Under an American Sun: The Cultural History of Summer in America, 1776-The Present

3 units

This course explores the cultural history and meaning of summer in America from 1776 to the present. How and why have the ways that Americans conceived of, and spent, summertimes changed? Is there anything about stereotypical long, hot summers that have historically altered political climates and possibilities as literal temperatures rise? How has the regularity and the irregularity of summer weather in America historically influenced environmental debates? Specific summers that we will consider include: the summer of 1776, and the revolutionary separation from Britain; Summer 1787, and the Constitutional Convention; 1816, the year without a summer; Summer 1863, and the radical transformation of public war aims in the Civil War; race riots in the Red Summer of 1919; the run-up to VJ Day in the summer of 1945; the Freedom Summer, of 1964, and others. We explore related topics such as: how air conditioning and refrigeration have altered the experiences and meaning of summer in America; growing association of summertime with urban and racial unrest; the rise of summer sports, camps, tourism, and summer school; the cultural history of swimming pools in America; the evolving music, poetry and popular literature of summer; and the evolution of the Fourth of July as a holiday--indeed, as a holy day of sorts--on the American civic calendar.