1970s America and the Rise of the Culture Wars

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course provides a multifaceted look at one of the most dynamic and pivotal eras in US history, the legacies of which we are still living with today. During the 1970s American society weathered tumultuous changes in politics, economy, and culture generated by unprecedented upheaval at home and abroad. Moving chronologically through the decade, we will assess large-scale forces that recalibrated American life, developments related to deindustrialization and globalization, for instance, as well as geopolitical contestations over oil, nationalism, and the Cold War. We will also pause to detail and analyze key turns in different sectors of American society. Topics addressed will include the energy crisis and environmentalism, stagflation and the ascent of Wall Street, working-class malaise and the decline of organized labor, Watergate and the fragmenting of American politics, the emergence of the culture wars and religious right, Title IX and feminist and civil rights activism, disco, punk rock, and the Hollywood Renaissance.