SOCI–A365-010 THE SIXTIES (Summer II, 2013)
Class Time: 6:00-8:00pm, M-R evenings Professor: Dr. Anthony E. Ladd
Office: The Department of Sociology, Mercy Trailer Office Hours: M-R 3:00-4:00pm & by appt. Phone: 865-3640 Email: [email protected]
Mothers and fathers across the land, please don’t criticize what you can’t understand/Your sons and daughters are beyond your command, your old world is rapidly aging/So get out of the new world if you can’t lend a hand, ’cause the times they are a-changing.
--Bob Dylan
We want the world and we want it now!
--The Doors
It’s always the old to lead us to the wars, always the young to fall/Now look at all we’ve won with a saber and a gun, tell me, is it worth it all? --Phil Ochs
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.
--President John F. Kennedy
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.
--Joni Mitchell
All you need is love.
--The Beatles
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course offers a social history and critical sociological analysis of one of the most turbulent, complex, and watershed decades in U.S. history--the 1960s. From its origins in the Cold War culture of the 1950s to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, the people, events, music, conflicts, protest movements, ideas, and innovations of the sixties forever changed the socio-political structure and cultural values of the United States, as well as many aspects of the larger world. Particular emphasis is given to understanding the 1960s as a defining era that continues to impact our society today in many significant ways.
1 COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This course is intended to help you:
• Gain an overview of some of the key social movements and patterns of social change that characterized the mid-20th century of the U.S./world and how they were reflected in the attitudes, events, technological innovations, politics, music, literature, art, and institutions of the time.
• Appreciate the ways in which significant portions of society--particularly young people and college students like yourself--were dramatically changed forever by the events of the period.
• Appreciate the numerous ways in which the larger cultural and and political values of the nation were similarly changed by the events of the period.
• Understand the many political, economic, social, and cultural legacies of the 1960s and the debt we owe to those activists and ordinary citizens who helped pave the way for many of the freedoms and privileges we take for granted today.
• Gain a strong experiential feel for the spirit, interpersonal sensibilities, and sense of political/social empowerment that millions of people developed during the period and its aftermath.
• Develop your ability to think more critically about the institutional sources of power in society, their role in propagating various forms of social inequality, and the role of organized protest and resistance in protecting democratic/constitutional rights.
• Develop a strong “Sociological Imagination” (C. Wright Mills) by learning the extent to which virtually every biographical aspect of your life today--as well as our larger socio-political structure--has roots in the historical events of the 1960s.
ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADES
Your course grade will be based on the following requirements:
• Three (3) in-class exams (30% each) worth 90 points
• Two (2) in-class quizes (one announced, one unannounced) worth 10 points
• Potential extra points can also be gained by attending community lectures, films, or programs (announced in class) and writing a 2-3 page summary and reaction paper to be turned in within a week of the event. Up to an additional 3 points can also be gained by demonstrating outstanding attendance and participation throughout the semester.
Course grades will be determined by the following standard point/percentage scale:
93–100% = A; 90-92% = A-; 88–89% = B+; 83–87% = B; 80-82% = B-; 78–79% = C+; 73–77% = C; 70-72% = C-; 68–69% = D+; 60–67% = D; 59% or below = F.
2 ATTENDANCE AND EXAM POLICY
Class attendance is mandatory if you want to do well in this course and you are always expected to come to class prepared to take a potential quiz and discuss the assigned readings and subject matter for that night. However, whether you are absent or present, you are still responsible for whatever materials are assigned or presented in class, be they lectures, speakers, films, or handouts.
Taking make-up tests or submitting papers late without penalty will only be allowed in the event of an immediate, serious illness or personal emergency that physically prevents you from attending class. If such an emergency should take place, you must notify me in person or by telephone/email before the end of class, stating the problem and specifically when you will be in touch with me about making-up the assignment. No after-the-fact explanations or rationalizations will be allowed after that date—NO EXCEPTIONS! If you choose to miss a routine class in which there is no exam or assignment due, however, you do not need to inform me, but remember too that you will be throwing points away from your final grade.
If you are required, for a legitimate reason, to miss an upcoming test/assignment that you know about in advance, please see me beforehand. Failure to notify me before the end of the due date about a missed written assignment or test will constitute an “unexcused late grade” and will result in a full grade reduction from the assigned grade for each class day (M-F) past the due date the paper is turned in or the test taken. (Keep in mind, however, that a late F paper/test is much better than earning a 0!) In other words, just like a job in the “real” world, show good judgment and responsibility toward your work and educational commitments.
This course will greatly educate you about an important period in American history, but doing well in it will require strong attention to the basics for every class—careful reading and review, being prepared for class discussion, attentiveness, curiosity, and most of all, excellent note-taking in class. Like anything else in life, you will get out of the class as much as you put into it and you will earn the grade you receive. Let’s all work together to make it a great class and learning experience!
STATEMENT ON STUDENT DISABILITIES AND CONDUCT
• If you have a disability and wish to receive accommodations, please contact Sarah Mead Smith, Director of Disability Services at 504-855-2990. If you wish to receive test accommodations (e.g. extended test time, etc.), you will need to give the course instructor an official Accommodation Form from Disability Services. The Office of Disability Services is located in the Academic Resource Center in Monroe Hall 405.
• Students are expected to conduct themselves in the classroom in compliance with university regulations on civility, cheating, and plagiarism. For guidelines, see the university bulletin.
STATEMENT ON EMERGENCIES
• In the event that there is an interruption to our course due to the cancellation of classes by the university as a result of an emergency, we will continue our course on Blackboard within 48 hours after the cancellation.
• All students are required to sign on to Blackboard and to keep up with the course assignments within 48 hours of evacuation and routinely check for announcements and course materials associated with each class. Class handouts will be posted under “Course Materials.”
3 • Students should be familiar with their responsibilities during emergencies, including pre-evacuation and post-evacuation for hurricanes. The information is available on the Academic Affairs web site: http://academicaffairs.loyno.edu/students-emergency-responsibilities.
• Additional emergency-planning information is also available at: http://academicaffairs.loyno.edu/emergency-planning.
MISCELLANEOUS CLASS POLICIES AND SUGGESTIONS FOR SUCCESS:
• It is a privilege to attend college and to learn. Take your education seriously and treat the classroom experience, your professor, and your classmates with respect. Class is NOT the place to sleep, read the newspaper, study for other classes, or check your email or phone/text messages. Please turn off all cell phones and pagers, remove your hats/caps, and Laptops are NOT allowed to be used in class.
• Arrive to class on time and do not begin packing up your belongings or stand up to leave until I dismisses the class. Please visit the restroom and water fountain before class starts and do not disrupt the class by leaving after it begins unless there is an emergency. If you must leave class early before the end of class for an important reason, please let me know before class begins.
• If you bring a beverage can/bottle into class, take it out with you—along with any used paper— and recycle them in Loyola’s can/paper bins in the building. Please dispose of any other non-recyclable trash around you in the trashcan when you leave.
• Make sure you are technically proficient with the computer/software and printer that you choose to use for your written assignments. Failure to properly “save” your work or neatly print out your papers is not an acceptable excuse for turning in late work!
• Words are a beautiful thing so treat the English language with respect. Always take time to write thoughtfully, clearly, and proofread your writing many times—with a tutor or experienced writer if possible—before you turn in an assignment. Use the WAC lab or Academic Resource Center staff if you need assistance with your writing—which most students do. Carefully follow the paper guidelines given and TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR WRITING!
• By the same token, think before you speak and be clear and articulate in your verbal communications. Avoid “mallspeak” and today’s street talk, e.g., filling up your communication interactions with empty words such as “like,” “uh,” “you know,” “whatever,” “cool,” “really,” etc. Say what you mean and mean what you say. For the rest of your life, people will judge you by what they first hear out of your mouth.
• Socrates said “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Formulate good questions about whatever you read or learn and ask them in class. The only “stupid” question is the one not asked.
• Do not cheat. It will only end in bitterness and regret.
• If for any reason you find yourself having a problem with the class material, my teaching style, other students, or any other issue that is negatively affecting your enjoyment of the course, please make an appointment to come talk to me about your issues so we can try to solve them together, before your grade starts to suffer.
4 • Finally, read a newspaper every day, a good book every month or so, contemplate the world around you, and CARPE DIEM!!! (See the films “Dead Poets’ Society” and “Finding Forester” for some excellent academic role models.)
REQUIRED TEXTS: (available at Loyola Bookstore)
• The Sixties by Terry H. Anderson (2012, 4th ed.). ISBN-13: 9780205744282; Retail price, $48.99
• The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and The Legacy of Vietnam by Jerry Lembcke (1988). ISBN: 0814751474; Retail price, $23.00
• Other handouts or articles provided by professor
Note: You will need to bring your textbooks with you to class every week for reference and discussion purposes.
DATE WEEK TOPICS AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
6/24 COURSE INTRODUCTIONS
Quiz: “How much do you know about the 1960s?”
Film Clip: “The Sixties”
Overview of the Sixties Decade and its Place in U.S. History
6/24-25 THE COLD WAR ERA OF THE 1950S: SEEDS OF THE SIXTIES
Readings: Anderson, Preface and Introduction, pp. 1-18
Film: “Seeds of the Sixties”
6/26-27 THE EARLY CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND THE BIRTH OF STUDENT ACTIVISM
Readings: Anderson, Chapter 1 & 2, pp. 45-55
Films: “A Time for Justice” & “We Can Change the World”
7/1 STUDENTS FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY (SDS) AND THE NEW LEFT
Film: “Rebels With a Cause”
STUDY GUIDE FOR FIRST EXAM
5 7/2-3 THE BERKELEY FREE SPEECH MOVEMENT
Readings: Anderson, Chapter 2, pp. 55-58
Film: “Berkeley in the 60s: Confronting the University”
7/3 FIRST EXAM
7/4 Fourth of July Holiday—No Class
7/8-9 ORIGINS OF THE VIETNAM WAR: STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND
Readings: Anderson, Chapter 2, pp. 58-72; Chapter 3, pp. 73-86
Films: “LBJ Goes To War” & “In a Dark Time”
7/10-11 THE WAR AT HOME: FROM PROTEST TO RESISTANCE
Readings: Anderson, Chapter 3, pp. 86-100
Film: “Two Days in October” Music: “Draft Dodger Rag” & “Alice’s Restaurant”
7/15-16 THE COUNTERCULTURE AND THE GENERATION GAP
Readings: Anderson, Chapter 5
Films: “The Summer of Love” & “Woodstock” Music: Representative Songs by Hendrix, Dylan, Doors, Hair, CS&N, The Who, & Jefferson Airplane
STUDY GUIDE FOR SECOND EXAM
7/17-18 1968: RIPTIDES AND TURNING POINTS
Readings: Anderson, Chapter 4
Films: “1968: The Year That Changed a Generation” & “The Chicago Eight Conspiracy Trial”
7/18 SECOND EXAM
7/22 THE SPLINTERING AND DEMISE OF THE NEW LEFT
Readings: Anderson, Chapter 6, pp. 149-158
Film/Class Discussion: “The Weather Underground”
6 7/23 THE VIETNAM VETERAN: MYTHS AND MEMORIES
Reading/Quiz/Class Discussion: The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and Legacy of Vietnam by Jerry Lembcke
Film/Class Discussion: “Sir, No Sir!”
STUDY GUIDE FOR FINAL EXAM
7/24 MOVEMENT IMPLOSION AND NEW FORMS OF MILITANCY
Readings: Anderson, Chapter 6, pp. 158-176
Film: “Picking Up the Pieces
7/25 CLIMAX, DEMISE, AND LEGACIES OF THE SIXTIES
Readings: Anderson, Chapter 7; “Legacies,” pp. 202-213
Film/Class Discussion: “Legacies of the Sixties”
7/25 FINAL EXAMINATION
7 RECOMMENDED FILMS ABOUT THE 1960s
Political Change
My Lai (2010) Roads to Memphis (2010) John Lennon in New York City (2010) Two Days in October (2005) Pete Seeger: The Power of Song (2007) The U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006) Good Night and Good Luck (2005) The Pentagon Papers (2004) Path to War (2003) The Weather Underground (2003) Thirteen Days (2001) Steal This Movie (2000) J.F.K (1991) Dr. Strangelove (1964) Medium Cool (1969) Apocalypse Now (1979) Full Metal Jacket (1987) Platoon (1986) Born on the Fourth of July (1989) Coming Home (1978) The Deer Hunter (1978) Alice’s Restaurant (1969) We Were Soldiers (2003) The Fog of War (2003) All the President’s Men (1977) Boycott (2001) Kent State (1987) Malcolm X (1992) Bobby (2006) Mississippi Burning (1988) Ghosts of Mississippi (1992) The Long Walk Home (1990) Citizen Cohn (1992)
Cultural Change
Paul Goodman Changed My Life (2011) On the Road (2013) Howl (2010) Woodstock (1970) When You’re Strange: The Doors (2010) Far From Heavan (2002) Taking Woodstock (2009) Hair (1979) Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970) Easy Rider (1969) An Unmarried Woman (1973) Joe (1970) Factory Girl (2006) The Monterrey Pop Festival (1968) Glory Road (2005) A Hard Day’s Night (1964) Standing in the Shadow of Motown (2002) Rebel Without a Cause (1955) The Graduate (1968) The Doors (1991) 8