Prof. Ira Chernus

Typically, the term "cold war" is used to describe a massive struggle conducted from 1945 to 1989 between the political, economic, and military systems of the United States and the Soviet Union. The potential consequences of a conflict between "superpowers" armed with nuclear weapons, and the pervasive lingering effects of this conflict, have made the cold war a popular object of academic study. Frequently, courses on the cold war emphasize only the topics of foreign policy and military strategy. Potentially, however, this focus makes the cold war seem like a grand but abstract drama conducted between the elite authorities of international government. Students may ultimately come to feel that the Cold War happened "out there" and is not very relevant to their lives.

In this course, we will adopt a different focus. We will emphasize the cultural processes through which people in the United States participated in, and came to understand, the Cold War as a way of life. (This course deals with cold war culture and religion only in the U.S.) During the Cold War, American citizens struggled to construct a "story" about their national identity that was adequate to explain its often paradoxical and frightening aspects. We will see how different groups of people told that story in different ways, and how they struggled with each other to control the national story.

This perspective emphasizes the mundane but vital elements of everyday life in the Cold War. It shows how international politics ultimately pervade -- and are supported by -- activities occurring in a nation's cultural spheres, especially (for our purposes) its religion. We will emphasize the religious processes by which American citizens and their leaders drew upon their traditional beliefs and symbols to make sense of the cold war. These religious processes helped Americans both to rationalize the cold war as a costly but legitimate crusade and to oppose it as a great evil. Although we will look at institutional religion, we will define religion more broadly to encompass people’s worldview, their understanding of "ultimate" realities, and their most fundamental values.

I will have office hours on Monday 12 - 1, and Wednesday, 1-2, in Humanities 284. But I’ll be glad to talk with you whenever I am around the office, or to make an appointment: 492-6169 (office); 449-6191 (home); chernus@spot (email).

If you need any special accommodations to enhance your learning in this course, I would be glad to discuss that with you.

David CAMPBELL, Writing Security

Tom ENGELHARDT, The End of Victory Culture

Stephen WHITFIELD, Cold War Culture

Robert WUTHNOW, After Heaven

These books are available at the Lefthand Bookstore, 1200 Pearl Street (just east of Broadway, south side of mall, lower level). They are usually open noon-9 weekdays; call 443-8252 to check exact hours. They take cash or check; no credit cards. The readings are also on reserve in Norlin Library.

readings: There will also be some photocopied readings, especially in the last two weeks of the term. These will be available in folders in the filing cabinet in HUMN 226. Some readings, along with this syllabus and other material related to the course, will soon be available at: http://spot.colorado.edu/~chernus.

(All assignments are by PAGE number)

I. Before the Cold War

Jan. 17: Stagecoach: The American Myth

Jan. 24: CAMPBELL, 1-13, 191-205, 35-51, 73-105

Jan. 31: CAMPBELL, 105-147; ENGELHARDT, 1-53

II. 1945 to the Early '60s

Feb. 7: CAMPBELL, 15-33, 147-160; ENGELHARDT, 54-89

Feb. 14: ENGELHARDT, 90-171

Feb. 21: WHITFIELD, 1-76

Feb. 28: WHITFIELD, 101-126, 179-203; READINGS: Chernus, "The Word ‘Peace’ as a Weapon of (Cold) War," Chernus, "Eisenhower: Faith and Fear in the Fifties"

Mar. 7: WUTHNOW, 1-51, WHITFIELD, 77-100

Mar. 14: WHITFIELD, 179-241

3. THE VIETNAM WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH

Mar. 21: ENGELHARDT, 175-259

Apr. 4: READINGS: McLouglin, MLK, Merton, Berrigan, death of god, Watts

Apr. 11: ENGELHARDT, 263-287; CAMPBELL, 160 end – 168; WUTHNOW, 52-84

IV. AFTER THE COLD WAR

Apr. 18: ENGELHARDT, 287-303; CAMPBELL, 169-189; WUTHNOW, 114-167

Apr. 25: TBA

May 2: TBA

You are expected to attend class. Remember missing one class in this course means missing a whole week’s work, the same as two or three classes in other courses. You are expected to do the reading, think about it, and come to class prepared to discuss it and ask questions. If you don’t take this responsibility, class will be deadly dull.

In addition to participation in class, your grade will be based on one writing project. For this project, you are to select one issue of current public interest in the United States and study how that issue is influenced by the cold war as we study it in this course. The issue can be anything that is receiving significant attention in the media today. Your assignment is to understand how the factors involved in your issue are affected by what happened during the cold war era and how the public discussion of the issue today reflects cold war language and attitudes.

Schedule of due dates:

Feb. 21: Turn in journal-style notes, showing the reading you have done on the issue and ideas you have about cold war influences, based on our reading and class discussion so far. (You should also include influences from pre-cold war material we study in first two weeks.)

March 21: Turn in more journal-style notes and a short essay (3-5 pages) indicating what you think the main ideas in your final paper will be, and why.

April 20: First draft of a paper synthesizing your study of your issue, based on everything we have studied so far.

May 5: Final paper due in Religious Studies office, HUMN 240, by 4:30 PM.