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Undergraduate spring application deadline is December 1 for spring term.

HIST 344 From Reagan to Obama to Trump: America Since 1980

This course takes "current events" out of the headlines and into the realm of history. We examine controversies and developments that have marked American political and social life since 1980. Issues such as Ronald Reagan's election, economic policy, abortion, affirmative action, welfare, "political correctness," the Iran-Contra scandal and the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars are considered. The class brings the perspective of history to bear on Reagan's presidency, the power of the conservative movement and the opposition to that movement.

Prerequisites

4 Undergraduate credits

Effective December 15, 2017 to present

Meets graduation requirements for

Learning outcomes

General

  • Understands basic events and trends of political and social life in the United States since 1980, consistent with the analytical and expressive complexity and sophistication that are distinctively characteristic of upper-division courses completed at a comprehensive university.
  • Understands both the growing economic inequalities of American society and the simultaneous easing of certain forms of social and cultural inequality in the United States since 1980, consistent with the analytical and expressive complexity and sophistication that are distinctively characteristic of upper-division courses completed at a comprehensive university.
  • Understands both the operations of power from the top down and the activities of grassroots mobilizations in the United States since 1980, consistent with the analytical and expressive complexity and sophistication that are distinctively characteristic of upper-division courses completed at a comprehensive university.
  • Understands the development of U.S. foreign policy and the impact of world events on the United States in the last decade of the cold war and in the post-cold war era, up through the 9/11 attacks on the United States, 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.