Syllabus—US Since 1929

 6 August 2025

research-intensive seminar @ suny brockport, fall 2025.

Jasper Johns: Three Flags, 1958.

Instructor info

Dr. Michael J. Kramer, Department of History, SUNY Brockport, mkramer@brockport.edu.

Who is your instructor?

Michael J. Kramer specializes in modern US cultural and intellectual history, transnational history, public history, digital humanities, and cultural criticism. He is an associate professor of history at the State University of New York (SUNY) Brockport, the author of The Republic of Rock: Music and Citizenship in the Sixties Counterculture (Oxford University Press, 2013), and the director of the Berkeley Folk Music Festival Project. He is currently working on a history of the 1976 United States bicentennial celebration and a study of folk music, technology, and cultural democracy in the United States. He edits The Carryall, an online journal of US cultural and intellectual history and maintains a blog of cultural criticism, Culture Rover. His website, with additional information about publications, projects, courses, talks, and more can be found at michaeljkramer.net.

What are we up to?

In this research-intensive course, we explore US history from 1929 to the present. Building on your basic understanding of US history, the course helps you to: (1) develop a more robust grasp of US history’s facts, events, eras, people, and stories; (2) improve your comprehension of historiographic debates (the interpretive disagreements among historians); (3) practice the historical craft of assessing evidence to make compelling claims; (4) handle informational complexity in order to clarify key themes and questions; (5) analyze important theoretical and empirical issues of power, identity, race, gender, class, sexuality, region, culture, the law, the state, politics, economics, and ideas; (6) improve your research, writing, and communication skills; and (7) assemble a set of historical resources for teaching or other professional pursuits. We read in this course—a lot!—with the objective of learning how to read for historical understanding more efficiently and effectively. Each student will also complete short primary source lesson plan assignments; and assignments that culminate in a final essay based on original research of primary sources in relation to historiographic debates in US history since 1929. Finally, participation and discussion are essential for this upper-level seminar. The quality of our conversations depends on your commitment to arriving prepared, taking a few intellectual chances in discussing the readings, and listening and responding respectfully to others. Don’t worry, we are in it together in this exploration of the US since 1929.

Things you are expected to do this term

By taking this course you are agreeing to do the following to the best of your abilities:

  • Complete the readings.
  • Come to class prepared.
  • Participate in discussions in class through both comments and listening and responding to others.
  • Complete the assignments.
  • Be respectful of yourself, your instructor, and your fellow students.
  • This is a hybrid synchronous course. If you are attending online, please find a quiet place with a good internet connection to join the course; keep your camera on and use a headset if possible.

Required books

Purchase used or new at Brockport bookstore or wherever you wish to purchase or available at SUNY Brockport Drake Memorial Library Reserves or through Interlibrary Loan from Drake Library or your local library.

  • Cowie, Jefferson. The Great Exception: The New Deal and the Limits of American Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780691175737
  • Fraser, Steve, and Gary Gerstle, eds. The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order, 1930-1980. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990. ISBN: 9780691006079
  • Erenberg, Lewis A. and Susan E. Hirsch, eds. The War in American Culture: Society and Consciousness during World War II. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780226215129
  • Dudziak, Mary L. War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780199315857
  • Cohen, Lizabeth. A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003. ISBN: 9780375707377
  • Jeffries, Hasan Kwame. Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and Black Power in Alabama’s Black Belt. New York: New York University Press, 2009. ISBN: 9780814743317
  • Farber, David, ed. The Sixties: From Memory to History. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994. ISBN: 9780807844625
  • Bailey, Beth L., and Dave Farber, eds. America in the Seventies. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2004. ISBN: 9780700613274
  • Winant, Gabriel. The Next Shift: The Fall of Industry and the Rise of Health Care in Rust Belt America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2021. ISBN: 9780674292192
  • McGrath, Tom. Triumph of the Yuppies: America, the Eighties, and the Creation of an Unequal Nation. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2024. ISBN: 9781538725993
  • Lichtenstein, Nelson, and Judith Stein. A Fabulous Failure: The Clinton Presidency and the Transformation of American Capitalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2023. ISBN: 9780691245522
  • Beck, Richard. Homeland: American Life in the War on Terror. New York: Crown, 2024. ISBN: 9780593240229
  • Serwer, Adam. The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump’s America. New York: One World, 2022. ISBN: 9780593230824

Schedule

Introductions

Monday, August 25
Introductions

Readings:

The New Deal and the Great Exception

Wednesday, August 27
The Stock Market Crash, Great Depression, and New Deal

Readings:

  • Cowie, Jefferson. The Great Exception: The New Deal and the Limits of American Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2016, Prologue and Introduction

Monday, September 01 No Class—Labor Day

Tuesday, September 02

Assignment:

  • Student Introduction

Wednesday, September 03
The New Deal and the “Great Exception”

Readings:

  • Cowie, Jefferson. The Great Exception: The New Deal and the Limits of American Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2016, Chapters 01-07
  • MacLean, Nancy. “Getting New Deal History Wrong.” International Labor and Working-Class History 74, 1 (2008): 49–55

The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order

Monday, September 08
New Deal Order Rise and Fall

Readings:

  • Fraser, Steve, and Gary Gerstle, eds. The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order, 1930-1980. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990, Introduction, Part 01

Primary Source Options:

Wednesday, September 10
Neoliberal Order After 1970

Readings:

  • Fraser, Steve, and Gary Gerstle, eds. The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order, 1930-1980. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990, Introduction, Part 02

Friday, September 12
Assignment:

  • The Stock Market Crash, Great Depression, and New Deal Teaching Assignment Using Primary Sources

WWII

Monday, September 15
Seeking Unity in the American Way

Readings:

  • Erenberg, Lewis A. and Susan E. Hirsch, eds. The War in American Culture: Society and Consciousness during World War II. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996, Introduction, Parts 01 and 02

Primary Source Options:

Wednesday, September 17
Mobilization and Its Effects

Readings:

  • Erenberg, Lewis A. and Susan E. Hirsch, eds. The War in American Culture: Society and Consciousness during World War II. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996, Introduction, Parts 03-05
  • Canaday, Margot. “Building a Straight State: Sexuality and Social Citizenship under the 1944 G.I. Bill.” Journal of American History 90, 3 (December 2003): 935-957

Wartime from WWII to Now

Monday, September 22
What Was WWII?

Readings:

  • Dudziak, Mary L. War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013, Introduction, Chapters 01 and 02

Wednesday, September 24
US Wars After WWII

Readings:

  • Dudziak, Mary L. War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013, Introduction, Chapters 03, 04, and Conclusion

Postwar

Monday, September 29
Origins and Birth of a Consumers’ Republic

Readings:

  • Cohen, Lizabeth. A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003, Prologue, Part 01 and 02
  • Korstad, Robert and Nelson Lichtenstein. “Opportunities Found and Lost: Labor, Radicals, and the Early Civil Rights Movement.” Journal of American History 75, 3 (December 1988): 786–811
  • Berg, Manfred. “Black Civil Rights and Liberal Anticommunism: The NAACP in the Early Cold War.” Journal of American History 94, 1 (June 2007): 75–96

Wednesday, October 01
Landscape and Politics of a Consumers’ Republic

Readings:

  • Cohen, Lizabeth. A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003, Part 03, 04, Epilogue
  • Nickerson, Michelle. “Women, Domesticity, and Postwar Conservatism.” OAH Magazine of History 17, 2: Conservatism (January 2003): 17-21

Primary Source Options:

Civil Rights and Black Power After WWII

Monday, October 06
A Freedom Struggle Develops

Readings:

  • Jeffries, Hasan Kwame. Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and Black Power in Alabama’s Black Belt. New York: New York University Press, 2009, Introduction and Chapters 01-04

Primary Source Options:

Wednesday, October 08
Black Power and Other Civil Rights Movements: Two Case Studies and Their Larger Implications

Readings:

  • Jeffries, Hasan Kwame. Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and Black Power in Alabama’s Black Belt. New York: New York University Press, 2009, Chapters 05-07 and Epilogue
  • Farmer, Ashley D. “‘All the Progress to Be Made Will Be Made by Maladjusted Negroes’: Mae Mallory, Black Women’s Activism, and the Making of the Black Radical Tradition.” Journal of Social History 53, 2 (Winter 2019): 508-530
  • Flores, Lori. “An Unladylike Strike Fashionably Clothed: Mexican American and Anglo Women Garment Workers Against Tex-Son, 1959-1963.” Pacific Historical Review 78, 3 (August 2009), 367-402

Friday, October 10

Assignment:

  • World War II Teaching Assignment Using Primary Sources

Monday, October 13 No Class—Fall Break

The Sixties

Wednesday, October 15
The Sixties in History and Memory

Readings:

  • Farber, David, ed. The Sixties: From Memory to History. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994, Introduction, Chapters 01-04

Primary Source Options:

Monday, October 20
The Sixties in History and Memory

Readings:

  • Farber, David, ed. The Sixties: From Memory to History. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994, Introduction, Chapters 06-10

The Seventies

Wednesday, October 22
The Age of Decadence or a Time of Limits?

Readings:

  • Bailey, Beth L., and Dave Farber, eds. America in the Seventies. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2004, Introduction, Chapters 01-04

Primary Source Options:

Friday, October 24
Assignment:

  • Research Essay Preliminary Ideas

Monday, October 27
The Age of Decadence or Limits?

Readings:

  • Bailey, Beth L., and Dave Farber, eds. America in the Seventies. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2004, Chapters 05-09
  • Turk, Katherine. “Out of the Revolution, into the Mainstream: Employment Activism in the NOW Sears Campaign and the Growing Pains of Liberal Feminism.” Journal of American History 97, 2 (September 2010): 399–423

Deindustrialization

Wednesday, October 29
The First Shift: Factory Work

Readings:

  • Winant, Gabriel. The Next Shift: The Fall of Industry and the Rise of Health Care in Rust Belt America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2021, Introduction, Chapters 01-03

Friday, October 31
Assignment:

  • Research Essay Primary Source List, Research Question, Hypothesis

Monday, November 03
The Next Shift: Care Work

Readings:

The Eighties

Wednesday, November 05
Rise of the Yuppies in Reagan’s America

Readings:

Primary Source Options:

Friday, November 07
Assignment:

  • Postwar Teaching Assignment Using Primary Sources

Monday, November 10
Fall of the Yuppies in Reagan’s America?

Readings:

The Nineties

Wednesday, November 12
Rise of Clinton and the Return of New Deal Liberalism?

Readings:

Primary Source Options:

Monday, November 17
Clinton and the New Neoliberalism

Readings:

The 2000s and the War on Terror

Wednesday, November 19
Connecting the Homeland to the Globe
Readings:

  • Beck, Richard. Homeland: American Life in the War on Terror. New York: Crown, 2024, Introduction, Parts I and II

Primary Source Options:

Friday, November 21
Assignment:

  • Research Essay Update
  • US Since 1980 Teaching Assignment Using Primary Sources

No Class—Thanksgiving Break

Monday, December 01
Connecting the Globe to the Homeland

Readings:

  • Beck, Richard. Homeland: American Life in the War on Terror. New York: Crown, 2024, Introduction, Parts III and IV, Epilogue

Recent History

Wednesday, December 03

Readings:

  • Serwer, Adam. The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump’s America. New York: One World, 2022.

Final

Monday, December 15

  • Research Essay Due

Assignments and evaluations

  • Student Introduction = 5%
  • Teaching Assignments Using Primary Sources 5 x 5% = 25%
    • The Stock Market Crash, Great Depression, and New Deal
    • New Deal
    • WWII
    • Postwar
    • US Since 1980
  • Research Essay Development 3 x 10% = 30%
    • Research Essay Preliminary Ideas
    • Primary Source List, Research Question, Hypothesis
    • Research Essay Update
  • Final Research Assignment = 30%
  • Seminar Participation = 10%

Rubric

Yes! = A-level work.

  • on-time submission of assignments
  • for class meetings, regular attendance and timely preparation overall, plus insightful, constructive, respectful, and regular participation in class discussions
  • a thorough understanding of required course materials as expressed in seminar meeting participation
    For writing assignments:
  • accurate, clear, well-written responses to prompts when relevant
  • a credible, persuasive argument of originality
  • argument persuasively supported by relevant, accurate, and clearly explicated evidence
  • persuasive integration of argument and evidence in an insightful overall analysis
  • excellent organization: introduction, topic sentences, coherent paragraphs, use of evidence, contextualization, analysis, smooth transitions, conclusion
  • graceful, clear, logical prose style with effective word choice, avoidance of clichés, and free of spelling and grammatical errors
  • correct page formatting when relevant, with regular margins, double spaced, and 12-point font
  • accurate formatting of footnotes and, when required, bibliography with required citation and documentation using Chicago Manual of Style guidelines

Getting Closer = B-level work, It is good, but with minor problems in one or more areas that need improvement.

Needs Work = C-level work is acceptable, but with major problems in several areas or a major problem in one area.

Needs A Lot of Work = D-level work. It shows major problems in multiple areas, including missing or late assignments, missed class meetings, and other shortcomings.

Nope = E-level work is unacceptable. It fails to meet basic course requirements and/or standards of academic integrity/honesty.

Academic integrity policy

Please refer to SUNY Brockport’s official Academic Integrity Policy. Be sure to follow the guidelines to avoid penalty for plagiarism, improper use of AI, or other violations of campus policies.

Citation and style guide: Using Chicago Manual of Style

Historians generally use Chicago Manual of Style for citation, bibliography, and formatting. Please familiarize yourself with Chicago Manual of Style.

Writing consultation

Writing Tutoring is available through the Academic Success Center. It will help at any stage of writing. Be sure to show your tutor the assignment prompt and syllabus guidelines to help them help you.

Research consultation

The librarians at Drake Memorial Library are an incredible resource. You can consult with them remotely or in person. To schedule a meeting, go to the front desk at Drake Library or visit the library website’s Consultation page.

Attendance policy

You will certainly do better with evaluation in the course, learn more, and get more out of the class the more you attend meetings, participate in discussions, complete readings, and finish assignments. That said, lives get complicated. Therefore, you may miss up to six class meetings, with or without a justified reason, with no penalty. You do not need a note from a doctor, but feel free to notify the instructor of your absence. If you are ill, please stay home and take precautions if you have any covid or flu symptoms. Moreover, masks are welcome in class if you are still recovering from illness or feel sick. After six absences, subsequent absences will result in reduction of final course grade at the discretion of the instructor. Please note: the instructor does not offer extra credit in this course.

Disabilities and accommodations

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Brockport Faculty Senate legislation, students with documented disabilities may be entitled to specific accommodations. SUNY Brockport is committed to fostering an optimal learning environment by applying current principles and practices of equity, diversity, and inclusion. If you are a student with a disability and want to utilize academic accommodations, you must register with Student Accessibility Services (SAS) to obtain an official accommodation letter which must be submitted to faculty for accommodation implementation. If you think you have a disability, you may want to meet with SAS to learn about related resources. You can find out more about Student Accessibility Services or by contacting SAS via the email address sasoffice@brockport.edu or phone number (585) 395-5409. Students, faculty, staff, and SAS work together to create an inclusive learning environment. Feel free to contact the instructor with any questions.

Discrimination and harassment policies

Sex and Gender discrimination, including sexual harassment, are prohibited in educational programs and activities, including classes. Title IX legislation and College policy require the College to provide sex and gender equity in all areas of campus life. If you or someone you know has experienced sex or gender discrimination (including gender identity or non-conformity), discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or pregnancy, sexual harassment, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, or stalking, we encourage you to seek assistance and to report the incident through these resources. Confidential assistance is available on campus at Hazen Center for Integrated Care. Another resource is RESTORE. Note that by law faculty are mandatory reporters and cannot maintain confidentiality under Title IX; they will need to share information with the Title IX & College Compliance Officer.

Statement of equity and open communication

We recognize that each class we teach is composed of diverse populations and are aware of and attentive to inequities of experience based on social identities including but not limited to race, class, assigned gender, gender identity, sexuality, geographical background, language background, religion, disability, age, and nationality. This classroom operates on a model of equity and partnership, in which we expect and appreciate diverse perspectives and ideas and encourage spirited but respectful debate and dialogue. If anyone is experiencing exclusion, intentional or unintentional aggression, silencing, or any other form of oppression, please communicate with me and we will work with each other and with SUNY Brockport resources to address these serious problems.

Disruptive student behaviors

Please see SUNY Brockport’s procedures for dealing with students who are disruptive in class.

Emergency alert system

In case of emergency, the Emergency Alert System at The College at Brockport will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the College’s Emergency Information website.