HSTAA 465 The Sixties in America Fall 2025
Days & Time: Mondays & Wednesdays 3:30-5:20PM
Room: PCAR 291
Instructor: Nathan E Roberts Email: ner3@uw.edu
Office: Smith Hall 113A
Office Hours: Wednesdays Noon-2, and by appointment; video meeting available
For the History Department's Policies, click here.
Course Description and Goals
This course examines U.S. society, culture, and politics during “the long 1960s.” The course is divided into three chronological units: 1) the post-WWII period through 1963, 2) 1963-1968, and 3) 1968 through 1975 within which we will explore the course’s major themes: post-1945 consumerism, the Cold War and the Vietnam War, civil rights and social movements, political parties and ideological shifts, environmental and economic changes and concerns, and the diverse counterculture.
The nature of this course poses an intellectual query: what does a focus on this one decade teach us about U.S. history? The course addresses this question with a central claim. Post-WWII economic and social changes in America suggested that the United States was on the verge of making its original mythology of an exceptional nation into a modern reality. Part of this realization of a modern America included the need to fight the Cold War abroad, most significantly in Vietnam, and demands for social change and civil rights at home. The clash between the hopes for the 1960s and the realities of economic and social change both at home and abroad opened many rifts in American life. These fractures of the 1960s challenged the notion of twentieth century modernity and produced the foundations of a deeply divided American society.
By completing the course requirements, students will learn 1) how to think historically about late twentieth century U.S. history, 2) how to analyze both primary and secondary sources as core elements of historical study, 3) how to use research methods and investigative techniques employed by historians and social scientists, and 4) how to synthesize information and present analysis.
Required Readings
- William J. Rorabaugh, Kennedy and the Promise of the Sixties (2002).
- Peter Braunstein and Michael William Doyle, eds., Imagine Nation: The American Counterculture of the 1960s & ‘70s (2002).
The course will include several other required readings, but these will be shorter pieces that are available on our course’s Canvas website. In addition, the course will use a number of other sources including film, television, music, and other visual arts. You will be required to access these through Canvas.
Organization of Classes
Both Monday and Wednesday sessions will be in person unless circumstances require otherwise. Both days will include lecture material and Q&A over the previous week’s readings. See the class schedule for readings and Canvas for the specific pdf files. Note-taking will be an essential skill in this course because you may, and should, use your notes on the exams.
Assignments & Grading
Participation 15%
2 Short Essays 30% (15% each)
Longer Essay 25%
Midterm & Final Exam 30% (15% each)
Participation
Student participation in this course will be possible mostly online using Canvas discussion boards. I will post discussion questions for us to all consider, and these questions will relate to the week’s assigned readings. Please feel free to respond to my questions and engage in discussion with others in the course. Also, please use the discussion boards to post your own questions and comments as well. The purpose of the discussion board is to generate an ongoing online discussion, so do not wait until the last day to begin posting comments.
Please keep the discussion focused on the course’s topics, materials, and subjects. Grades will be based upon 1) how substantive, useful, and generative your comments and questions are, and 2) how well grounded they are in the sources. Each week’s discussions will be open on Monday and closed by Saturday evening of that week. The discussion board posts and discussions will have specified time frames within which you must participate. Once the time frame is passed, the board will be closed and there will not be other opportunities to participate in that specific discussion.
2 Short Papers
During the quarter, each student will write two short argumentative essays that analyze primary and secondary sources. The 1960s presents us with an abundance of primary sources and you will be able to choose from a variety of topics. In addition, you should use the assigned secondary sources to help frame your argument, establish context, and examine counter-arguments. The primary sources will all be available on the Canvas “modules” page. The papers should be 900-1,000 words and include references and college-level prose. We will go over additional specific writing expectations in class.
The Longer Paper
The longer paper, which should be no more than 3,000 words not including references, is similar to the shorter papers but allows for a more in-depth investigation into certain topics. It is an argumentative essay based upon an examination of primary and secondary sources. The sources should be drawn all or in part from the sources that I provided during the course. If you choose, you may also include some sources from your own research, but about half of the paper’s sources should come from the ones that I provided.
The longer paper requires both a rough draft and a final draft. The rough draft should be a minimum of 1,500 words, worth 10% of your grade, and due at the end of week 7. The final draft is a minimum of 2,200 words and a maximum of 3,000 words (roughly 8-12 double-spaced pages - citations not included), worth 15% of your grade, and due at the end of the course. All due dates are on the Canvas calendar and on the class schedule below.
Midterm & Final Exams
The midterm and final exams are each worth 50 points. The exam topics will be drawn from my lectures, our readings, and other sources such as videos and our Canvas discussion board. The exams will include multiple choice, fill in the blank, and matching-type questions as well as short answers. The exams will be based in Canvas and timed. You should take good notes in class so that you can use those notes on the two exams.
Make Up and Late Policies
Our Canvas-based exams have clear and specific due dates. You will not be allowed to retake them or to take them late unless you have made arrangements with me at least one week ahead of time. If you have a conflict and cannot take the exams when they are scheduled (see the Canvas calendar and class schedule below), you MUST contact me at least one week ahead of time with this conflict in order to reschedule. It is your responsibility to take the exams in a place with reliable internet service in order to avoid interruption. If you are taking one of these tests and experience some type of equipment malfunction, you MUST let me know immediately via email so that I can assist you. There are no make-up exams for poor performance or for forgetting or otherwise missing the test. If you need to miss an exam because of an extenuating circumstance, I require official documentation from police, doctor, hospital, etc…to make up the exam.
The course’s papers degrade by 0.5 on the 4.0 scale each day that they are turned in late.
Online discussion posts can not be turned in late or made up.
Additional Policies:
Technology in the Classroom
Cell phones should not be used in class at any time except during the break.
Laptops and tablets should only be used for note-taking. If I see that students are distracting themselves or others with their technology, I’ll have to revise the use of these in class.
AI should not be used at any time or for any purpose in this course. I expect original work only. Use of AI on any assignment will result in a zero for the assignment.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a form of academic misconduct, and ultimately it devalues both the person who engages in it and the broader learning environment in this course and the university. True intellectual work requires the free, open, and honest exchange of ideas.
The Committee on Academic Conduct in the College of Arts and Sciences has defined plagiarism in the following way:
• Using another writer's words without proper citation.
• Using another writer's ideas without proper citation.
• Citing your source but reproducing the exact words of a printed source without quotation marks; or, borrowing the structure of another author's phrases or sentences without crediting the author from whom it came.
• Borrowing all or part of another student's paper or using someone else's outline to write your own paper.
• Using a paper writing "service" or having a friend write the paper for you.
The obligation to properly cite the work of others applies to internet, oral, and written sources. The key to avoiding plagiarism is to show clearly where your own thinking ends and someone else’s begins. For additional resources on avoiding plagiarism and appropriately citing various types of sources, please see the link on the course website.
It is my sincere hope that no one in this course will be tempted to plagiarize any portion a paper assignment. To avoid the possibility of that temptation, you are urged to begin your assignment early, ask questions about anything you are unsure of, and ask for any kind of help that you need.
If plagiarism is discovered, it will be treated very seriously. A paper in which significant portions have been plagiarized will be forwarded to the Dean’s representative on Academic Misconduct. If plagiarism is confirmed, the student will receive a 0 for the assignment, and may also receive a failing grade in the course.
CLASS SCHEDULE
This schedule might still change a little, but it is generally accurate.
WEEK 1
**Begin Reading: Rorabaugh, Kennedy and the Promise of the Sixties: Introduction and Chapter 1; Document Collection #1 on Canvas.
Reading due Mon Sept 30 by class time.
Wed Sept 24
- Introductions & the Syllabus
- Lecture 1: The 1960s and U.S. History in the 21st Century
- First Discussion post due on Canvas by 10:00AM on Mon Sept 29.
WEEK 2
**Begin Reading Rorabaugh: Chapters 2-4 and Document Collection #2.
Reading due Mon Oct 6 by class time.
Mon Sept 29
- Discussion of Rorabaugh and Document Collection #1
- Lecture 2: Last Shots, First Shots: The Early Cold War
Wed Oct 1
- Instructions on Papers, Exams
- Lecture 3: The Ongoing Struggle for Civil Rights
- Canvas Discussion due by 11:59PM on Sat Oct 4.
WEEK 3
**Begin Reading: Kennedy and the Promise of the Sixties - chapters 5, 6, and the Conclusion as well as Document Collection #3.
Reading due Mon Oct 13 by class time.
Mon Oct 6
- Discussion of Rorabaugh and Document Collection #2
- Lecture 4: Prosperity, Conformity, and the Rise of Suburbs
Wed Oct 8
- Lecture 5: Critique, Discontent, and Alternatives
Fri Oct 10
**1st Short Paper Due on Canvas by 11:59PM**
Sat Oct 11
- Canvas Discussion due by 11:59PM on Sat Oct 11.
WEEK 4
**Begin Reading: Document Collection #4 and watch "Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin" on UW Libraries as an evideo.
Imagine Nation: Foreward & Introduction, Rossinow, “The Revolution is About Our Lives: The New Left’s Counterculture.”
Reading and video due Mon Oct 20 by class time.
Mon Oct 13
- Discussion of Rorabaugh and Document Collection #3
- Lecture 6: Kennedy and Cold War Liberalism
Wed Oct 15
- Lecture 7: Civil Rights in Policy & Activism: 1963-1965
Canvas Discussion due by 11:59PM on Sat Oct 18.
WEEK 5
**Begin Reading: Documents #5 and watch the Buckley/Baldwin debate from 1965.
Imagine Nation: Farber, “The Intoxicated State/Illegal Nation: Drugs in the Sixties Counterculture,” and Peter Braunstein, “Forever Young: Insurgent Youth and the Sixties Culture of Rejuvenation.”
Reading and video due on Mon Oct 27 by class time.
Mon Oct 20
- Discussion of Document Collection #4
- Lecture 8: The Great Society
Wed Oct 22
- Midterm on Canvas - NO IN-CLASS MEETING
Canvas Discussion due by 11:59PM on Sat Oct 25.
WEEK 6
**Begin Reading: Document Collection # 6.
Imagine Nation: Onkey, “Voodoo Child: Jimi Hendrix and the Politics of Race in the Sixties” and Hale, “The White Panthers’ ‘Total Assault on the Culture.’”
Also listen to Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech against the Vietnam War.
Readings and MLK's speech due on Mon Nov 3 by class time.
Mon Oct 27
Discussion of Document Collection #5 and the Buckley/Baldwin debate.
Lecture 9: In Country: Vietnam, 1965-66
Lecture 10: The Rise of Black Power
Wed Oct 29
Lecture 11: Counterculture, Subculture, and “Dropping Out”
Canvas Discussion due by 11:59PM on Sat Nov 1.
WEEK 7
**Begin Reading: Document Collection #7.
Imagine Nation: Michals, “From ‘Consciousness Expansion’ to ‘Consciousness Raising’: Feminism and the Countercultural Politics of the Self” and McRuer, “Gay Gatherings: Reimagining the Counterculture.”
Reading due on Mon Nov 10 by class time.
Mon Nov 3
Discussion of Assigned Readings
Lecture 12: In Country: Vietnam to 1967
Lecture 13: 1968 part 1 - “Things Fall Apart…”
Wed Nov 5
Lecture 14: 1968 part 2 - “…The Centre Cannot Hold”
Fri Nov 7
**2nd Short Paper Due on Canvas by 11:59PM**
Sat Nov 8
Canvas Discussion due by 11:59PM.
WEEK 8
Begin Reading: Document Collection #7 and Imagine Nation: Deloria, “Counterculture Indians and the New Age.” Reading due on Mon Nov 17 by class time.
Mon Nov 10
Lecture 15: Sexual Revolution
Wed Nov 12
Lecture 16: “They’re Selling Hippie Wigs in Woolworth’s, Man”
Discussion of Assigned Readings
Canvas Discussion due by 11:59PM on Sat Nov 15.
WEEK 9
**Begin Reading: Document Collection #8 and Imagine Nation: Miller, “The Sixties Era Communes” and Kirk, “‘Machines of Loving Grace’: Alternative Technology, Environment, and the Counterculture.”
Reading due Mon Nov 24 by class time.
Mon Nov 17
Discussion of Assigned Readings
Lecture 17: Cultural Production: Film
Tues Nov 18
**Rough Draft of Longer Paper Due by 11:59PM on Canvas**
Wed Nov 19
Discuss Final Exam
Lecture 18: New Environmentalism
Canvas Discussion due by 11:59PM on Sat Nov 22.
WEEK 10
Mon Nov 24
Discussion of Assigned Readings
Lecture 19: Out of the Quagmire: The End of the Vietnam War
Wed Nov 26 ***********CLASS CANCELLED***********
**************THANKSGIVING BREAK*************
WEEK 11
Mon Dec 1
Discussion of Final Exam and Papers
Lecture 20: Fallout in the 1970s
Wed Dec 3
Lecture 21: Conclusion - Reflections on the Long Sixties
Fri Dec 5 **Final Draft of Longer Paper Due by 11:59PM on Canvas**
FINALS WEEK Final Exam: Thursday DEC 11
- Final Exam is on Canvas.