HIST 307 Happy Days? America 1946-1963

This course concentrates on the 1950s and encourages students to move beyond the stereotypes of Happy Days. Using movies music television and written texts the class will explore the tensions of the Fifties the era of overt repression and covert rebellion stretching from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. Themes include the Cold War and McCarthyism early rock 'n roll the Beats the Bomb civil rights protests HUAC the "feminine mystique" sexuality and cultural icons such as Marilyn Monroe and James Dean.