HI 215 History of American Thought

This last unit considers one of the most fundamental of all American stories: that we are a nation of immigrants. It is focused on the “big ideas” of cultural pluralism and the “melting pot” that arose in the context of the huge wave of (mainly) European immigrants during the era of Ellis Island from the 1890s to the 1920s. Although we are confining ourselves to debates over immigration and assimilation that took place a century ago, I am sure you will see the relevance to our current moment of unsettled public debate over immigration and belonging.

Tues 4/15 Confronting the “Other” in the 19th century City. Discussion leaders: Kat B., Ryan M. Reading: Jane Addams, Chapters 8 and 11 from Twenty Years at Hull House, and Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives (pick 4 chapters to read, they are short). “Big Idea” Research Precis is due.

Note on the Research Precis: I am looking for a 3-4 page document containing the following:

• 1-page discussion of your current/revised “big idea,” what connections you are making between the 4 thinkers, and the format you plan to use to present your research
• a research log or annotated list of what you’ve read so far in your research, and what remains yet undone in your research. If you’re lost or need help, signal it.
• a complete and correctly formatted Chicago Style bibliography of *all* your paper’s sources

The precis will be graded mainly as a check-off, but if I identify potential problems with sources or framing of the paper, I may award only partial credit and come back to you with comments or suggestions for improvement.

Thurs 4/17 Democracy v. the Melting Pot. Discussion leaders: Jon H-L., Angela M. Reading: Horace Kallen, “Democracy versus the Melting Pot” (1915) [pdf here]

Journal Prompt #8 – due Thurs 4/17 Write a 350+ word journal response that describes a time when you have encountered or confronted a person or group you experienced as “other” and connect it to our recent readings. In what ways have you felt like an insider, or an outsider, to the American experience? Alternatively, going back to our discussion of manifestos on Thursday the 10th, you can use Journal #8 to write the manifesto you wished you’d had time to finish in class.

Tues 4/22 Cultural Pluralism. Discussion leaders: Thomas K., Max L. Reading: Randolph S. Bourne, “Trans-National America” The Atlantic (1916), and T. Aleinikoff “Essay: A Multicultural Nationalism?” The American Prospect (2001)

The perfect clip for today:

Thurs 4/24 Film Day: In-class screening of The People Speak. No assigned reading. Your “Big Idea” paper is due.

Today, instead of meeting in our regular classroom, head across May Street to the back end of the Temple Emanuel building for a special lecture at 10:00 am by James McBride, titled “The American Dream Reimagined: Race, Ethnicity and Education.” I will take attendance, so be sure to check in with me either before or after he speaks.

Speaker Bio: James McBride is a renaissance man and a born storyteller. He is the author of Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother, a moving narrative about his mother, a white Jewish woman from Poland who married a black man, founded a Baptist church, and put 12 children through college. The Color of Water is an American classic, read in colleges and high schools nationwide. It has sold more than two million copies and spent two years on the New York Time Bestseller List. His new book, The Good Lord Bird, a 417-page novel that is rooted in the true story of slavery, won this year’s National Book Award. A graduate of Oberlin College and the Columbia School of Journalism, McBride has written for The Boston Globe, People, and The Washington Post.

After the lecture, please post a comment (using the box below) giving some feedback and perhaps a discussion question/your impressions on the event. If you don’t see a comment box, click on the title of this post to bring it up at the foot of the post and to see others’ comments. How did McBride’s lecture connect to what we’ve read in this unit? Did it resolve and synthesize what we’ve focused on in this unit, or did it bring up more questions for you? Do you think, given what he had to say, that the civil rights movement as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King participated in it has been realized (and according to whose vision?), or that its achievements have been subsequently dismantled in the U.S.? What do you wish we could talk about as a class after hearing him speak?

This website serves as the hub for Tona Hangen’s course, “History of American Thought,” for the Spring 2014 semester at Worcester State University (TR 10 – 11:15 am) – Room Sullivan 108

Reading for Tues, Jan 21: Guelzo, “Is There An American Mind?” (PDF)

The textbooks for this course are listed under the “Readings” tab above.

From this website, you can download the syllabus or access it online, stay up to date with course news and any changes, see the guidelines for the course papers and projects, and follow links to my recommended intellectual history and writing resources on the web.

This site is a blog, meaning it updates frequently and therefore you should either bookmark it or subscribe to it using an RSS feed reader (such as Feedly) to stay up to date with all the course news and updates. To subscribe, just click on the orange RSS symbol in the sidebar. I leave up the previous semesters’ information as an archive for my past students. You can safely ignore any post tagged “Spr2010.”

If you have questions about the course before we meet in person on Tuesday, January 21st, please feel free to email me, at thangen (at) worcester.edu

Here are the books for the Spring 2010 semester.
Continue reading →