Alexis De Tocqueville's Democracy in America constitutes the central course text. Topics include the Puritan legacy, the founding of the republic, slavery in the American South, and the influence of the frontier on American life. Emphasis will be placed on the tensions between regional and national identity, the conflict of urban and rural ideals, and the effort to preserve individualism in an increasingly centralized, industrialized and bureaucratized society. Topics in history. Major topics include the interaction between native peoples and European settlers, the origins of slavery, the regional differences among the colonies, the causes of the Revolution, the achievements of the Revolution, and the debate over the Constitution.
Readings focus on political leadership and the policymaking process.
Major topics include the United States' emergence as a world power, the rise and fall of the imperial presidency, and the Civil Rights movement. Possible topics include historiography, World War II and the Cold War, American Foreign Policy, and the American West. Directed study in history.