Twentieth Century U.S. Political History

This graduate colloquium in the political history of the United States in the twentieth century is intended to provide graduate students with a foundation in the major scholarly works and the key historiographical questions in the field. We will treat political history broadly, looking at political institutions, elections, and struggles over policy as well as social movements, political ideas and the politics of daily life. This course is most relevant for graduate students who are preparing to take oral exams in 20th-century American history—but it will be of interest to graduate students in any field who want to engage in substantive and sustained discussion of this literature and the issues it raises.