AMER306

This class explores the history of U.S. social movements and progressive politics from the nineteenth century through the present day. Together, we will canvas the triumphs and failures of various Lefts along with the American variants of abolition, anti-imperialism, anti-racism, and women’s rights, to name a few. Navigating through this terrain will include weighing progressive causes vs. controversial positions in U.S. history, and an investigation of why anarchism, communism and democratic socialism, for example, have proven divisive political landscapes. Importantly—and perhaps most interestingly—we will immerse ourselves in the cultural politics of Gen Z and its take on photographs, literature, monuments, social media, and music in order to understand why these and other cultural forms become vehicles for dissent. Lining our discussions will be themes like racism and sexism, sustainability, economic inequality and homophobia, and the ways in which different individuals and groups have struggled against stereotypes and the status quo, as well as upheld them, in domestic and international settings.

Arts, Humanities and Education

MJ-AMER-Amer Politics & Soc. (AM11), MJ-Amer-Race & Ethnicity (AM14), OLD GE TOPICS SOCIAL SCIENCE (GTSS), WRITING INTENSIVE (WRIT)