing in the 1970s and the Roots of a New Economic Divide, pp. 15-81,

12. Cowie, Jefferson, Stayin’ Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class, pp. 313-369.