HI 460 Cross-Cultural Encounters

The goal of this first unit is to bring you up to speed on the history — and historiography — of the postwar era in the United States and to suggest possible research topics so that you begin your research phase with a clear idea of where to head next.

We have already begun by critically examining a few pop-culture versions of ’50s nostalgia, setting up ePortfolio sites, and studying textbook versions. Now we’ll delve more deeply into one well-crafted book considering people and events of the 1950s (journalist David Halberstam’s The Fifties) and into some of the key primary sources of the Cold War and the Korean War. We’ll next examine how historians disagree on the meaning and extent of demographic change during this decade, and end with an iconic film of 1955, Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause.

Some reminders and deadlines for this unit:

Wed 9/11 – your J1 was due, a critical textbook analysis, as a 750-word blog post in your new ePortfolio. If it’s not there yet make sure you take care of that pronto.

Mon 9/16 – Halberstam’s People. We divided up Halberstam’s text so that everyone reads 4 chapters. Prepare to present for about 5-7 minutes on Monday on your assigned chapters. Try to resist the impulse to just recap or summarize Halberstam’s work – instead, seek to make it a lively and perhaps even discussion-provoking presentation.

Wed 9/18 – Documents of the Cold War. These are found under the “Primary Sources” tab above. They will take some time (and you can skim, rather than read closely, the lengthy NSC-68 report). Together these documents represent the formulation of a clear (if not always consistent) American policy of anti-Communism and Cold War containment. They are foundational to understanding American domestic and foreign policy and culture in the period, so make sure you are well conversant with them. Journal #2 is due: topic is free choice, but perhaps considering Halberstam’s version of events.

Mon 9/23 – Korean War. I’ll provide some links on that same tab regarding the US’s participation in the Korean War. If you don’t feel like you know a lot about these events, then also read/review Halberstam Chapters 4, 5 and 7.

Wed 9/25 – Race and Civil Rights. Reading: Halberstam 29, 36, 44. Journal #3 is due: a detailed analysis of a primary source document. You can choose any from the previous 2 class sessions, or another of your own choosing. Use your blog post to discuss, pick apart, analyze, explore, interrogate… etc… one document, preferably one that might have some connection to your future paper. If you need help with ideas on how to approach such an assignment, you might go back to Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History which you should have bought & kept from Historian’s Craft, and review Chapters 3-5, especially part 3c.

Mon 9/30 – Four sources (two primary, two secondary) converse about gender, the suburbs and the baby boom. Do they disagree? Where, why, and using what evidence? In addition, I’m providing the table of contents and introductory essay for an important scholarly anthology which is on course reserve for this class at the library, Not June Cleaver: Women and Gender in Postwar America, 1945-1960, edited by Joanne Meyerowitz – this is to whet your appetite for the kind of secondary source scholarship there is on postwar women, gender, political action and the American family.

Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (1963)
Claudia Jones, “An End to the Neglect of the Problems of the Negro Woman” (1949)
Thomas Hine, “The Luckiest Generation”
Kenneth T. Jackson, The Crabgrass Frontier, excerpt

Meyerowitz, Not June Cleaver (table of contents + intro)

Wed 10/2 – By this day, have your topic decided and have spent some time digging for sources (primary and secondary) that you plan to use. Describe this plan in a “proposal” Journal entry #4. Reading: Storey Writing History Ch 1. As we begin to transition to the research and writing phase, this book will become your trusted companion!