This course examines the history of the United States through its intellectuals and major ideas. Starting with the American Revolution and progressing through to the contemporary intellectual scene, it hopes to introduce students to major debates, themes, and intellectual movements in the history of American ideas. We will read a number of famous thinkers and actors in their own words and study the development of important schools of thought, such as Transcendentalism, Pragmatism, the Harlem Renaissance, and the New Left.
U.S. Intellectual History—is a lecture course focusing on the history of American ideas about politics, democracy, religion, and economics. The class tells the history of the United States from a very particular perspective: that of prominent thinkers and writers. It focuses on the stories and ideas of public intellectuals—people like Thomas Jefferson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William James, Jane Addams, and W.E.B. Du Bois—who have shaped American culture. We will read and talk about their debates about the meaning of democracy, the nature of truth, and the role of religion in our public life. It will be a chance to learn about and discuss the ideas that shaped our nation. The readings for History 375 course are mostly primary sources written by famous intellectuals themselves.