HIS 2429 - AMERICA AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION

credits: 3.0
The stock market crash in October 1929 was the culminating event in a series of economic developments that led to the Great Depression. This course explores the political, social, and cultural history of the United States during the Depression decade of the 1930s. Will consider the causes of the Depression, the debate over how best to respond to the crisis, the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932 and the implementation of the New Deal, and the responses of a variety of figures from across the ideological spectrum, from radicals to reactionaries. Will pay particular attention to how the experience of the Depression was reflected through literature, visual culture, and popular movies. Objectives: A) Identify, describe, and explain key people and events in U.S. History during the 1930s; B) Identify, describe, and explain key cultural and intellectual responses to the event of the 1930s; C) Compare and contrast different political and religious responses to the events of the 1930s; D) Compare and contrast the effects of the Depression and New Deal as refracted through race, ethnicity, gender, and class; E) Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, about the history of the U.S. during the 1930s. Method of Instruction: Class discussion of assigned sources supplemented by occasional lectures. Method of Evaluation: Three in-class exams; two or three essays on assigned readings, presentations. Meets *WEP Distribution Requirement.