HIST 4202 - [The Politics of Inequality: The History of the U.S. Welfare State]

(crosslisted) AMST 4202
(HA-AS)

Fall. Next offered 2018-2019. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

J. Kohler-Hausmann.

This research seminar explores how Americans and their elected leaders struggled to respond to economic and social inequality throughout the twentieth century. It traces the expansions and retractions of the U.S. welfare state with special attention to the influence of average people’s organizing and activism. Among other things, students will study the Progressive Era, the New Deal, the Great Society, the “Reagan Revolution,” and Clinton’s welfare reforms. Assessment will be on the basis of class discussion, weekly reading responses, and a substantial research paper based in primary sources.