Featured Course
The American Left 20th Century (HIST 1631)
Instructor: Richard Oestreicher
Class Number: 33296
Course Description:
In 1906 the German sociologist Werner Sombart wrote a famous essay entitled "Why is there No Socialism in the United States?" ("Warum gibt es keinen Socialismus in den Vereinigten Staaten?"). Although some of Sombart’s premises were wrong at the time he wrote this essay (The US did have a Socialist Party, much smaller than the German Social Democratic Party but not dramatically smaller then Socialist Parties in most other industrial societies) in subsequent decades his question became a classic for scholars of American politics and culture. By the second quarter of the twentieth century the US appeared to be the only industrialized democracy in which a socialist or labor party was not a serious contender for national political power. Many scholars and activists labeled this apparent gap in the American political spectrum as American Exceptionalism, and that framework has often dominated scholarship on the American Left and on the political culture of American workers.
We will begin by subjecting American Exceptionalism to a critical appraisal. What are the assumptions behind that notion? Then we will focus on three eras during which the American Left became mass movements: ca1905-1919; the mid 1930s to the mid 40s; and the 1960s. In each case a key organization provided these movements with organizational focus: the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, and the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). We will ask a series of questions about each organization: what was its base of support? cultural roots? ideology? political practice? internal political conflicts? sources of decline? political and cultural impact?
This is a writing seminar. Both words are important. Seminars are supposed to be cites of active rather than passive learning. I will lecture occasionally, but most of the time I will expect you to take charge yourselves, to bring the activist mentalite of the people we’re studying into the classroom. And you will write about what you discover. I will subject your writing to detailed critical appraisal and then you will rewrite. By the end every student should both know something about the history of the American Left and see improvement in writing and communication skills.
Course Requirements and Grades
Attend all classes, complete all reading assignments prior to class, and participate actively in class discussion.
Write two short analytical essays (approx. 1250 to 2000 words).
Thoroughly revise each of these papers in response to comments.
Complete a term paper using primary sources.
Grades:
essays 10% @ = 20%
revisions 10%@ = 20%
term paper = 40%
class participation = 20%
Plagiarism Policy: all work must be entirely your own. Plagiarism in any form will result in an F for the entire course.