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American Life During the Cold War American Studies 300:01, Political Science 349:01 Tuesday-Thursday, 3:55-5:15, Ruth Adams Building 001

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American Life During the Cold War American Studies 300:01, Political Science 349:01 Tuesday-Thursday, 3:55-5:15, Ruth Adams Building 001 American Life during the Cold War American Studies 300:01, Political Science 349:01 Tuesday-Thursday, 3:55-5:15, Ruth Adams Building 001 Professor: Jefferson Decker Office: Ruth Adams Building 017B Office Hours: Thursday 12:30-3:00, and by appointment. Email: [email protected] Introduction This course will examine American domestic life during the era of the Cold War (roughly 1945- 1991), when U.S. culture was shaped decisively by its geopolitical rivalry with the Soviet Union. Subtopics to be discussed include anti-communism, McCarthyism, the “military-industrial complex,” conformity and its discontents, civil rights, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and the post-Cold War era. Though we will introduce basic concepts in international relations, this course will focus primarily U.S. society and culture, in order to show how superpower conflict helped to shape not only politics and law but also fiction, film, art, and the public reception of amateur sports. Assignments will range from history and social theory to popular movies and novels. Course Objectives By the end of the semester, a successful student will have a) learned what the Cold War was about and how it shaped life, politics, and culture in the United States; b) analyzed such concepts as subversion, nuclear annihilation, conformity, détente, the free world, and superpower; c) examined the evolving relationship between the United States and the rest of the world during the second half of the twentieth century; d) approached American culture and politics from a variety of different perspectives and methodologies; e) thought about the relative strengths and weaknesses of each of these approaches; f) become a better writer and communicator. Required Books Ellen Schrecker, The Age of McCarthyism: A History with Documents (978-0312393199) Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle (978-0385333481) Mary Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights (978-0691152431) Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried (978-0618706419) George Crile, Charlie Wilson’s War (978-0802143419) Don DeLillo, Underworld (978-0684848150) Other reading assignments will be available on our course’s Sakai site, and will be identified below on the class schedule with an (S). Graded Assignments There will be three graded assignments in this course. Each one will be a take-home essay of roughly 5-6 double-spaced pages, in which you will be asked to analyze and reflect upon certain readings. These papers will not require outside research or reading. Each of the essays is worth 30 percent of the final grade for the course. Class participation, including attendance, comprises the other 10 percent. It is not be possible to pass the class without completing all three papers. Class Attendance and Self-Reporting of Absences You are expected to attend class and contribute to the class discussion. I will cover material in class that does not appear specifically in the readings, and you are responsible for that material whether or not you attend. I will periodically take attendance (formally and informally), and I will factor your participation into your final grade. If you need to miss class for an illness, family emergency, or other legitimate reason, please let me know before class begins by using the university’s absence-reporting system, which is available at: https://sims.rutgers.edu/ssra. Note that even if you have a legitimate reason for not attending class, you are still responsible for the material you missed. Attendance is extremely important to your success in this class. I use the class time to expand upon, critique, and evaluation reading materials, and to tie together threads that are not necessarily apparent in the reading. I will also play media, including significant clips from such Cold War-era movies as The Manchurian Candidate, Dr. Strangelove, and Red Dawn. You will be expected to discuss these threads and connections, as well as these films, in your papers for this class. If you don’t show up, you will not succeed. I reserve the right to conduct pop quizzes on reading comprehension if they prove necessary. Academic Integrity Students are expected to follow the university’s guidelines for academic integrity, which are available for review here: http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/integrity.shtml. If you have any question about what constitutes plagiarism or fabrication during the course of the semestyer, please see me. Accommodations If you require accommodations for a disability or other issue, please let me know by the third week of the class, so we can make arrangements. Class Schedule January 22: Course Introduction January 24: World War II and American Life. David Kennedy, “The Cauldron of the Home Front.” (S), Henry Stimson, “The Challenge to Americans” (S). January 29: The Soviet Problem. George Kennan, “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” (S), Anders Stephanson, “Cold War as a U.S. Project” (S). January 31: Espionage and the Red Scare. Ellen Schrecker, Age of McCarthyism, 1-47, 155-170. February 5: Anticommunism and American Life. Ellen Schrecker, Age of McCarthyism, 48-97, 171-190. February 7: The Backlash against McCarthy. Ellen Schrecker, Age of McCarthyism, 98-106, 237-243, 271-274. February 12: The Atomic Age. Paul Boyer, “By Bomb’s Early Light” (S), Albert Wohlstetter, “The Delicate Balance of Terror.” (S). February 14: Suburban Angst. John Updike, “Rabbit Run,” Beth Bailey, “Rebels without a Cause” (S). February 19: Technology and Apocalypse. Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle, 1-101. February 21: Black Comedy and Literature. Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle, 101-203. First Paper due February 22 February 26: Science Fiction, Poetry, and the Atomic Era. Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle, 203- 287. Paul Boyer, “Words Fail” (S). February 28: Ninety Miles Away. Meet at the Douglass Library Atrium for a guided tour of the Guantánamo Public Memory Project at Rutgers University. No reading assignment. March 5: The Black Freedom Struggle in International Context. Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights, 3-78. March 7: Civil Rights and Liberal Anticommunism. Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights, 79-151. March 12: The Limits of Racial Equality. Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights, 152-254. March 14: Athletic Competition in a Cold War Context. Allan Gutmann, “The Cold War Olympics” (S). March 19 and 21: NO CLASS: SPRING BREAK March 26: Origins of Vietnam Conflict. Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried, 1-85. March 28: Soldiers Experience in Southeast Asia. Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried, 86- 161. April 2: Vietnam on the Home Front. Reading on anti-war movement TBA. James Fallows, “What Did You Do during the Class War, Daddy?” (S). April 4: Détente and its Discontents. Henry Kissinger, “Reflections on American Diplomacy” (S). Jeremi Suri, “A Statesman’s Revolution.” (S). Second Paper due April 5 April 9: The Human Rights Dilemma. George Crille, Charlie Wilson’s War, 1-114. April 11: Afghanistan and the New Cold War. George Crille, Charlie Wilson, 115-215. April 16: Glasnost and Perestroika, George Crille, Charlie Wilson, 216-356. Richard Pipes, “Can the Soviet Union Reform” (S). April 18: The Revolutions of 1989 and 1991, George Crille, Charlie Wilson. 357-523. April 23: Endgame and Blowback. DeLillo, Underworld, 11-150. April 25: An Atomic Generation. DeLillo, Underworld, 155-272. April 30: The Cold War in American Memory. Delillo, Underworld, 501-655. May 2: Looking Back. DeLillo, Underworld, 785-827. Final Paper due May 10 .
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