3-4 Credits
Dean Piehl
TR 2:50-4:05pm
Partially fulfills Social Science requirement.

How should we think about modern American society as a whole? What are the major ideas that shape Americans’ reflections on how their society works, what its major problems are, and what should be done about them? What are the foundations of modern American “liberalism” and “conservatism,” and why has there evidently been increasing social and political polarization in public discourse and debate? And how do specific issues of economics, gender, race and ethnicity, and other social categories intersect with the larger public order? And what, if anything, do religious traditions—including Christianity—have to say about these questions and how to address them from perspectives of faith?

In the first part of the course we will examine some of the prevalent ideas that have shaped American history and society in the last two centuries, and especially since World War II and the 1960s. We will then turn to some of the questions and controversies that have dominated public discourse in recent decades by reading a sample of provocative writers and critics on these questions, especially capitalism and its critics, matters of race and ethnicity, and gender and sexuality. The course will conclude by asking whether America in the twenty-first century is entering a significantly new set of social arrangements, or whether the ideas and ideologies being vigorously promoted in some spheres may be evading the difficult social challenges facing Americans today.

Active intellectual presence and engagement in class discussion is a central requirement of the course. Students will write two papers of 5-7 pages each, and several shorter 1-2 page papers in response to the readings or to particular topics raised in the class. The course will also offer special opportunities for students who wish to improve their writing or to consider application for competitive fellowships or graduate study.

Texts may include:

• Nelson Liechtenstein, ed., American Capitalism: Social Thought and Political Economy in the Twentieth Century. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006.
• Irving Kristol, Two Cheers for Capitalism. Basic Books, 1978.
• Cornel West, Race Matters. Vintage Books, 2001 (rev. ed.)
• David Hollinger, Postethnic America. Basic Books, 2006 (rev. ed.)
• Judith Butler, Gender Trouble. Routledge, 1990.

In addition, students will read several short articles, and will also be made familiar with major journals of opinion addressing contemporary American social and political ideas.