The Global 1960s

      From Johannesburg to Mexico City and from Chicago to Berlin, the 1960s were a culturally and politically defining moment that had global reverberations. In this seminar, we will explore a series of questions. What were the cultural and political transformations that took place in the 1960s? Were there commonalities that represented a popular “culture of dissent”? If so, what shape did it take internationally during this time? How did cultural and sexual identities shift? What gendered and/or feminist experiences took place on a global scale, and why? How did 1968 become a revolutionary year? Was 1968 the beginning of this revolutionary fervor? Or, did the year signify an unraveling revolution? We will attempt to answer these questions by studying the events, social movements, actors, places, and legacies of the 1960s throughout the globe. The course uses case studies in East and West Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, and the United States. By interpreting the cultural, political, and social meaning of protest, violence, and resistance, students will discover the 1960s’ impact on ethnicity, race relations, gender, sexuality, class, and identity. More importantly, students will assess how social movements (feminist and women’s, gay, Civil Rights, and others) informed policies and incited intersectional change. Additional sources will introduce students to the history of the global and long sixties (1954-1976). Students will learn to analyze the transnational connections that cultivated and divided solidarity networks, in turn defining a generation.