HIST356 - Age of Reagan

This course explores significant political and social developments that shaped the final decades of twentieth century U.S. history, an era notable for declining faith in political institutions, ideological and partisan polarization, and a variety of new rights claims by marginalized citizens. Until very recently, scholars have characterized this period as one of conservative political resurgence spurred by its most towering figure, Ronald Reagan, the nation's 40th president. While Reagan is an essential actor in this class, the course will consider a variety of perspectives, developments, and movements across the political spectrum as well as others that defy easy ideological or partisan categorization. In addition to tracing the transformation of the major political parties and ideologies, topics may include the evolution of the post-1960s civil rights movement and the rise of the incarceration crisis; the rise and transformation of the religious right; the AIDS crisis and the LGBTQ movement; the financialization of the global economy and the mortgage crisis of 2008; and the emergence of the concept of the "free market" as an idealized way of reordering not just social and political commitments but society itself.