HI 215 History of American Thought

(Last post of Spring 2010 semester)

By mutual agreement, here is how the last unit will go.

(27) Tues 4/27 – Discussion day on Gender

(28) Thurs 4/29 – Discussion day on the American Dream

(29) Tues 5/4 – Papers due
Food, festivity, and final thoughts on “the American idea”

As you wind down your learning journal ePortfolios, consider what you’ve learned in this class and also *how* you’ve learned in this class. I’d also be curious to know what you wanted to learn but didn’t – what didn’t we cover, or get to, that you hope to explore further? What ideas, themes, or readings have been essential to your learning, or most meaningful for you personally?

(22) Thurs 4/8 Settlement and the Urban Intellectual – Big Idea chosen by today
Reading: Menand Ch 12 (285-333) and Ch 14 (377-408)
In-class link: “The Dream of America”
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(17) Tues 3/23 Thoreau: Transcendentalism
Reading: Thoreau, Walden (entire)
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(13) Tues 3/2 Female Emancipation
Reading: JSM book, “On the Equality of the Sexes” + “Gleaner Contemplates the Future Prospects…” (pp. 176-189)
In-class link: our Twitter discussion with Bonnie Hurd Smith
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(8) Thurs 2/11 Abolition – Speech chosen by today
Reading (all online): David Walker’s Appeal (1829) – read at least the excerpt posted here (here’s the full text, if you’re curious for more), Frederick Douglass – read excerpts from three speeches, and Angelina Grimke, “Appeal to the Christian Women of the South” (1836) – it’s a bit long, so read more for general principles and her recommendations for action
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The new issue of the Journal of the History of Ideas, the flagship academic journal for intellectual history, is hot off the presses this month. I thought you might be interested to see the table of contents. You can read all issues since 2005 as a full-text e-Journal, using WSC’s Academic Search Premier database through the library catalog, if you want to read more.
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(1) Tues 1/19 Course Intro Day – I’ll hand out the syllabus, or you can download the PDF here. We’ll talk about some of the thinkers that we will meet in the course, and learn how to use the course tools.
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Here are the books for the Spring 2010 semester.
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