1. Aug. 24: Introduction to the Course
  2. Aug. 31: One Dimensional Man, Part 1.
  3. Sep. 7: One Dimensional Man, Part 2.
  4. Sep. 14: Fanon and Guevara
  5. Sep. 21: Towards 1968 – Mexico Pt. 1.
  6. Sep. 28: Towards 1968 – Mexico Part 2.
  7. Oct. 5: Fall Break
  8. Oct. 12: When it Explodes – Japan Part 1.
  9. Oct. 19: What were the Stakes – Japan Part 2.
  10. Oct. 26: From 1968 – France Part 1.
  11. Nov. 2: Does it still matter? France Part 2.
  12. Nov. 9: Research/Meetings/Writing
  13. Nov. 16: Research/Meetings/Writing
  14. Nov. 23: Thanksgiving
  15. Nov. 30: Presentations 1
  16. Dec. 7: Presentations 2

Aug. 24: Introduction to the Course

Read:

DUE:

Aug. 31: One Dimensional Man, Part 1.

In a somewhat surprising twist, the global crises of the late 1960s made a celebrity out of an aging German cultural theorist who had escaped the Nazi regime. Herbert Marcuse’s most famous book, One Dimensional Man, became a reference text for a decade that aspired to liberation. That same popularity has made his work still today the object of cultural and political backlash. What did he say that resonated with youth of the 1960s, while also still being perceived as threatening to this day? What were his divisive concepts?

Read:

  • Herbert Marcuse, One Dimensional Man, pp. 1-83.

DUE:

  • A précis of one of the three chapters.

Sep. 7: One Dimensional Man, Part 2.

Having diagnosed a problem, does Marcuse create a path forward? Is there more to critical theory than the negation of the present?

Read:

  • Herbert Marcuse, One Dimensional Man, pp. 84-122; 225-258.

DUE:

  • Full research memo on One Dimensional Man.

Sep. 14: Fanon and Guevara

One Dimensional Man provides an entry into one vector of critique that animated the global protests of 1968. It is in the tradition of European philosophy and critical theory, and centered on themes of alienation, affluence, technology, bureaucracy, etc. An wholly other context produced soliarity and action that was less an immanent critique of Europe and the United States, and more an anti-colonial and anti-capitalist from outside of Europe and the United States. This week we have two chapters that are examples of that critique. Franz Fanon’s work emerged in the context of both the French Caribbean and Algeria’s struggle for Independence. Che Guevara was a product of anti-imperialism in the Americas, and particularly in the struggle against US American hegemony.

Read:

  1. Franz Fanon, “Concerning Violence,” pp. 35-106 in Wretched of the Earth, Constance Farrington, trans. (New York: Grove Press, 1963).
  2. Ernesto Guevara, “Socialism and Man in Cuba”
  • Be ready to brainstorm some potential paper topics, including thinking about what kinds of resources you will need for said topics.

Sep. 21: Towards 1968 – Mexico Pt. 1.

It’s tempting with a year like 1968, where so much happened of significance, to work through the year and around the globe in a sort-of de-contextualized synchronicity. The roots of the events of 1968 were particular to each place, even as they expressed similar grievances. This week, we look at particular roots in Mexico in the decades before 1968, and that year’s associations with the counterculture (La Onda) and student agitation that preceded it.

Read:

  1. Eric Zolov, Refried Elvis: The Rise of the Mexican Counterculture (University of California Press, 1999), pp. 1-92.

DUE:

  • Précis and notes on Zolov.

Sep. 28: Towards 1968 – Mexico Part 2.

In addition to Zolov’s account of La Onda and 1968, this week we’ll also be thinking about the particular global context of Mexico City that year, as a showcase of statecraft and sportwashing.

Read:

  1. Eric Zolov, Refried Elvis: The Rise of the Mexican Counterculture (University of California Press, 1999), pp. 93-166.

DUE:

  • An analysis or narrative of your set of 10 documents. Please use the document number (either written by me at the top of the paper copy, or as provided on the National Security Archive website.

Oct. 5: Fall Break

Enjoy your break. But not too much.

Oct. 12: When it Explodes – Japan Part 1.

Read:

  1. Gavin Walker, “Revolution and Retrospection,” pp. 1-11 in Walker, ed., The Red Years: Theory, Politics, and Aesthetics in the Japanese ‘68 (New York: Verso, 2020).
  2. Hiroshi Nagasaki, “On the Japanese ‘68,” pp. 12-37 in Walker (2020).
  3. Yohihiko Ichida, “The Ethics of the Agitator: On Hiroshi Nagasaki’s The Phenomenology of Politics” pp. 38-56 in Walker (2020).
  4. Hidemi Suga, “1968 and the Postwar Regime of Emperor-System Democracy,” pp. 98-119 in Walker (2020).

DUE:

  • Pick two of the readings, and write précis.

  • Finalized topic expressed in one paragraph and including your historical question.

Oct. 19: What were the Stakes – Japan Part 2.

Read:

  1. Chelsea Szendi Schider, “Human Liberation or ‘Male Romance’? The Gendered Everyday of the Student New Left,” pp. 143-159 in Walker (2020).
  2. Yutaka Nagahara, “1972: The Structure of the Streets,” pp. 181-211 in Walker (2020).
  3. Gavin Walker, “The Post-‘68 Conjuncture,” pp. 229-236 in Walker (2020).

DUE:

  • Reading précis.
  • Bibliography and primary source collections for your paper.

Oct. 26: From 1968 – France Part 1.

Read:

  1. Kristen Ross, May ‘68 and It’s Afterlives (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2002): Introduction, Chapters 1-2.

DUE:

  • One sentence, one paragraph, one page.

Nov. 2: Does it still matter? France Part 2.

Read:

  1. Kristen Ross, May ‘68 and It’s Afterlives, Chapters 3-4.

DUE:

  • Weekly assignment.

Nov. 9: Research/Meetings/Writing

  • Scheduled meetings with Prof. Black.

Nov. 16: Research/Meetings/Writing

  • Scheduled meetings with Prof. Black.

Nov. 23: Thanksgiving

DUE:* HAVE A NICE THANKSGIVING

Nov. 30: Presentations 1

Project presentations by group 1.

Dec. 7: Presentations 2

Project presentations by group 2.