Courses that have mirrored war time/post-war sentiments:
World War I ends in 1918. Many students return from combat to the College.
Interdisciplinary Course Requirement – 1920: The Problems of Citizenship. This course will consist of a series of discussions of selected social, economic, and political problems of recent or current interest, to the consideration of each of which will be applied the methods of investigation and reasoning and the accepted principles of history, economics, political science and sociology. The purpose of this course is to open the minds of men at a very early stage in their college course to intelligent consideration of the great problems of life which lie about them, and with which they must be prepared to cope, as individuals, as members of society, and as citizens of the United States of America. It is hoped and expected that such a course, which must from its very nature rely largely for material upon the daily newspaper and the magazine, will do much to encourage habits of consistent and discriminating thought and reading; and that it will bring men into the courses given in the various departments of the social science with a better background of information, a keener interest, and more adequate comprehension of the present day importance of the subjects, than they have hitherto possessed. Required of all members of the Freshman class.
The Soviet Union is formed.
1922: European Social Movements. Professor Davis. A review and estimate of post-war social and industrial conditions in Russia, England, and Germany as contrasted with America.
Henry Ford announces a 40-hour week; Weapon development continues; Germany and Soviet Union sign the Treaty of Berlin; The Great Depression begins in 1929.
1926: Problems with the Great Society in Contemporary Literature. Professor Bowen. This course will attempt to interpret the tendencies and forces in modern civilization which make for social conflict or harmony as well as the problems of national, imperialism, internationalism, war and peace, as they find expression in the most significant contemporary European and American literature.
World War II begins.
1939: Public Opinion and Propaganda. Assistant Professor Choukas. The term “public opinion: as employed by contemporary writers will be analyzed and its meaning made clear by a study of concrete social situations in terms of the attitudes of groups and the social structure which these attitudes represent. The forces which seek to control public opinion will be considered and a detailed analysis of propaganda made. The methods used by the propagandist to control public opinion will be explained and the relation of propaganda and education and of propaganda and social change discussed.
1939: Conflicts in Modern Civilization. Professor Bowen. This course aims attempt to describe and interpret the cultural forces and interests in modern civilization which make for individual, group, class, race and national conflicts and wars. In this course of the work modern movements like Democracy, Nationalism, Socialism, Communism, Fascism will be analyzed and criticized. The respective philosophies, ideals, objectives, tactics, and activities of these varied movements will be explained from the point of view of Sociology.
1946: Native Peoples and Cultures of the Pacific. Professor McKennan. This course deals with the native peoples and cultures of the Pacific Islands and the adjacent Asiatic coast including the Malay Peninsula, Indo-China and northeastern Siberia. The approach is primarily anthropological but an analysis will be made of the problems that have grown out of the contact between the cultures of the white man and the natives. In this connection the relationship between applied anthropology and colonial administration will be considered.
The Cold War begins in 1947.
1952: Population Problems. Assistant Professor Merrill. This course deals with the relationships between population and society. The emphasis is placed upon the social implications of contemporary changes in the quantity and quality of population. The course opens with a discussion of the nature of population problems, the historic growth of population, and the various explanations of that growth. The second section deals with the social factors which determine the birth and death rates and includes an examination of contemporary trends therein. The third section is concerned with the composition of the population in terms of age, sex, race, and quality. The movements of population are then considered, with particular reference to mobility and migration in Europe and America. The course concludes with a study of contemporary trends in world population, with particular attention to the current situation of the United States, the Soviet Union, India and Eire.
1954: The Social Structure of the Soviet Union. Assistant Professor Harp. The major aim of this course is a detailed analysis of the Soviet experiments in planned social change. Following an introductory consideration of principles of demography and social stratification, a close examination is made of the evolution of class structure, patterns of authority, and stratification in Soviet society. Subsequently, certain fundamental components and institutions of Soviet society are studied, with particular emphasis on national minority groups, the status of the sexes and family, education, religion, law, etc. In the final synthesis, an attempt is made to evaluate the Soviet system in terms of its functional strengths and weaknesses.