Weekly Syllabus

Week of Monday, September 8 through Friday, September 12

This week we will spend more time studying the Red Scare of the 1950's. When doing the reading this week, you might benefit from doing some background reading in APAN-RED, pp. 803-808.

You should plan to write a response to your classmates' essays by Tuesday night. At minimum you should write a response to one paper from each of the other three groups, but ideally you will write a response to all seven of the other papers.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If the links below do not work, click on Issues and Controversies in American History and search for, respectively, “Rosenberg” and “McCarthy”.

Monday, September 7, 2009 (45 minutes)

Topic: Debriefing and feedback for the first written assignment. Discussion of how to write a response. The election of 1948. Also, anti-Communism at home in the 1940's and 1950's

Homework: Read the Issues and Controversies article on the Rosenberg case.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 (40 minutes)

Topic:  Time in class to work on your replies to the first writing assignment. Discussion of the Rosenberg case, and the fear of espionage in America.

Homework: Read the handout about Joseph McCarthy's speech in Wheeling, West Virginia.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 (50 minutes)

Topic: Discussion of the reading.

Homework: Read the Issues and Controversies article on McCarthyism.

Thursday, September 10, 2009 (45 minutes)

Topic: Discussion of the reading. Introduction to second writing assignment.

Homework: Work on writing assignment, due by 11:00 pm on Sunday.

Friday, September 11, 2009 (45 minutes)

Topic: Atomic fears and the development of the H Bomb.

Homework: Work on your assignment. Reading TBA.