Power to the People: Black Power, Radical Feminism, and Gay Liberation (Gen Ed 1130)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2025

How does understanding political activists and movements in the past help us radically change the world today?

 

Aesthetics & Culture icon with text

Michael Bronski

This course is an introduction to the radical American social change movements of the 1960s and 70s. We will examine the specific historical conditions that allowed each of these movements to develop, the interconnections and contradictions among them, and why their political power faded, only to reemerge in new manifestations today. Along with historical analysis, we will examine primary source materials, manifestos, autobiographies, and media coverage from the period, as well as relevant films, music, and fiction. The class will be a mixture of lecture and discussion. Midterm and final assignments will include options for engaged scholarship with community engagement projects.

Register for Gen Ed 1130