American Culture

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We are all familiar with stereotyping in our day to day lives. Broadly speaking, stereotypes are characteristics imposed upon an entire group of people because of their specific identity markers–including: race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, etc.  These characteristics tend to be oversimplifications, and while a single individual might potentially embody the traits of a specific stereotype, they are not representative of members of the group. Stereotypes are not always accurate and even if positive, can be harmful.

Keeping this definition in mind, what are some of the stereotypes addressed in this module’s readings and video texts? Can you think of other examples of stereotyping in the mass/popular culture that you consume? Why do you think mass/popular culture relies so heavily on stereotypes?

AMST101_Lecture_IntrotoPopularCulture.pptx

Popular Culture

Opiate of the People or Revolutionary Weapon?

Popular culture

 

Popular culture is generally recognized as the vernacular or people’s culture that predominates in a society at a point in time.

 

With these fundamental aspects in mind, popular culture may be defined as: the products and forms of expression and identity that are frequently encountered or widely accepted, commonly liked or approved, and characteristic of a particular society at a given time.

Popular culture allows large heterogeneous masses of people to identify collectively.

 

Serves inclusionary role

Can enhance an individual’s prestige

Can be used to instigate change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High vs. Popular Culture

Debates about Popular Culture in Academia

 

 

 

Questions to consider:

 

What do you make of these two positions about popular culture (social control vs. rebellion)? Do you find one more persuasive than the other?

 

__MACOSX/._AMST101_Lecture_IntrotoPopularCulture.pptx

Scottsboro: An American Tragedy Discussion Questions

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AAST 220 – Discussion Questions

Scottsboro Boys: An American Tragedy

1. Why was it impossible for Samuel Liebowitz, the best criminal attorney in the U.S. to win a trial in the South?

 

 

 

2. What is the superior force that he both underestimates and is up against?

 

 

3. Discuss and explain the power and the role of myth in the creation of this tragedy?

 

a. Myth: A popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone, especially a belief that embodies the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of society

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. How did the Scottsboro Case rekindle the unresolved tensions of the civil war and a failed reconstruction?

 

5. What were the trials never about – but should have been? How could half of the boys be guilty and the remainder innocent?

 

 

 

 

6. Why were the boys tried four times? What was the Supreme Court powerless to do?

 

 

 

7. What occurs socially between non-southern whites and blacks when Judge Horton sets aside the guilty verdict and orders a third trial?

 

 

 

8. How does the state of Alabama respond to national and international pressure?

 

 

 

9. What happens to Judge Horton’s career as a consequence of choosing to maintain his personal integrity?

10. Why does the jury adamantly accept Victoria Price’s testimony even though a medical examination revealed no evidence of rape and produced only non-motile sperm?

 

 

 

11. Why do the jurists vehemently dismiss Ruby Bates’ testimony?

 

 

 

 

12. What does Ruby spend the rest of her life doing? Why?

 

 

 

13. Why does Governor Wallace, a staunch segregationist eventually parole all nine of the defendants?

 

 

 

14. Why do you suppose that Haywood Patterson, the only boy who was left in Kilby Prison and who eventually escaped to the north in 1948, was treated worse than the others?

 

15. What haunts Haywood for the remainder of his life?

Historical Thinking Essay

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HISTORY 131: U.S. HISTORY FROM 1865 TO PRESENT

QUINNEY FALL 2017

 

Historical Thinking Essay #1: Woodrow Wilson and World War I

An important theme in our course is to explore how everyday people living in the United States (citizens

and non-citizens, alike) have worked to make this nation a better place through democratic engagement.

Arguments opposed to and in favor of U.S. participation in the First World War provide an excellent

historical case.

 

STEP ONE: READ Roark, et al. The American Promise, Chapter 22.

 

STEP TWO: READ the following primary historical sources:

 

Voices in Opposition to World War I

Anti-Enlistment League Poster

His Best Customer by Winsor McCay (1917)

“I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier” (Cover page to sheet music, lyrics and music)

Eugene Debs “Canton, Ohio” Speech June 16, 1918

Robert M. La Follette, “It Has No Popular Support” Speech to Congress April 4, 1917

 

Voices in Favor of World War I

Woodrow Wilson “Making the World Safe for Democracy” April 2, 1917

“When the Lusitania Went Down” (lyrics and music)

“War is a Blessing Not a Curse” North American Review

“Four Minute Men: Volunteer Speeches during World War I”

Women Suffragettes

 

STEP THREE: WATCH THIS VIDEO “Princeton Students Protest Woodrow Wilson’s Legacy”

 

STEP FOUR: RESPOND to the following prompt:

 

Part I. Compare and contrast the various ways in which Americans expressed their favor

or opposition to World War I. Which voices seem the most patriotic in your view?

Why?

 

Part II. With regard to the recent controversy regarding Wilson’s historical legacy, where

do you stand? Should Wilson’s name be removed from institutions, such as the

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars? Regardless of your position on this

debate, be sure to express your democratic right to explain why you hold it.

This assignment requires that you rely on at least five (5) primary source documents as evidence;

choose evidence that reflects BOTH opposition to and support for the war. Your paper should be

between 3 and 5 pages (no more than 1250 words), double spaced.

***The essay is due to Cougar Courses before 9:00 AM on Thursday, October 12.***

 

https://wwionline.org/files/3114/0372/1218/WorkingMenAndWomenFlyer.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:His_Best_Customer.jpeg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Didn%27t_Raise_My_Boy_to_Be_a_Soldier
http://zinnedproject.org/materials/eugene-debs-canton-ohio/
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5017/
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/4943/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cRaYYZzmVw
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/4939
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/4970/
https://research.archives.gov/id/533765
http://www.msnbc.com/up/watch/princeton-students-protest-presidents-legacy-575635011928

History Of The U.S. Since Reconstruction Exam

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midterm

The midterm on Thursday will consist of an essay based on the video-lectures and assigned readings. Students should have completed the videos/readings prior to the midterm. Students will have all day to complete and submit the essay. The midterm will begin at 9:00am and students will have till 11:30pm to submit the PDF or Word document to Turnitin.

ASSIGNED READING

 

  • Interwar Period: Society/Economy of the 1920s, the Great Depression and New Deal Give Me Liberty, Chapters 20 and 21
  • World War II at Home and Abroad Give Me Liberty, Chapter 22

ASK FOR VIDEOS   ACCESS

Write an essay on ONE of the following prompts: (The essay should be 5-6 paragraphs and can only use information from the assigned readings and video lectures and slides. The essay must be typed, double spaced with 12-pt font, and submitted as a PDF or Word document through Turnitin).

1. What were the hopes and successes of Reconstruction after the Civil War? What were the major challenges and setbacks? What contributed to the abrupt end and failure of Reconstruction, and what problems remained in the South in the aftermath?

2. What led to the Industrial Revolution in the United States? How did industrialization change American society and economy during the Gilded Age? In what ways did the new immigration differ from previous patterns of immigration to the U.S.? How did the new immigration affect American society?

3. What major social and economic changes occurred in the U.S. during and after World War 1? What caused the Great Depression, and how did it affect the nation? What did FDR do about the crisis? How did the government’s role in the economy and society change as a result of the Great Depression?