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HIST 334 The Great Depression of the 1930s

Students study factors that caused the collapse of the U.S. economy in the 1930s and government action against the social and economic consequences of the Great Depression. Students also examine the experiences of women, African Americans, working people and organized labor, and agricultural communities during the Depression. In short, this course provides students with both a broad sketch of the main currents that shaped American society and more focused examples of how and why the Great Depression affected various communities. It also includes two short research projects.

Prerequisites

4 Undergraduate credits

Effective August 1, 1998 to present

Meets graduation requirements for

Learning outcomes

General

  • Can analyze and evaluate differing representations of social movements and struggles during the Great Depression contained in both fiction and nonfiction accounts, consistent with the analytical and expressive complexity and sophistication that are distinctively characteristic of upper-division courses completed at a comprehensive university.
  • Can analyze and evaluate the comparative impact of multiple forms of social identity and oppression for example, gender versus race or class versus gender in the experiences of people struggling during the Great Depression, consistent with the analytical and expressive complexity and sophistication that are distinctively characteristic of upper-division courses completed at a comprehensive university.
  • Knows major events, key individuals, institutions, political struggles and government policy initiatives during the Great Depression, consistent with the analytical and expressive complexity and sophistication that are distinctively characteristic of upper-division courses completed at a comprehensive university.
  • Understands the experiences of different groups in American society "including wage-earning workers, farmers, African Americans and women" as they struggled during the Great Depression, consistent with the analytical and expressive complexity and sophistication that are distinctively characteristic of upper-division courses completed at a comprehensive university.

Minnesota Transfer Curriculum

Goal 5: History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences

  • Employ the methods and data that historians and social and behavioral scientists use to investigate the human condition.
  • Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures.
  • Use and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories.
  • Develop and communicate alternative explanations or solutions for contemporary social issues.

Goal 7: Human Diversity

  • Understand the development of and the changing meanings of group identities in the United States' history and culture.
  • Demonstrate an awareness of the individual and institutional dynamics of unequal power relations between groups in contemporary society.
  • Analyze their own attitudes, behaviors, concepts and beliefs regarding diversity, racism, and bigotry.
  • Describe and discuss the experience and contributions (political, social, economic, etc.) of the many groups that shape American society and culture, in particular those groups that have suffered discrimination and exclusion.
  • Demonstrate communication skills necessary for living and working effectively in a society with great population diversity.