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His365bh1x-200909 History of Book Censorship in the United States HIS 365B H1X Cornell Social Science Building 232 Thursday, 4:00-6:30 p.m. CONTACT INFORMATION: Instructor: Dr, Wayne A Wiegand Email: [email protected] Office: The Winter Park Institute Phone: 407-691-1706 Office Hours: Thursday, 1-4 p.m. COURSE MATERIALS: (Required texts): Paul S. Boyer, Purity in Print: Book Censorship in America From the Gilded Age to the Computer Age (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2002). ISBN 0-299-17584-7 Marjorie Heins, Not in Front of the Children: “Indecency,” Censorship and the Innocence of Youth (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2007) ISBN 0-813-54221-9 COURSE DESCRIPTION: Analysis of the history of book censorship in the United States from 1650 to the present, including the legal, social, religious, educational, and cultural grounds on which particular censorship cases are built. Students will be required to do outside readings, participate in class discussions, and write a term paper on a particular censorship case or the censorship of a particular book over time. COURSE OBJECTIVES: This course is intended to provide students with a general overview of the history of book censorship in the United States. By the end of the course, students will be able to: 1. Recognize the essential facts and developments relative to book censorship in the United States. 2. Identify the societal and cultural frames in which this history took place. 3. Conceptualize and identify the causal factors that gave rise to book censorship in the United States. 4. Identify the major institutions and players in book censorship history. 5. Critique scholarly works on American book censorship topics. CONTACT HOURS: The instructor will meet with the class for 150 minutes per week for lectures and class discussion. [45 contact hours] COURSE POLICIES: 1 1. Students are expected to keep up with the course readings, lectures, and course assignments. 2. Students are expected to form their own opinions, and express and defend them in class discussion, but in a friendly, courteous way. 3. Students are expected to be courteous and respectful of the instructor and other members of the class. 4. Attendance is mandatory. 5. Assignments may not be submitted after the due date has passed. There is no provision for making up missed assignments. GRADING/EVALUATION: Grading Scale: A (93-100) A- (90-92.99), B+ (87-89.99), B (83-86.99), B- (80-82.99), C+ (77-79.99), C (73-76.99) , C- (70-72.99) , D+ (67-69.99), D (63.66.99), D- (60-62.99), F (0- 59.99) ASSIGNMENTS/RESPONSIBILITIES Examinations. Two examinations will be given. They will consist of four or five essay questions each, two of which the student must answer. Each will count 25% of the final grade. Book Critique. Students must submit one book critique on any book on the history of book censorship in the United States. OBTAIN APPROVAL OF YOUR SELECTION FROM YOUR INSTRUCTOR BEFORE SETTLING ON YOUR FINAL CHOICE. Critique is due on the day identified on the syllabus. Students should follow the "Guidelines for Critical Analysis of Scholarly Works" (see attached). Critique will count 20% of the final grade. Term paper. Students will write a fifteen page term paper (not counting the bibliography and end notes) on a particular censorship case or the censorship of a particular book over time. The term paper is due on the day identified on the syllabus. OBTAIN APPROVAL OF YOUR SELECTION FROM YOUR INSTRUCTOR BEFORE BEGINNING YOUR RESEARCH. Class participation. Because a substantial portion of class time has been set aside for discussion of readings, class participation will count 10% of the final grade. As part of class participation you will find attached to this syllabus a list of books that have been banned over the years. At the first session I will divide the class into five groups. Each group will select one of the titles listed, and group members will then divide responsibility for answering five questions about the title they have selected. All class members must be prepared to discuss their findings on the day assigned. COURSE CONTENT AND OUTLINE: 1. Introduction 2. John Milton’s “Areopagitica” and John Stuart Mill’s “Of Liberty of Thought and Discussion”; Book Censorship on Colonial America 3. Vice Societies in the 19th Century 4. World War I and Its Aftermath 5. The 1920s 2 6. “Banned in Boston;” Federal Censorship 7. The Thirties 8. McCarthyism and NODL 9. Marjorie Hein, Not in Front of the Children 10. 1960-1980 11. 1980 to the Present FORMAT OF THE COURSE: This class will operate as lecture/discussion. Most of the class sessions will be lecture- based; part of each class, however, will be set aside to discuss assigned articles. As the semester progresses, students will find it useful to keep the following questions in mind: 1. Are there periods when book censorship activities are more prevalent? If so, what characterizes these periods? If not, why is book censorship a common element in the history of the United States? 2. What societal conditions appear to have had a significant influence on book censorship activities at different times and places? Consider, for example, changing financial conditions, differing theories about American government, developments in formal and state sanctioned education, social conditions. 3. What individuals, groups, or institutions play major roles in book censorship activities? Who are the visible and invisible heroes? Villains? Why are they visible? Invisible? SYLLABUS CHANGE POLICY: This syllabus is a guide for the course and is subject to change with advanced notice. OTHER SOURCES You can obtain copies of Areopagitca and Chapter II of On Liberty by going on the web to: “The Online Books Page,” then “Search Our Listings.” Type in “John Milton, AREOPAGITICA. HTML at Renascence Editions”, and print; For Mill type in “John Stuart Mill, ON LIBERTY (4th ed., 1869),” Scroll down to Chap. II, and print. Partial Bibliography You Might Want to Check to Make Your Critique Selections and Help You Choose Your Term Paper Project Bald, Margaret. Literature Suppressed on Religious Grounds (1998) Bollinger, Lee, and Stone, Geoffrey. Eternally Vigilant: Free Speech in the Modern Era (2002) Craig, Alec. Suppressed Books: A History of the Conception of Literary Censorship (1963) DeFattore, Joan. What Johnny Shouldn’t Read: Textbook Censorship in America (1992) Dollimore, Jonathan. Sex, Literature, and Censorship (2001) Edwards, June. Opposing Censorship in the Public Schools: Religion, Morality, and Literature (1998) 3 Finan, Christopher. From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act: A History of the Fight for Free Speech in America (2007) Foerstel, Herbert. Banned in the U.S.A.: A Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries (2002) -----------------. Free Expression and Censorship in America: An Encyclopedia (1997) Garry, Patrick. An American Paradox: Censorship in a Nation of Free Speech (1993) Geller, Evelyn. Forbidden Books in American Public Libraries, 1876-1939 (1984) Gertzman, Jay. Bookleggers and Smuthounds: The Trade in Erotica, 1920-1940 (1999) Hentoff, Nat. Free Speech for Me—But Not for Thee: How the American Left and Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other (1992) Hoffman, Frank. Intellectual Freedom and Censorship: An Annotated Bibliography (1989) Horowitz, Helen. Rereading Sex: Battles Over Sexual Knowledge and Suppression in Nineteenth-Century America (2002) Hurwitz, Leon (ed.), Historical Dictionary of Censorship in the United States (1985) Johnson, Claudia. Stifled Laughter: One Woman’s Story about Fighting Censorship (1994) Karolides, Nicholas. Literature Suppressed on Political Grounds (1998) ---------------, Bald, Margaret, and Sova, Dawn. 100 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature1999) Kendrick, Walter. The Secret Museum: Pornography in Modern Culture (1996) Knuth, Rebecca. Libricide: The Regime-Sponsored Destruction of Books and Libraries in the 20th Century (2003) Noble, William. Bookbanning in America: Who Bans Books and Why? (1990) Parker, Alison M. Purifying America: Women, Cultural Reform, and Pro-Censorship Activism, 1873-1933 (1997) Ravitch, Diane. The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn (2003) Rembar, Charles. The Trials of Lady Chatterley, Tropic of Cancer, and Fanny Hill (1997) Sova, Dawn. Literature Suppressed on Sexual Grounds (1998) --------. Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds (1998) Steinle, Pamela. In Cold Fear: The Catcher in the Rye Censorship Controversy (2000) Stone, Geoffrey. Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism (2004) Vanderham, Paul. James Joyce and Censorship: The Trials of Ulysses (1998) Wartzman, Rick. Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (2008) West, Mark. Trust Your Children: Voice Against Censorship in Children’s Literature (1997) Wiegand, Shirley and Wayne. Books On Trial: Red Scare in the Heartland (2007) "Guidelines for Critical Analysis of Scholarly Works" The student will read and review critically one book dealing with book censorship in U.S. History which represents a professional contribution to the research literature on the subject. Standard bibliographies can be used as guides to your choice (see below). You must obtain prior approval from your instructor. Book critiques should be done on 8 ½ by 11 inch paper (no plastic covers please) and word- processed. They should be about 1,000 words in length (about four pages, double-spaced type). They should, if possible, include a paragraph describing the author's background (education, field of specialization, other publications, etc); a short summary of the content of the book; and a longer critical evaluation that includes an analysis of the research. In the 4 critical evaluation, you should consider the following questions: 1) What is the author's thesis or argument? Does it conflict or support theses or arguments presented in other books (or important articles) on the subject? 2) What are the author's conclusions? Do you feel they were valid? Substantiated? Explain and defend.
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