The United States in the 1960s

The course examines major aspects of politics and society in the United States during the 1960s. As a unifying theme, it investigates the nature of political liberalism in the United States, analyzing the goals and achievements of liberal politicians. The course also examines a series of liberal and radical challenges to 'consensus liberalism'. In examining major aspects of the 1960s in the United States, the course concentrates on the nature of American political liberalism during this period. It analyses the goals and achievements of liberalism politicians, together with a series of liberal and radical challenges to consensus liberalism. In seeking to understand the change that the United States experienced during this period and its consequences, the course's coverage sometimes includes developments that both precede and follow the decade itself. The topics discussed in the course include: the concept of 'consensus liberalism' and the decline of the liberal consensus; John F. Kennedy and the New Frontier; Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society; the civil rights movement; Black Power; student movements and the New Left; the counterculture; second-wave feminism; the emergence of the Vietnam-era antiwar movement; Gay Liberation Movement. Credit Level: 10 Year taken: Year 3 Undergraduate

Not running in 2025/26