Introduction

The graduate readings colloquium is meant to provide a survey of recent scholarly literature in a particular field, in order to help students frame their own research and teach them how to evaluate historical monographs. This course is designed to give students a historiographical springboard for their own work and help them critique a scholarly work with precision, depth, and fairness. Our broad topic and expansive time frame, however, present some challenges in terms of surveying the literature. Simply put, lots happened during the 20^th century and historians have interpreted its events in a myriad of ways. This means we will have to leave much out. We will approach the 20^th century thematically and topically rather than chronologically, since I believe that will allow us to discuss the broadest range of works in some depth. This structure also enables us to address issues and topics raised by historians of the American West. Western historians have tended to focus on 20^th century topics recently, and sometimes argue that western history encapsulates the main issues of 20^th century American history. Our job will be to explore how western history can support, contest, or otherwise complicate our vision of 20^th century American history. How to conceptualize the 20^th century and think about the American West at the same posed a challenge for me as I put this syllabus together, and I think it will serve as a compelling challenge for us as a class throughout the semester.

Books

We will read the following books as a class (in order of appearance).

Peggy Pascoe, Relations of Rescue: The Search for Female Moral Authority in the

American West, 1874-1939 (1990)

Dana Frank, Purchasing Power: Consumer Organizing, Gender, and the Seattle Labor

Movement, 1919-1929 (1994)

James N. Gregory, American Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in

California (1989)

George J. Sanchez, Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture and Identity in

Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945 (1993)

Albert S. Broussard, Black San Francisco: The Struggle for Racial Equality in the West,

1900-1954 (1993)

John M. Findlay, Magic Lands: Western Cityscapes and American Culture After 1940

(1992)

Mike Davis, City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles (1990)

Requirements

Discussion and participation – the most important ingredient for a worthwhile graduate colloquium. In order to ask informed questions and make thoughtful contributions to class discussion, you will need to do more than simply finish the assigned reading. Practice summarizing the author’s thesis and argument, identify their sources and method, and evaluate the work’s strengths and weaknesses after you read. Note questions that come to mind or otherwise provoking passages and ideas. Think about how each book fits within the larger frameworks of 20^th century American history and the American West. Doing this preparatory thinking will make our discussions more interesting and more valuable. (10%)

Summaries of critical reception – students will do one of each during the semester. These short, 2-3 page reports will summarize and analyze reviews the book received—students will hand them in on the day we discuss that book, and they will also report their findings orally to the class, usually towards the end of the discussion. They are meant to enhance our discussions of the books we read in common and hone students’ critical thinking. See handout. (10%)

Book summaries – given on weeks we read different books, each student will provide classmates with a brief oral and written summary of the book they read. See handout for more on what they should look like. These will help you learn to analyze and critique books efficiently, prepare you to write excellent book reviews, and provide us all with a collection of useful information and the basis for a general discussion of the day’s themes and issues. (20%)

Book Reviews – a ubiquitous form in the history profession and one worth learning for the analytical and writing skills they demand. You will write two this semester, on books of your choice. They must not exceed three pages, but they must be of high quality and re-writes might be necessary. See book review guidelines for more info, and schedule of classes for due dates. (15%each, 30% total)

Historiographical Essay – another popular form, which will help you explore a certain area of interest and provide a base for your own research by forcing you to analyze and synthesize a series of related works. It should incorporate from four to six books, depending on the number of articles you include, the topic you choose, and how deeply you plan to delve into each work. You may use books from our class reading lists, you may explore a topic we are not able to cover in class, or you may do some of both. You should wind up with a 10-12 page paper. (30%)

Schedule of Classes

Part One – Introductions

Aug. 22 Introduction to the Course

Aug. 29 Background: Chronology, Themes, and Main Issues

Due: read/skim a general text and propose, based on that text, a

basic chronology (with main periods or turning points), set of themes, or major

issues for 20^th century America or the American West

Part Two – Gender

Sept. 5 Reform and Region

Pascoe, Relations of Rescue

Sept. 12 Gender, Culture, and Sexuality

Individual reading and reports

Sept. 19 Feminism and the Politics of Sex

Individual reading and reports

Part Three – Class

Sept. 26 Labor and Consumption

Frank, Purchasing Power

Oct. 3 Region and Subculture

Gregory, American Exodus

*book reviews due

Oct. 10 Class and Politics

Individual reading and reports

Part Four – Race and Ethnicity

Oct. 17 Immigration and Identity

Sanchez, Becoming Mexican American

Oct. 24 Civil Rights in the West

Broussard, Black San Francisco

Oct. 31 Race and Power

Individual reading and reports

Part Five – War

Nov. 7 20^th Century Wars

Individual reading and reports

*book reviews due

Part Six – Imagining Our Place and Past

Nov. 14 Postwar Landscapes

Findlay, Magic Lands

Nov. 21 Thanksgiving – no class

Nov. 28 Creating Los Angeles

Davis, City of Quartz

Dec. 5 20^th century U.S./West: Conclusions

*Historiographical Essay due