The United States in the 1920s and 30s: Society and Culture 3301-KA1527
This course is dedicated to American culture and society of the period between two world wars. It is divided into two topic groups. The first focuses on the socio-political that the USA found themselves in after World War I. It serves as an overview of the historical and political aspect of the interwar period, which discuses the administrations of Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Special attention shall be paid to their foreign, social and economic policies. The purpose of the first topic group is providing the students with the elementary knowledge about the period, which will be useful during the second topic group, which focuses on specific issues and how they changed throughout these two decades. These topics include private life, the changing roles of men and women, the discrimination of ethnic, racial and religious minorities, the prohibition and its consequences (including the rise of organized crime), the development of the media (cinema, radio, the press), professional life, art, entertainment, fashion, the Great Depression and the New Deal. The course will end with a discussion of the USA before the outbreak of World War II.
You may miss up to three meetings. If you miss more, you should contact the course instructor as soon as possible to discuss your situation. Missing more meetings can result in failing the course.
Small electronic devices are not to be used during the class.
Type of course
Mode
Prerequisites (description)
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Knowledge:
identify on an advanced level the multiplicity of cultures and their complexity, cultural codes, as well as structural and institutional background of culture, with special focus on the US in the 1920s and 1930s.
describe on an advanced level the geography, history, politics, economy, as well as cultural and societal issues in relation to the 1920s and 1930s in the US.
Abilities:
analyze literary and cultural phenomena and draw generalizations on their basis with respect to the social, historical and economic context of the 1920s and 1930s;
collect information from various sources, critically assess a source and usefulness of information; analyze and draw generalizations on the basis of information so obtained.
Social Competences:
apply the skill to critically assess communicated content to think and act independently in various social situations;
function effectively in social and cultural interactions, through various forms and media, thanks to the ability to express oneself in a cohesive and lucid manner
value cultural heritage and cultural diversity.
Language competences are improved towards a B2+ level.
Assessment criteria
In class activity (including a presentation) and final test.
Bibliography
Allen, Frederick Lewis. Only Yesterday. New York: Bantam, 1959.
Allen, Frederick Lewis. Since Yesterday. New York: Harpers Row, 1972.
Braeman, John, et al. Change and Continuity in Twentieth Century America: the 1920's. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1968.
Carter, Paul A. The Twenties in America. Arlington Heights, Harlan Davidson, 1975.
Carter, Paul A. Another Part of the Twenties. New York: Columbia University Press, 1977.
Cross, Gary. The All-Consuming Century. New York: 2000
Fass, Paula S. The Damned and the Beautiful. American Youth in the 1920s. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979.
Filler, Louis, ed. The Anxious Years. America in the Nineteen Thirties. A Collection of Contemporary Writings. New York: Capricorn Books, 1964.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Collier Books, 1992.
Jenkins, Alan. The Twenties. London: Book Club Association: 1974.
Kyvig, David E. Daily Life in the United States, 1920 - 1940. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2004.
Lane, Jack and Maurice O’Sullivan, eds. A Twentieth-Century American Reader. Volune 1, 1900-1945. Washington D.C: United States Information Agency, 1999.
Leighton, Isabel. The Aspirin Age, 1919-1941. New York: Essandess, 1966.
Lynd, Robert S. and Helen Merrell Lynd. Middletown: A Study in American Culture. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1965
Lynd, Robert S. and Helen Merrell Lynd. Middletown: A Study in Cultural Conflicts. Harcourt, Brace, World, cop. 1965.
McElvaine, Robert S. The Great Depression. New York: Random House, 1984
Slosson, Preston William. The Great Crusade and After, 1914-1928. London: Macmillan.
Wybór tekstów z New Deal Document Library z New Deal Network Instytutu Franklina i Eleanory Roosevelt. (http://newdeal.feri.org/texts/default.cfm)
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: