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
AMERICAN DREAM
Prerequisite
Permission of Honors
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This is a reading-intensive course. Students will improve their skills in reading, writing, and discussing complex ideas at an advanced level. Good writing is learned in part by reading the work of good writers, so we will do a significant amount of reading (100 to 200 pages per week). Students will also become versed in the core concepts, theories, and facts of historical political economy in the United States--such as the legal and economic roles of the corporation since the adoption of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; the historical import of global capitalism, socialism, autarky, social democracy, and neoliberalism; and the gendered and racialized nature of American work and consumer culture. An independent research assignment will teach students how to do creative historical research while improving writing and oral communications skills. Students will practice the art of actively doing history by finding and interpreting primary documents, rather than passively consuming the written and spoken words of professional historians.
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?
Syllabus