An alternate title for this course might be: "This Is Your Life." The course will begin several years before the time that most students in the class were born and continue to the present. This is often the time period about which people have the greatest interest, but the least historical knowledge. We shall attempt to remedy that deficiency by exploring in some depth the most recent period of American history and culture, from 1970 to the present. Among the major themes to be examined are changing sex roles and values, relations between the races, the development of recent American society, popular culture, the welfare state, the roles of liberalism and conservatism, the growth of the "imperial presidency," the relationships between foreign and domestic policy, and America's position in the modern world. Attention will focus on the specific topics of the effects of the Women's Movement, the position of minorities in the post-Civil Rights era, the later stages of the Vietnam War, what films and music can tell us about recent American history, the Nixon presidency and Watergate, the confrontation with the "un-American" concept of limits in the 1970s, the "Me Decade," the Ford-Carter interlude, the Reagan era, the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Empire, the Persian Gulf War, the Bush administration's foreign and domestic policies, the Clinton presidency, the "Republican Revolution" of 1995-96, the 1996 presidential campaign, the Clinton impeachment, the disputed election of 2000, the beginnings of a second Bush presidency, and prospects for the future.

Tests

There will be two tests during the semester, in addition to a final exam. Students will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria: an extensive journal (3 grades), the tests (3 grades), and participation in class discussion (2 grades). Each of the eight grades will receive equal weight in determining a student's grade for the course.

Journals

The journal is central to the course. It will have a two-way relationship with the discussions, both preparing students for class discussions and providing a vehicle for further reactions to points that have been discussed in class.

In their journals students are asked to interact with the readings, films, and classes. You should ask questions about what you read, see, and hear, and ponder (in writing) possible answers. Journal entries should demonstrate both that you have read the assignment (or seen the film or kept up with what was being discussed in class) and that you are thinking about what you read, see, and hear.

A journal is a diary of your thought processes. After a session of reading, after a class discussion, or after a film or music listening session, you should sit down and simply start writing about your most dominant or curious impressions, just as in a diary you might review or comment upon the day's events. By its nature, a journal may ramble, because you may have no idea what you are going to say when you begin writing. The act of getting words and ideas on the page will help you discover what your most important concerns are in the course.

Although the instructor will, in fact, be grading your journals, what you write is primarily for your own use, both during the course and in the future. You will want to keep your journals from this course, since they will constitute a record of your thoughts during what we hope will be an interesting period of your lives. You need not worry about shifting topics, contradicting yourself, losing sense or being unconvincing. Correctness of language and problems of spelling should not even cross your mind (unless, of course, you want them to be a concern). Just put down your first reactions and explore them until you have worked them out fully.

The journal will work for you only if you make it a habit. If you wait for the spirit to move you before you pull out the journal, many of you will not use it very much. The best way to establish real discipline is quite simply to set aside 15 minutes or so after each reading session, class, and film. You may not always get done in that time, but at least you will know that it is a part of your routine.

Doing your journal in the proper spirit will make you a better reader, viewer, listener, and thinker; it will also prepare you to participate more fully in class discussion and enable you to raise issues that really concern you.

* Obtain a notebook that you use only as a journal for this course. This should be separate from the place where you take notes in class.

* Date each entry and keep up with the assignments right from the start.

* Begin your journal immediately, with entries on this week's readings, films, and discussions.

* Journals should contain at least one entry for each of the reading assignments (several on each novel) and one for each film. Also include entries on some class discussions. Refer to a substantial number of specific points, using quotations where helpful; question these points and comment on them.

In addition to comments on the readings and films, journals should also contain comments on some points that come up in class discussions. Journals will be collected for comments and grading several times during the semester.

Since your journal is to be used, among other purposes, to help stimulate class discussion, students are required to bring their journals with them to each class. In order to ensure that they are being kept up to date, the days on which they will be collected for review by the instructor will NOT be announced in advance.

Discussions

Attendance at all class meetings is expected. It is also expected that reading assignments will be completed before the class meeting for which they are assigned. A diversity of viewpoints is welcomed in class discussions. Students should bring up in class any questions they have from the readings. Absences in excess of THREE will adversely affect a student's grade. Absences in excess of SIX may result in failure of the course.

Peter N. Carroll, IT SEEMED LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED: AMERICA IN THE 1970s.

Toni Morrison, SULA.

Jonathan Schell, THE TIME OF ILLUSION.

Margaret Atwood, THE HANDMAID'S TALE.

Lou Cannon, PRESIDENT REAGAN: THE ROLE OF A LIFETIME .

Tom Wolfe, BONFIRES OF THE VANITIES.

David Maraniss, FIRST IN HIS CLASS: THE BIOGRAPHY OF BILL CLINTON.

Other readings will be distributed in class.

Eleven feature films and two documentaries from the years since 1970 will constitute an integral part of this course. The films will be shown on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 PM in Sullivan-Harrell 221. In most cases, the films will also be available on videocassette at the reserve desk in the Millsaps Library. Students are expected to attend the Wednesday screenings unless they have a good reason to miss a particular showing. Movies were made to be watched in a group and on a large screen. Those who cannot attend a showing on a particular Wednesday evening are required to view the video on their own before that time. Films will usually be discussed in the class immediately following the Wednesday showing.