HIS 2923 - THE ROARING TWENTIES

credits: 3.0
Will explore the major economic, political, and especially cultural changes in the United States during the 1920s. The major theme will be to examine the transformation of the United States into a more consumerist, urban, secular, and pluralistic society. Will consider the following topics: A) The emergence of a modern consumer society and the growing importance of advertising and movies; B) The changing role of women and the development of a more permissive attitude about sex; C) Major writers of the “Lost Generation,” including F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway; D) The Harlem Renaissance; E) The efforts by numerous Americans, especially those living in rural and small town areas, to resist the cultural changes transforming the nation. In this context will discuss the Red Scare of 1919-1920, the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan, and the Prohibition movement. Course ends by exploring the stock market crash of 1929 and the beginning of the Great Depression. Method of Instruction: Mixture of class discussion and lectures. Method of Evaluation: Class participation; two papers, each four-to-five pages long, based on assigned readings; two exams. Meets *WEP Distribution Requirement.