History 389: The Roaring Twenties

History 389: The Roaring Twenties and the Emergence of Modern America
CAS/Fall 2003

Dr. Henry Kamerling
Office: 201 Watkins
Hours: M/W/F 8-10, 11-12
Phone: 704-337-2435
Email: kamerlih@queens.edu

Image: Archibald Motley, Blues (1929)

Course Overview: From bootleggers and baseball players to fundamentalists and flappers, the 1920s had it all. 1920 was the first decade in American history when more people lived in urban centers than rural areas. As a result, historians have pointed to the 1920s as the first truly modern decade in American history.

The Roaring Twenties did possess many of the features of modern American society. The decade saw the emergence of radio, films, cars, the family-comic strip in daily newspapers, a fascination with sports heroes and movie stars, and the rise of a national culture based on consumerism. Many of these features should be recognizable and familiar to Americans at the end of the twentieth century. But the 1920s was also a decade where traditionalists worried about the impact of these and other new facets of American life on the moral and cultural fabric of the nation.

Tensions emerged across the social, political, and cultural landscape of the 1920s between those comfortable with the forces of modernization and those anxious about it. In the battles over prohibition and teaching evolution in the public schools, in the debates over women’s suffrage, closing off immigration and the Sacco and Vanzetti trial, in the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan and fundamentalist religious revivals, traditionalists and moderns battled each other for control of the direction of the nation. In many ways these conflicts reveal a decade with one foot in the nineteenth and one in the twentieth century. In retrospect the victory of the moderns in most of these contests appears inevitable. One of the key questions we will explore in this class is whether the Roaring Twenties were more profoundly traditional and conservative or whether they were more radical and modern at their core. By coming to a complicated understanding of the forces at play shaping this turbulent and dynamic decade we will come to a better understanding of the forces which shaped modern America.

Explanation of Grading Breakdown

Classes will be divided between lecture and discussion. You are expected to have read the material in advance and come to class ready to discuss the day’s assignment. Bring the text, The Modern Temper, by Lynn Dumenil, with you to every class. Also bring to class the other texts and reading material that is due on a given day.

At the start of most every class there will be one five to ten minute quiz over the reading. Quizzes will be simple and are designed just to check and make sure you have done the reading. You may use a hand written 3x5 note card for quizzes. Students who show up early to class may start their quizzes early. Quiz time will not last longer than 10 past the hour. Students who show up late to class will not be given extra time on quizzes, nor will that be allowed to make up quizzes at a latter date.

Attendance Policy: Attendance counts as 5% of your final grade and affects other grades you will receive in this course like class participation. There are no "free" absences. Excused absences are possible but must be cleared with me, in advance if possible. Each CAS class meets twice a week and runs an hour and fifteen minuets long. I consider each class as a class and a half. Therefore, missing one class is equivalent to 1.5 absences. If you show up late to class you may be marked as absent and it is your responsibility to see that I make the correct changes. This can only be done on the day you show up late and not after. Two "late" marks will count as one absence. Each un-excused absence will be factored in as a third off your final attendance grade. In addition, each absence will also take one point off your final grade for the course. Finally, absences, excused or un-excused, negatively impact your class participation grade.

Assignment and Evaluation: Students taking this course will be evaluated on the basis of the following assignments and requirements:

Grading Homework: All homework due must be typewritten. Homework submitted will earn only a check. If all homework is submitted, the student will earn all the points towards their final grade. Homework will earn a "check -" a "check" or a "check +." These indicate unsatisfactory work, satisfactory work, or exemplary work. Two "check -" marks on a student's homework will result in a "zero" mark in the gradebook. This is equivalent to as a failure to submit a homework assignment. Each homework project that is not turned in for assessment will result in the reduction of one whole letter grade off the final homework grade.

Integrated Electronic Learning: Throughout this course we will have class sessions devoted to exploring history using the emerging information technologies. You will need to obtain email accounts and it is essential to develop a familiarity with its uses. Study questions, assignments, and electronic discussion topics will regularly be posted to your account or on the Internet. Some assignments will also require access to WWW pages and gopher cites. You will be able to complete such projects in the school's computer lab.

Required Reading: You must purchase the following books for this course:
1. Lynn Dumenil, The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s
2. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
3. Jeffery P. Moran, The Scopes Trial
4. David L. Lewis, The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader
5. Henry Kamerling, The Roaring Twenties Course Reader (listed as "CR" on syllabus)

Suggested Reading:
1. David J. Goldberg, Discontented America: The United States in the 1920s

Note on Reserve Reading: There will be no reserve readings for this course. In the past I have placed many of the readings for this class on reserve in the library (in a large and overused 3-ring binder). Students invariably complain about the reserve reading. In response to these complaints I have designed the course reader which you will have to purchase.

Assignment	Percent	Due	Assignment	Percent	Due
Attendance	5%		Flapper Feminist Essay	10%
Homework	15%		Short Debate Essay: 1920s - Liberal or Traditional	5%
Quizzes	10%		Midterm Examination	15%
Participation	15%		Final Examination	25%