The American Mind

We will consider the history of influential American ideas, and ideas about America, from the Revolution to the present, with particular regard to changing cultural contexts. A continuing question will be whether such a consensus concept as “the American Mind” has the validity long claimed for it. Among many writers we will read are Thomas Jefferson, Alexis de Tocqueville, William James, Martin Luther King, Betty Friedan, Neil Postman, and Bill McKibben. (Previously taught as HIST/AMST 0426)