War & American Society

Calendar

Class #	Topics	Readings / Viewings	Assignments
1	Introduction	O’Brien, Tim. “How to Tell a True War Story.” The Things They Carried. Pp. 67-85.
2	The Civil War and the Making of the Nation	Neely, Mark E., Jr. The Last Best Hope of Earth: Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America. You should try to read all of it, but we will spend most of our time on the Civil War sections, from pp. 59-156.
3	Same as Above	Neely, Mark E., Jr. The Last Best Hope of Earth: Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America. Today we will discuss the remainder of the book, from pp. 157-193. Lincoln, Abraham. “House Divided Speech,” “Letter to Horace Greeley,” “Meditation on the Divine Will,” “Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation,” “Proclamation Suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus,” “Address at Gettysburg,” and “Second Inaugural Address.”	First Writing Assignment Due in Class. (Graded Check/Check Plus/Check Minus.)
4	The Civil War and the Making of Americans	Viewing: Glory. Alcott, Louisa May. Hospital Sketches. Lowell, Robert. “For the Union Dead.”
5	War and the Dawn of the American Century	Freidel, Frank. “Dissent in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection.” Roosevelt, Theodore. “The Strenuous Life.” Twain, Mark. “Battle Hymn of the Republic (Brought Down to Date),” “As Regards Patriotism,” “The War Prayer.” James, William. “The Moral Equivalent of War.”
6	World War I	Viewing: All Quiet on the Western Front.	Second Writing Assignment Due in Class.
7	Same as Above	Porter, Katherine Anne. Pale Horse, Pale Rider. Bourne, Randolph S. “The War and the Intellectuals.”
8	World War II: Why We Fight	Adams, Michael C. C. The Best War Ever: America and World War II. Pp. 1-19. Minear, Richard H. Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel.
9	Same as Above	Hennessey, Maureen Hart. “The Four Freedoms.” Westbrook, Robert B. “Fighting for the American Family: Private Interests and Political Obligations in World War II.” Westbrook, Robert B. “‘I Want a Girl, Just Like the Girl that Married Harry James’: American Women and the Problem of Political Obligation in World War II.”
10	World War II: The Good War?	Adams, Michael C. C. The Best War Ever: America and World War II. Pp. 21-113.
11	World War II: The War at Home	Adams, Michael C. C. The Best War Ever: America and World War II. Pp. 114-159. Viewing: The Best Years of Our Lives.
12	Same as Above	Westbrook, Robert B. “In the Mirror of the Enemy: Japanese Political Culture and the Peculiarities of American Patriotism in World War II.” Irons, Peter. “Gordon Hirabayashi v. United States.” Rehnquist, William H. All the Laws but One: Civil Liberties in Wartime. Pp. 184-211. Hirabayashi v. United States 320 U.S. 81 (1943). Korematsu v. United States 323 U.S. 214 (1944).
13	World War II and the Dawn of the Atomic Age	Hersey, John. Hiroshima.
14	Same as Above		Third Writing Assignment Due in Class.
15	Vietnam	O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Begin. Viewing: Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam.
16	Same as Above	O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Finish. Broyles, William, Jr. “Why Men Love War.” Kingston, Maxine Hong. “The Brother in Vietnam.”
17	Same as Above	Viewing: Full Metal Jacket, or any other Vietnam film of your choosing. Johnson, Lyndon B. “Speech at Johns Hopkins University.” Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice. Pp. 363-391. Walzer, Michael. “The Obligation to Die for the State” and “Conscientious Objection.” United States v. Seeger 380 U.S. 163 (1965). Welsh v. United States 398 U.S. 333 (1970). Gillette v. United States 401 U.S. 437 (1971). Cohen v. California 403 U.S. 15 (1971).
18	America in a Post-Cold War World		Fourth Writing Assignment Due in Class.
19	Same as Above	Ensler, Eve. Necessary Targets: A Story of Women and War. Kerber, Linda K. No Constitutional Right to Be Ladies: Women and the Obligations of Citizenship. Pp. 236-252, 261-267, 278-302.
20	War, Media, and the Middle East	McAlister, Melani. Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, and U.S. Interests in the Middle East, 1945-2000. Pp. 1-42, 125-234.
21	War in the Persian Gulf	Viewing: Three Kings. McAlister, Melani. Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, and U.S. Interests in the Middle East, 1945-2000. Pp. 235-265. Baudrillard, Jean. “The Gulf War Did Not Take Place.”
22	September 11 and After	Walzer, Michael. “Terrorism.” Additional Readings Based on Course Presentations.
23	Same as Above	Readings Based on Course Presentations.
24	Same as Above	Readings Based on Course Presentations.