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American Civilization 2

David Stowe
Graduate School of American Studies
Doshisha University, Japan

Part Two of this two-semester sequence will introduce students to some basic issues, problems and approaches to the interdisciplinary study of the United States. Moreover, students will receive intensive training in skills of analysis, argumentation and writing necessary for the completion of a degree in the Graduate School of American Studies.

Course requirements

• 3-5 page essay (15 percent)
• Mid-term exam (15 percent)
• 6-8 page final paper (30 percent)
• Brief (1-2 paragraph) comments due weekly via e-mail. (20 percent)
• Regular attendance and participation in seminar activities (20 percent)

Textbooks

• Boller, Paul F. Jr. and Ronald Story. A More Perfect Union: Documents in U.S. History. 2 Vols. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.
• John F. Kasson, Amusing the Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century. New York: Hill and Wang, 1978.
• Ravitch, Diane, ed. The American Reader: Words That Moved a Nation. New York: HarperPerennial, 1991

Films

• The Jazz Singer (1927)
• Blade Runner (1982)
• All About Eve (1950)
• The King and I (1956)

Reference

• Foner, Eric, ed. The New American History. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990.
• Fox, Richard Wightman and James T. Kloppenberg, eds. A Companion to American Thought. Oxford: Blackwell, 1995.
• Gorn, Elliottt et al, eds. Constructing the American Past: A Source Book of a People's History. Vol. 2. New York: HarperCollins, 1995
• Hollinger, David and Charles Capper, eds. The American Intellectual Tradition: A Sourcebook. 2 Vols. 3rd Edition. New York: Oxford, 1997.
• James, C. L. R. American Civilization. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1993.
• Lerner, Max. America as a Civilization. New York: Henry Holt, 1987.
• Mauk, David, and John Oakland. American Civilization: An Introduction. New York: Routledge, 1977.
• Norton, Mary Beth et al. A People and a Nation. Brief 4th Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.
• Susman, Warren I., Culture as History: The Transformation of American Culture in the Twentieth Century. New York: Pantheon, 1984.

American Civilization 2 will cover four themes:

• Race and Ethnicity
• Cities and Technology
• Arts and Popular Culture
• America in the World

Class schedule

Back to American Civilization 1 Syllabus