The seminar focuses on the ongoing “experiment” of the United States of America, emphasizing how U.S. society, history, and politics have evolved over time while grappling with the tensions between continuity and change. By exploring how different groups, movements, and ideologies have influenced and responded to shifts in power, policy, and social norms, students will use primary sources to trace these themes across different periods and examine how Americans have debated, recorded, and reacted to the societal, historical, and political dynamics of the 20th century. Special attention will be given to U.S. domestic politics and U.S. foreign policy to examine how key concepts such as progress and resistance, war and peace, ideals vs. social reality, and identity and nationalism have shaped the continuity and change of the American “experiment.”
Students may analyze:
- Letters, speeches, and articles from different eras to see how ideas about democracy and citizenship have evolved.
- Court cases and legal documents to understand how laws have been used to both protect and restrict rights.
- Political cartoons, propaganda, and media to explore how public opinion has been shaped and how it has influenced policy and society.
- Personal diaries and memoirs to gain insights into the lived experiences of people during significant historical moments.
- Trainer/in: Hannah Vossen