Module Identifier | AS30020 | ||||||||
Module Title | AMERICA IN THE ERA OF THE COLD WAR | ||||||||
Academic Year | 2004/2005 | ||||||||
Co-ordinator | Professor Timothy S Woods | ||||||||
Semester | Semester 1 | ||||||||
Other staff | Mr Clive Meachen | ||||||||
Pre-Requisite | AS10120 , AS10220 | ||||||||
Co-Requisite | AS30120 , AS30220 | ||||||||
Course delivery | Seminars / Tutorials | 20 Hours 10 x 2 hours | |||||||
Assessment |
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1. To familiarise students with crucial events and important changes in U.S. society between 1945 and 1960;
2. To offer students an interdisciplinary approach to American Studies. The perspectives of history, literary and film studies, and politics will be brought to bear on a series of common topics in a way that will enhance understanding of the subject matter under investigation, as well as demonstrating the conceptual benefits (and problems) of interdisciplinary study;
3. To build on Part 1 American Studies and to supplement the existing range of modules in American Studies at Part 2, thereby enhancing students' overall understanding of American culture.
1. 'The American Century': The United States in 1945
Course introduction and overview.
2. McCarthyism in an International Context
Required Reading:
Ellen Schrecker, The Age of McCarthyism (selections)
John Diggins, The Proud Decades, chs. 1 and 2
3. McCarthyism in American Life
Required reading:
Ellen Schrecker, ed., The Age of McCarthyism (selections)
John Diggins, The Proud Decades, chs. 3 and 5
4. HUAC Goes to Hollywood
Required reading/viewing:
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Dir. Don Siegel, 1955)
5. Suburban America
Required Reading:
John Diggins, The Proud Decades (177-98)
Karal Ann Marling, As Seen On TV, chs. 3 and 4
John Cheever, 'The Wrysons' (photocopy supplied by instructor)
6. Women in Postwar America
Required Reading:
Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
Karal Ann Marling, As Seen on TV, chs. 1 and 5
7. Youth Culture
Required Reading/ Viewing:
Rebel Without a Cause (Dir. Nicholas Ray, 1955)
Karal Ann Marling, As Seen on TV, ch. 5
8. The Cultures of Art, Architecture and Music
Required Reading
John Diggins, The Proud Decades, ch. 7
The American Avant-Garde: Art in Theory, 1900-1990, ed. Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (photocopy supplied by instructor)
9. The Beats
Required Reading:
Ann Charters, The Portable Beat Reader (selections)
10. The Eisenhower Years
Required Reading
John Diggins, The Proud Decades, chs. 4, 10, Conclusion
Karal Ann Marling, As Seen on TV, chs. 2 and 7
Required Viewing
This module is at CQFW Level 6