HIST 21 Modern American Thought and Culture

This course examines leading thinkers, writers, artists, and reformers as a way of understanding American intellectual and cultural history. Some of the issues explored include: the impact of Darwinism; social science and the modern university; responses to industrialization; the tension between self and society; debates over democracy; the challenge of civil rights and feminism; and recent debates over multiculturalism. Almost of all the reading will be drawn from primary sources (including material by Mark Twain, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, William James, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., W.E.B. DuBois, John Dewey; Langston Hughes; Lionel Trilling; Martin Luther King, Jr.; and Malcolm X). Open to all classes.

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:TMV; WCult:W

The Timetable of Class Meetings contains the most up-to-date information about a course. It includes not only the meeting time and instructor, but also its official distributive and/or world culture designation. This information supersedes any information you may see elsewhere, to include what may appear in this ORC/Catalog or on a department/program website. Note that course attributes may change term to term therefore those in effect are those (only) during the term in which you enroll in the course.

Department-Specific Course Categories

Class of 2023 and Before Major Dist: US; Class of 2024 and Beyond Major Dist: US, modern.