Course Details

An exploration, historical overview, and synthesis of American culture and politics during the years 1960-1969 with a focus on the explicit and implicit meanings of representative cinema, TV, groundbreaking music, letters, and culture. In the sixth decade of the 20th century the United States of America swung a pendulum between conservative, experimental, liberal, to conservative again. This course looks at American culture—from the birth of the 1960s and the election of John F Kennedy to 1970. In these violent years, the Vietnam War raged; JFK, RFK, MLK, Malcom X were victims of political violence and Nixon was reelected. Sexual politics remade themselves. There were hippies and yippies. Women's rights expanded with the pill. The Stonewall uprising launched the Queer rights movement and the Civil Rights movement's civil disobedience gave way to the militarism of The Black Panthers. Philosophy, cinema, art, theater and music flourished. We will study cultural game-changers such as artists like Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, Judy Chicago. Musicians like Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, The Velvet Underground, Johnny Cash. Famous theater like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Dutchman, Cabaret, Hair, Follies, That Championship Season. And we will study classic movies like Dr. Strangelove and Easy Rider, . Come join this exciting excursion back in time—you'll get perspective on pivotal American history and gain new perspectives about how and why the USA arrived at our current cultural moment in the 21st century.