HIST 342 The Sixties Experience
What really happened in the 1960s in America? Why is this decade remembered as a watershed, and why does it remain so controversial? This course examines closely the popular social movements whose size and impact made the 1960s an era that many Americans found exhilarating, and others found threatening. This course also considers the political context within which these movements unfolded, and which they sought to alter. Students are encouraged to peel back the layers of myth surrounding the popular memory of the 1960s and to develop their own ideas of what truly occurred then, and why it seems to matter so much (and even whether it should).
Prerequisites
4 Undergraduate credits
Effective August 1, 1998 to present
Meets graduation requirements for
Learning outcomes
General
- Can critically evaluate contemporary reference to "the Sixties," as demonstrated by examinations and class participation, consistent with the analytical and expressive complexity and sophistication that are distinctively characteristic of upper-division courses completed at a comprehensive university.
- Knows the goals, beliefs, and activities of various political actors in the United States in the 1960s, as demonstrated by examinations and class participation, consistent with the analytical and expressive complexity and sophistication that are distinctively characteristic of upper-division courses completed at a comprehensive university.
- Understands the nature and importance of the liberation's struggles of various groups in American society "including African Americans, women, gays and lesbians and Native Americans" as they emerged and/or proceeded during the 1960s, consistent with the analytical and expressive complexity and sophistication that are distinctively characteristic of upper-division courses completed at a comprehensive university
- Understands the significance of the 1960s as a period of change in American life, as demonstrated by examinations and class participation, 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 7A: Human Diversity, Race, Power, and Justice in the United States
- 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.