Riots, Strikes, and Conspiracies in American History

Focuses on a series of short, complicated, traumatic events that shed light on American politics, culture, and society. Events studied may include the rendition of Anthony Burns in 1854, the most famous fugitive slave controversy in US history; the Homestead strike/lockout of 1892; the quiz show scandal of the 1950s; and the student uprisings at Columbia University in 1968. Emphasis on finding ways to make sense of these events and on using them to understand larger processes of change in American history.