Course description

This course examines United States history from the 1960s to the post-Covid-19 world we now inhabit. We will seek to better understand and interpret the meaning of the rapid transformations in American politics, economics, and culture in recent decades that have (at times) produced crises and disruptions in everyday life, as well as great achievements and accomplishments. We will pay particular attention to the social movements that have emerged in recent decades, including the struggle for African-American civil rights and equality, feminism and the changing roles of women, activism related to climate change and political reform, and the agency of ordinary people seeking to engage in meaningful social change. In addition, students will have the opportunity to evaluate a few different theoretical orientations and methodologies historians often use in practicing their craft. At a time when we seem to have limitless access to historical “information” (and “misinformation”) at our fingertips, we will examine the profound difference between and historical
“information” and historical “knowledge,” with the goal of better understanding where the discipline (and our society) is heading in the 21st Century.

Winter 2025: Online course

Joseph Palermo
Joseph Palermo
Visiting Associate Professor of History