Counter-Culture Cold War Fallout A guideline for evaluation Rationale Historical teaching endeavors of the past have often made the mistake of relying too heavily on the recollection of facts. The resulting course of study was considered to be somewhat less than inspiring for both teacher and student alike. We do not intend to make the same mistake in the following unit on the Cold War. We advocate a thematic approach to the study of history. Specifically, we are going to study the Cold War by looking at the arenas in which Cold War culture was developed.
Culture is defined as the intellectual accomplishments and lifestyle of a nation.
Cold War culture, characterized by irrational fear and contempt, was defined by suspicion and competition. Some of the Cold War cultural aspects to be addressed are stereotyping and propaganda, science and technology, sporting competition, espionage, and popular culture and counter-culture. Historical literacy provides the necessary skills and dispositions for good citizenship qualities. Key to the discipline of history is interpretation. The students must interpret in order that they make informed decisions on issues that have or will make an impact on the human condition.