Spring, 2006
History
A421, Topics in
The Great Depression
Time: M W 11:00 a.m.-12:15
p.m.
Instructor: R. Barrows
Location: Cavanaugh Hall 221
Office: Cavanaugh Hall 532
Office Hours: M W 12:30-1:00
p.m.,
Phone: 274-2457/3811
4:00-5:00 p.m., and by appointment E-mail: rbarrows@iupui.edu
Course Description: This course will focus on the “Depression
Decade” of
Course Objectives: The lectures, reading and writing assignments,
video screenings, class presentations, and exams that comprise this course are
designed, in part, to convey and test factual knowledge. But they also ask
students to comprehend and analyze historical texts, synthesize information,
and effectively communicate facts and ideas to others in a variety of formats.
And, of course, the class should deepen your understanding of
Course Requirements: Regular class attendance (see below) and
participation in discussion; completion of assigned reading; a mid-term exam
and a non-comprehensive final exam (consisting of essays and short answer IDs,
covering reading assignments, lectures, and videos); and several short written
assignments: a) a brief synopsis and analysis of a supplementary novel or oral
history; b) a short description and analysis of a contemporary newspaper or
news magazine account of a notable event; c) a synopsis and evaluation of two
chapters of the book Middletown in
Transition. (Students taking the
course for graduate credit will complete
additional reading/writing assignments to be determined in consultation
with the instructor.)
Attendance: There is one class period dedicated to discussion of
the Middletown in Transition paper;
four class periods when group presentations will be made; and ten classes in
which all or parts of a video will be shown. I will circulate an attendance
roster during those fifteen class periods. If you are absent for more than five
of those fifteen days, your semester grade will be reduced by one increment
(e.g., from a B- to a C+).
Grading: Each exam will count for one-third of the final grade; the
written work will comprise the other third. Exams will be given a letter grade.
Written work will be graded on the usual 100-point scale (90 = A-, etc.) and
the scores of the three written assignments will be averaged to determine an
overall letter grade for the written work. (Note that in the case of the
novel/oral history assignment your grade will be based principally on
the paper you submit; that grade can be affected, however, either positively or
negatively, by the quality of your contribution to the group
presentation.) In cases where the
semester grade comes down to a borderline decision (between a C+ or a B-, for
example), improvement, regular attendance, and participation in discussion will
be taken into account.
University policy is that grades
of “Incomplete” may be assigned only to students who have successfully
completed most of the course work and who have been prevented by
significant and unanticipated circumstances from finishing all requirements.
Should such a situation arise, please be prepared to provide appropriate
documentation. Removal of “Incomplete” grades is often troublesome for both
student and instructor, and I shall be reluctant to assign them.
Plagiarism (including the use, without attribution, of materials found on the
internet), cheating on exams, and other forms of intellectual dishonesty
will not be tolerated, will result in a failing grade on the work in question,
and may lead to disciplinary action by the university. If you are unsure if
something constitutes plagiarism, ask before you submit the work in
question. Also, consult the IUPUI Campus
Bulletin, 2004-2006, pp. 36-37.
Texts:
KENNEDY David M. Kennedy, The American People in the Great Depression
NASH Gerald D. Nash, The Crucial Era: The Great Depression and World War II
POLENBERG Richard Polenberg, The Era of Franklin D. Roosevelt
TWETON D. Jerome Tweton, The New Deal at the Grass Roots
ODETS Clifford Odets, Waiting for Lefty
Plus one of the following
(assignments to be made during the first class period): Studs Terkel, Hard Times; Federal Writers Project, These Are Our Lives; John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath; Sinclair Lewis, It Can’t Happen Here
Tentative Course Outline and Assignments
January
9 Introduction to the Course
11 America in the Twenties: A Brief Overview
Read:
Kennedy, 10-34; Tweton, ch. 1
16 NO CLASS (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)
January
18 The Big Bull Market and the Stock Market Crash
{Video: “Crash of 1929"}
Read:
Nash, ch. 2; Kennedy, 34-42; Tweton, ch. 2
23 The Great Depression: Summary of Causes
Read: Kennedy, 43-69
25 The Ordeal of Herbert Hoover
Read: Kennedy, 70-94
30 The Great Depression: Summary of Effects
Read: Kennedy, ch. 6; Tweton, ch. 3
February
1 “The Road to Rock Bottom” {Video}
6 GROUP 1: Presentation on Hard Times
8 Men (and a Few Women) in Motion: Transience in the
‘30s
{Video:
“Riding the Rails”}
13 FDR and the Election of 1932
Read: Kennedy, 94-103; Polenberg, 1-8
15 Environmental Woes
{Video: “Surviving the Dust Bowl”}
Read: Kennedy, 194-195
20 The First New Deal
Read:
Kennedy, ch. 4, 5, 7; Nash, ch. 3, 4; Tweton, ch. 4;
Polenberg, 8-13, 39-47
22 GROUP 2: Presentation on These Are Our Lives
27 Voices of Protest
Read: Nash, ch. 5; Kennedy, ch. 8; Polenberg,
114-132
March
1 “Hoover Dam” {Video}
6 Mid-Term Exam
March
8 The Second New Deal
Read: Nash, ch. 6; Kennedy, ch. 9; Tweton,
ch. 5;
Polenberg,
13-16, 47-52, 83-92
13, 15 SPRING BREAK WEEK
20 GROUP 3: Presentation on The Grapes of Wrath
22 Women and Minorities in the 1930s
Read:
Nash, ch. 7, 8; Polenberg, 93-107, 136-15
27 “Scottsboro Boys” {Video}
29 Industrial Unions and Labor Strife
Read:
Kennedy, ch. 10
April
3 “Mean Things Happening” {Video}
5 Artistic Expression - I {Video excerpt: “American Visions”}
Read:
Nash, ch. 9; Tweton, ch. 6
10 Artistic Expression - II
Read: Odets, Waiting
for Lefty (entire)
12 GROUP 4: Presentation on It Can’t Happen Here
17 The New Deal Documents the Great Depression - I
{Video: “The Plow that Broke the Plains”}
19 NO CLASS
24 Discussion of Middletown
in Transition {papers due}
26 The New Deal Documents the Great Depression - II
{Video: “The River” + FSA photographs}
Read:
Polenberg, 108-113
May
1 The Road to War
Read: Nash, ch. 10, 11; Kennedy, ch. 13
3 Final Exam 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon (Note change from normal class time)
A421 (Barrows)
Spring, 2006
SUPPLEMENTARY
NOVEL:
Instructions
for Group Presentations
and
Individual Written Assignments {200 points}
(Groups
3 & 4)
>> Group Presentations
Each group will have 50-60
minutes to make its presentation and will then respond to questions. Your
objective is to inform the other members of the class about the novel you have
read and to explain to them how it helps us understand the period of American
history we are studying in this course. You may structure your presentation as
you wish, but at some point and in some way you will probably want to touch
upon the following:
–Biographical information regarding
the author
–Publication information
regarding the book (where/when originally published, how long in print, sales
figures if available, etc.)
–The plot of the novel: who are
the major characters? What do they do or what happens to them?
–The literary quality of the
novel
–The historical context within which the book was written and the ways
in which the novel reflects that context. In other words, why was this
book written when it was, and what does it tell us about the time in
which it was written?
–The impact of the novel, both
when it was originally published and in subsequent years.
–The book’s value in helping us
to understand the U.S. in the 1930s.
>> Individual Written
Assignment
Your written analysis of the
novel is due on the date of your group presentation. (These dates are indicated
on the syllabus.) This review should be approximately 750 words (3-4
typewritten pages, double-spaced).
The review should consist of two
parts. The first one-third should be a summary that tells the person reading
the review what the book is about. The remaining two-thirds of the review
should give your opinion of the book, noting particularly its value as an
historical source.
A421 (Barrows)
Spring, 2006
SUPPLEMENTARY
ORAL HISTORY:
Instructions
for Group Presentations
and
Individual Written Assignments {200 points}
(Groups
1 & 2)
>> Group Presentations
Each group will have 50-60
minutes to make its presentation and will then respond to questions. Your
objective is to inform the other members of the class about the book you have
read and to explain to them how it helps us understand the period of American
history we are studying in this course. You may structure your presentation as
you wish, but at some point and in some way you will probably want to touch
upon the following:
–Biographical information
regarding the author
–Publication information
regarding the book: where/when originally published, how long in print, sales
figures if available, etc.
–The structure of the book: how
is it organized?
–The range of interviewees and,
taken as a group, how representative they seem to be of the variety of
Depression-era experiences
–The reaction to the book by
readers/reviewers (especially, if possible, the reaction to the volume by those
who lived through the Great Depression)
–The book’s value in helping us
to understand the U.S. in the 1930s (and, more generally, the value of oral
history as a research technique)
>> Individual Written
Assignment
Your written analysis of the
book is due on the date of your group presentation. (These dates are indicated
on the syllabus.) This review should be approximately 750 words (3-4
typewritten pages, double-spaced).
The review should consist of two
parts. The first one-third should be a summary that tells the person reading
the review what the book is about. The remaining two-thirds of the review
should give your opinion of the book, noting particularly its value as an
historical source (and more generally, the value of oral interviews as a
technique of historical research). Regardless
of which book you are reading, you should respond explicitly to Terkel’s
assertion in his introduction to Hard
Times that “In their rememberings are their truths. The precise fact or the
precise date is of small consequence.”
A421 (Barrows)
Spring, 2006
Newspaper/Newsmagazine
Assignment {100 points}
Select one of the following
events and read contemporary newspaper or news magazine accounts of the
incident. You must consult two different sources. (The New York Times is available on microfilm in the University Library,
as are some Indianapolis and other papers. The Times is also available on-line via the University Library web
site. Indianapolis and other Indiana papers, mainly on microfilm, may be found
at the Indiana State Library–corner of Senate and Ohio, just east of campus.)
Then prepare an essay of no more than four double-spaced, typewritten pages.
The first one-third to one-half of your essay should simply provide a summary
description of the historical event as recounted in the articles you consulted.
The remainder of the essay consists of your analysis of the coverage.
Does it seem accurate? Fair? Thorough? Do you find anything unusual,
surprising, or noteworthy about the treatment of the story in the papers or magazines
you read? Are there ways in which the coverage differs from the manner in which
the print media today might deal with the same story?
Note that while I have provided
the date(s) the event(s) took place, coverage of the story sometimes went on
for several days afterward–and in some cases may even have preceded the actual
event.
Indicate somewhere in your
essay, either as a heading or as a part of the text, the names of the
newspapers or newsmagazines you read, the dates of the issues you
consulted, and the repositories where the sources were located. Due on
dates indicated.
Due January 23
Stock Market Crash [October 24-30, 1929]
Due January 25
Expulsion of the Bonus Army from
Washington [July 28-29, 1932]
Due January 30
Death of John Dillinger [July 22, 1934]
Due February 13
FDR’s acceptance speech at the
Democratic National Convention [July 2,
1932]
Due February 20
FDR’s first inaugural
address [March 4, 1933]
FDR’s first “Fireside Chat” [March 12, 1933]
21st Amendment
declared ratified [December 5, 1933]
Due February 27
Assassination of Huey Long [September 8, 1935]
Due March 8
FDR’s reelection [November 3-4, 1936]
Due March 22
Marian Anderson’s ban by the DAR
[approx. February 22, 1939] and subsequent performance
at the Lincoln Memorial [Easter, 1939]
Due April 10
“War of the Worlds”
broadcast [October 31, 1938]
Due May 1
FDR’s “Quarantine Speech” [October 5, 1937]
Pearl Harbor and FDR’s “Day of
Infamy” speech [December 7-8, 1941]
A421 (Barrows)
Spring, 2006
Middletown in Transition Assignment {200
points}
Copies of Middletown in Transition: A Study in Cultural Conflicts (1937) are
on reserve in the University Library. This volume and its predecessor (Middletown: A Study in American Culture
[1929]) are considered classics in American social science. They were based on
in-depth examinations and analyses of Muncie, Indiana, in the 1920s and 1930s
by a research team headed by Robert and Helen Lynd. They have been widely cited since their
initial publication (often by historians), and used as a baseline for many
subsequent “Middletown” studies.
Begin by scanning the Table of
Contents and reading the Preface and Chapter I. Then select two of the
following chapters to read and evaluate.
II - “Getting a Living”
IV - “Caring for the Unable
During the Depression”
V - “Making a Home: The Arena
for Private Adjustment”
VI - “Training the Young”
Prepare a 4-5 page paper
(typewritten, double-spaced) in which you
>> provide a brief synopsis
of the Lynds’ findings as reported in the chapters you read
>> relate those findings,
when possible, to other reading you have done about the 1930s
>> discuss any results of
the study that you find particularly noteworthy, insightful, or surprising
Due April 24