The Recent United States: The United States from World War II

4 credits · Undergraduate

World War II set the stage for the economic, social, and political development of modern America as we know it today. But as the United States cemented its role as a global superpower and defender of democracy abroad, it had yet to confront the looming contradiction of democracy’s unfulfilled promises at home. Rampant inequalities drawn along the lines of identity thrust the postwar U.S. into a crisis of cultural division and political polarization. Through primary sources and historical research, this course explores the origins of social fracture in modern America as exposed by major battles over civil rights, gender equality, immigration, identity politics, and other issues that defined this period across local and national scales.