Semester:
Offered:
Instructor: Jules Riegel
Meeting time: Tuesday, 9:45-11:45 am
This course examines the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union between 1945 and 1991, including the superpowers' strategies in Europe and the so-called “Third World.” While addressing U.S. and Soviet foreign policy and political ideologies, this course also considers the Cold War’s impact across the globe, considering topics such as decolonization and human rights, as well as its cultural effects. Finally, we will examine the continuing effects of the Cold War on the world today, covering topics such as movements for nuclear disarmament, fears of another Cold War–style superpower confrontation, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Readings may include accounts by atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki; anticolonial and countercultural writings from Patrice Lumumba and Ho Chi Minh to the Weather Underground; and literature, art, music, and film grappling with fears of nuclear war.