Course Description
Exploration of the struggles and achievements of the workers,
managers, consumers, politicians, intellectuals, and social
activists who have defined and redefined the American Dream.
Readings investigate the interconnections of American society
with global labor migration, corporate expansion and
transnational commerce, and the perils and promises of free
enterprise.
Athena Title
The American Dream Honors
Prerequisite
Permission of Honors
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
- By the end of this course, students will be able to arrive at conclusions about the history of the American Dream by gathering and weighing evidence, logical argument, and listening to counter argument.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to write stylistically appropriate papers and essays. Students will be able to analyze ideas and evidence, organize their thoughts, and revise and edit their finished essays.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to identify how the history of the American dream in the age of global capital shaped diverse social and cultural attitudes toward labor and class, race and ethnicity, gender, and morality, encouraging them to understand diverse worldviews and experiences.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to apply appropriate methodological approaches to their analysis of primary sources and to organize their evidence to show historical continuities and discontinuities.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to generate their own research question or topic, locate suitable primary and secondary sources, and synthesize their ideas in novel ways.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to initiate, manage, complete, and evaluate their independent research projects in stages and to give and receive constructive feedback through the peer review process.
Topical Outline
- Part I: Monopoly Capital in the Producer's Republic
Fictions and Realities of American Capitalism
The Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Rise of Corporate Capitalism
Immigration and the Boundaries of the American Dream
Utopian Dreams and Dystopian Nightmares
Economic Citizenship in an Era of Disfranchisement
- Part II: Problems of Prosperity in the Consumer's Republic
Mass Consumption and the Landscape of Desire
A Chicken in Every Pot? The Seduction of Mass Production
The Great Depression and the Crisis of Global Capital
Fascism, Freedom, and Discourses of Modernity
Come Alive! You're in the Pepsi Generation!
- Part III: Enchantment and Disenchantment in a Post-Fordist World
Philanthropic Dreams and the [Color of Money] Revolution
America's Neo-Populist Moment
The New Landscape of Desire, or, Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas!
Always Low Prices?
The End of Economic Democracy?
Institutional Competencies
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
Communication
The ability to effectively develop, express, and exchange ideas in written, oral, interpersonal, or visual form.
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
Social Awareness & Responsibility
The capacity to understand the interdependence of people, communities, and self in a global society.
