The beginning of a new semester is always fresh and exciting. This one is no different. I am teaching three great classes, seem to have a pretty solid batch of students, and assigned some great books. I am most excited about my graduate seminar, Modern America, which I constructed around the theme "Liberalism, Conservatism, and Modern American Politics." I assigned seven books for this class:
Lewis Gould, The Modern American Presidency
Gregory Schneider, Ed., Conservatism in America Since 1930
Jonathan Schoenwald, A Time for Choosing
Alonzo Hamby, Liberalism and Its Challengers
Alan Brinkley, Liberalism and Its Discontents
Kevin Mattson, Intellectuals in Action
Lisa McGirr, Suburban Warriors
With the exception of Kevin Mattson's and Lisa McGirr's books, we will be reading sections of several books a week (on consecutive weeks mid-term we will read Mattson followed by McGirr.) I have organized the course chronologically and basically through the lens of national politics, with important exceptions. I use Gould to provide them with both an overview of the presidency in the twentieth century, but also to introduce them to an argument about modernization, for better and worse, in the executive branch. Schoenwald and Schneider serve the purpose of getting them to think seriously about conservatism while Hamby ("The Man," for those of you coming to us from Big Tent) and Brinkley will have them do the same about liberalism. Since they read these books in an intertwined fashion, the movements can talk to one another and neither gets more emphasis than the other. Mattson and McGirr provide insight into particular moents in the emergence of modern liberalism and modern conservatism respectively.
I am also teaching an upper division course in American history, US History 1877-1929. In it we are reading:
Michael McGerr, A Fierce Discontent
Frank Deford, The Old Ball Game
James Chace, 1912
Nathan Miller, Brave World Coming
For this class I try mto cover a broader thematic range. For those of you who know me and my work, there should be no surprise that I try to get them to think about sports as something more than a diversion. I figured that the Deford book would be useful on that point, giving them a sense of the era through a very readable, if not analytically deep, book. McGerr's book on Progressivism is vital, but is also structured in such a way that it is great for discussions. (I just finished a class meeting with them ten minutes ago; they are a lot more into the chapters dealing with booze and sex than they are on the anthracite coal strike of 1902. Funny that.) Chace's book on the 1912 election will bring one of the most fascinating political contests in American history to life for them, and Nathan Miller's book is one that I am just testing -- we'll see how it works.
Finally, in my modern Africa class, which in our latest overhaul of the major we turned from a 4000-level class to a 2000-level survey, we are reading:
Bill Berkeley, The Graves Are Not Yet Full
Adam Hochschild, King Leopold’s Ghost
Martin Meredith, The Fate of Africa
VS Naipaul, A Bend in the River
Meredith's is a big, important book that came out over the summer and that serves as the closest thing to a textbook, though it is not at all "textbooky." Berkeley's book is one of my favorites, is beautifully written, carries an interesting argument, and is the one book I have repeated each time I have taught this class. (I almost always use wholly new reading lists in my classes, if only to keep my engagement level up.) In fact, when people ask me for one book to read to "understand Africa," Berkeley's is where I send them. Hochschild's book on the horrors of the Belgian Congo is magnificent. Meanwhile, Naipaul's novel gives the students a chance to grapple with issues while at the same time getting to see how novels can both enlighten history while at the same time carrying with them limitations.
So there is your Spring 2006 reading list. Coming up, more Africa books.
No comments:
Post a Comment