Course Outline

Scope:  This course will examine the 1960s, one of the most turbulent and significant eras in U.S. history.  Thirty  years later the 1960s remain important to historians, politicians and to the public, one of the most contested territories of the past.  Were they the best or worst of years? Can we blame the 60s for a whole array of current problems, from drug abuse to high crime or should we celebrate the era for bringing equality to millions of Americans?  This class will explore these questions, among others.  Students will be encouraged to immerse themselves in the decade through the use of primary and secondary sources.  Most of the class will be conducted as a seminar.  Regular class participation will be expected.

Readings:
1) David Farber, ed., The Sixties: From Memory to History (UNC Press, 1994)
2) Terry Anderson, The Sixties (Longman, 1999)
3)  Peter B. Levy, ed. America in the Sixties—Right, Left and Center: A Documentary History (Praeger, 1998)

Requirements:
1) Mid-term and final exam.  (20% and 30 % of grade, respectively).  The mid-term will consist of a take-home essay, questions for which will be distributed on or about 2/28 and due after winter break.  Students may rewrite this paper and submit it (along with the original) for a better grade.  The rewrite is due on May  2nd at the latest.  The final exam will consist of a take-home essay and a brief short answer test.
2) Class participation and assignments (25% of grade).  Students will maintain a “portfolio or folder” which includes all of their in and out of class assignments.  At the end of the semester (and perhaps periodically upon request of Prof. Levy), student will turn in their portfolio/folder for review.
3) Research Project (25 % of grade).  Following the guidelines of the National History Day program (see: http://64.226.212.131/02_contest/02.html) for the year 2002, the class will hold its own “contest” or history fair on April 30th and May 2nd.   Further clarification of this project will be presented in class.

Plagerism will not be tolerated and will be dealt with according to the regulations of York College.

Date     Topic and Readings
1/24     Introduction: Assignments & Overview of the
     “Contested 60s”

1/29 & 1/31   The Fifties: Prelude to the Sixties
     Levy, ch. 1.1-1.8
     Anderson, “Introduction”

2/5  & 2/7 The End of American Innoncence
     Levy, ch. 2.7-2.9
Anderson, ch. 1.

2/12 & 2/14   Early Movements
     Levy, ch. 2.1-2.6, 4.7
Film: “Berkeley in the 60s: Part I”

2/19 & 2/21 The Great Society & Its Critics
     Levy, ch. 4.1-4.6
  Anderson, ch. 2
Robert Collins, “Growth Liberalism...” in Farber.

2/26 & 2/28 1964-1965 America at a Crossroads?
  Levy, ch. 3.1-3.5
  Film: Eyes on the Prize: Mississippi: Is This America?

Winter Break

3/12 & 3/14 Vietnam and the War at Home
Levy, ch. 5.1-5.7
Anderson, ch. 3
Berkeley in the 1960s: Part II

3/19 & 3/21 Vietnam and the War at Home continued
Charles Pach, Jr., “And That’s the Way...” in Farber.
Levy, chs. 3.5-3.9 and 5.8-5.10
Anderson, ch 4

3/26 Origins of the Culture Wars
Levy, chs. 1.9 – 1.11
 and George Lipsitz, “Youth    Culture, Rock ....”  in Farber.

4/2 & 4/4 Culture Wars continued
Levy, ch. 6
Anderson, ch. 5
 Beth Bailey, “Sexual Revolutions,” in Farber.

4/9 & 4/11 Women’s Liberation and Other Movements
 Levy, ch. 7
 4/16 & 4/18 1968: Can the Center Hold?
Levy, ch. 8.1, 8.2, 8.5-8.6
Farber, “The Silent Majority,” in Farber.

4/23 & 4/25 Coming Apart and Coming Together
 Levy, 8.3,, 8.4, 8.7, 8.8
 Anderson, chs. 6 & 7
Film: Berkeley in the 1960s: Part III

4/30 & 5/2 History “Fair”/Presentations

5/7 & 5/9 Looking Backward
     Levy,ch. 9
  Anderson, “Legacies”

Web Resources on the 1960s
1. Sixties Discussion list: http://lists.village.virginia.edu/sixties/
2. Warren Court Decisions and Presidential Speeches: http://www.multied.com/documents/sixties.html
3. Levittown: http://tigger.uic.edu/~pbhales/Levittown.html
4. Life Magazine : http://www.lifemag.com/Life/search/covers
5. Beats: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/BeatGen.html
6. Cold War: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/
7. Sixties data: prices; top films, songs, etc.: http://www.1960sflashback.com/
8. John F. Kennedy: http://www.jfklibrary.org/
9. Lyndon Johnson: http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/
10. Richard Nixon: http://www.nara.gov/nixon/
11.  Watergate: http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/ gen/resources/watergate/index.html
12. Civil Rights Movement: http://www.lib.usm.edu/~spcol/crda/resources.htm
13. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Papers”: http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/
14. SNCC: http://www.ibiblio.org/sncc/links.html
15. Freedom Summer: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ price&bowers/price&bowers.htm
16. Cesar Chavez and UFW: http://www.ufw.org/history.htm
17. George Wallace: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/wallace/
18. Free Speech Movement: http://sunsite.berkeley.edu:2020/ dynaweb/teiproj/fsm/monos/goinesbk/@Generic__BookView and http://www.fsm-a.org/index.html
19. Vietnam War: http://vietnam.vassar.edu/index.html
20. Vietnam War: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/index.html
21. John Birch Society and Vietnam War: http://www.jbs.org/vietnam/
22. My Lai Massacre: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/mylai.htm
23. Rachel Carson and environmental movement: http://www.rachelcarson.org
24. Counterculture, especially Haigh-Ashbury: http://www.sixties.com/
25. Popular culture and collectibles: http://www.timewarptoys.com/index.php
26. Fashion: http://www.costumegallery.com/1960.htm
27. Diggers Homepage: http://www.diggers.org/
28. People’s Park: http://www.dnai.com/~hi_there/people%27s_park.html#anchor335414
29. Woodstock: http://woodstock69.com/
30. Chicago 1968: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Chicago7/chicago7.html
31. Women’s Liberation: http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/wlm/
32. Gay liberation, especially Stonewall Rebellion: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/events/sw25/
33. COINTELPRO (FBI activities and report on): http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/cointel.htm
34. FBI Reading Room (includes many files on sixties figures): http://foia.fbi.gov/room.htm