HIST 165 American Identity
Taught as schedule allows (consult the Course Directory)
The terrorism of 9-11-01 and subsequent events, especially "Operation Freedom" in Iraq and the controversies surrounding our detention of enemy combatants, have caused us to think as never before about who we are and what values should shape our behavior in our dangerous and shrinking world. This course will examine the ideas Americans have about themselves as a nation and how our self-conception has changed over time. It will ask students to identify those values and beliefs that Americans think they share with other Americans, and it will trace the changing answers to the question, who belongs and who doesn't? In addition, such topics as the following will be explored in their historical context: what is the American dream and who may pursue it; is there an American national character; does America have a transcendent purpose; how is an American hero supposed to act and how can one spot villains; why metaphors of identity, such as Melting Pot or Mosaic, are useful and why they fail; and whether it is possible to know what it means to be an American given our dynamically evolving cultural, ethnic and racial diversity?
Course Syllabus (PDF)
