Description
[cross-listed with SOC 3011; Sound minor] This course will examine the history of the United States from the late 1920s through the early 1940s (the “long 1930s”) using the medium of film. The Great Depression and its effects on the lives of Americans is the central historical backdrop of this era, but we will also discuss issues such as prohibition and organized crime, African-American culture, changing conceptions of women and gender roles, the effects of industrial capitalism on individuals, the New Deal and the arts, and the early years of WWII. This course will also examine Hollywood history during the 1930s, including the transition from silent films to talkies, the studio system, and classic Hollywood film genres (westerns, musicals, screwball comedies, gangster films, etc.). Finally, this course will pose questions about historical memory and how the past is represented in film. This includes how prior historical events (such as the Civil War and Westward expansion) were repr