Faculty First Year Seminars 191COMM4 - Radical America: the history

he popularity of Bernie Sanders, the celebrity-like status of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes, both avowed socialists, along with polls indicating positive attitudes towards socialism among many youth, are a few markers of an openness to left radicalism hardly seen for nearly a half-century. Yet long-term, anti-communist ideology has largely buried a diverse, yet hardly known spectrum of homegrown U.S. socialist traditions. This includes early 19th-century Utopian socialism, 1880s general strikes, early 20thcentury farm-labor alliances and municipal socialism, 1930s Communist organizing, SDS, and the Black Panthers. Through readings and media screenings, we?ll discuss the distinctiveness of some key historic movements and their contemporary resonance. Weekly reading response notes will guide weekly small group and full class discussion.

First year (Fr or Soph)