After completing the course:
- you have gained knowledge of and insight into how group identities (e.g. groups defined by class, by region, by religion) are created, and how they relate to overarching American ideals and values
- thus, you have gained insight in processes of memory, identification, group formation, collective action and social inequality.
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The course offers an introduction to the many groups that have shaped the face of postwar American society, and whose struggles to create or maintain a 'group identity' contributes to what we perceive as 'the identity of America'. We will go into the recent history of native Americans (Indians); Vietnamveterans, Civil Rights activists, homosexuals, immigrants, members of the Tea Party et cetera. Our explorations of these groups will be based on their personal memories, images in literature and movies, but also on ‘objective’ data and scholarly studies. As always in American history, identity formation up to the present day is a complex process involving region, class, race, religion and gender. |
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