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Academic Year 2005/2006

Sophomore Seminar: History of the Southern Civil Rights Movement
HIST 173 SP

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s was one of the most important events in 20th-century American history. This sophomore seminar explores the history of the movement in the South, focusing particularly on how and why individuals engaged in an often dangerous struggle to claim their legal rights, why the movement took place when it did and why it took the form that it did. Much of the class will be dedicated to learning historical research skills. The class will undertake a major research project, resulting in a collaborative research paper. The course will address at least three main questions. First, how is the movement understood in the context of the longer black freedom struggle and resistance to segregation in the South? Second, why did the movement take place when it did and why did it take the form that it did? Third, what have the political and cultural legacies of the movement been? As a sophomore seminar, the class will focus on discussing and interpreting primary sources from the movement, including political documents, oral histories, memoirs, films, music, photographs, fiction and websites.

MAJOR READINGS

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS HIST    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-30-2006

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