Historical Understandings for America at War:
- How has ideology shaped U.S. foreign policy, including the decision to enter into wars and how to fight them?
- How does considering the perspectives of other nations and people change our understanding of the U.S. at war?
- How has war with other nations abroad impacted U.S. society and politics at home?
U.S.–MEXICAN WAR
November 5, 2008 at The Graduate Center, CUNY
Reading: Preface and Conclusion from Timothy Henderson, A Glorious Defeat: Mexico and Its War with the United States (2008)
Scholar Talk: “Manifest Destiny: The U.S. Mexican War,” Maria Montoya (New York University)
Primary Documents & Activities:
The United States at War: Ideology and Foreign Policy (Smartboard Activity)
Treaty of Hidalgo, 1848
“Troubles in the South-West”: Ideology and the U.S. Mexican War (Smartboard Activity + Documents)
EMPIRE BUILDING: THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN WAR AND OCCUPATION
December 8, 2008 at The Graduate Center, CUNY
Reading: Chapter 1 and 2 of David Silbey, A War for Frontier and Empire: The Philippine-American War, 1897-1902 (2007)
Scholar Talk: “Engineering Empire: War and Colonization in the Philippines, 1898-1918,” Michael Adas (Rutgers University)
Film: Savage Acts: Wars, Fairs, and Empire
Primary Documents and Activities:
Uncle Sam Watches over Cuba and the Philippines
Cartoon Creating Cartoons on the Philippine-American War (Smartboard Activity + Documents)
RACE AND GENDER ON THE WWII HOMEFRONT
February 27, 2009 at The Graduate Center, CUNY
Reading: “Fighting for Freedom,” from Eric Foner, The Story of American Freedom (1999)
Scholar: “They Said It Couldn’t Be Done, But the Tuskegee Airmen Did It,” Dr. Roscoe C. Brown (The Graduate Center, CUNY)
Film: The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter
Primary Documents and Activities:
FDR Defines Freedom at Home and Abroad
Background and Interview Questions for Roscoe Brown, Tuskegee Airman
Black Workers Call for a March on Washington
A World War II Poster Shows Racial Solidarity in the Workplace
Women Workers in World War II: The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter (Activity + Documents)
THE COLD WAR AT HOME AND ABROAD
March 24, 2009 at the Paley Center for Media
Reading: “The Cold War Begins, 1945-50,” from David S. Painter, The Cold War: An International History (1999)
Scholar Talk: “The Cuban Revolution and Cold War America, 1956-1962,” Van Gosse (Franklin & Marshall College)
Film: What It Means to Be American (1952)
Primary Documents and Activities:
What It Means to Be American Viewing Worksheet
THE VIETNAM WAR FROM ALL SIDES
May 15, 2009 at the Paley Center for Media
Reading: “Preface” and “Commanders,” from Christian G. Appy, Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides
Scholar Talk: “What Are We Fighting For?,” Christian Appy (University of Massachusetts at Amherst)
Primary Documents and Activities:
Teaching the Living Room War in Your Classroom
