Course Syllabus

Course Information
Course Number/Section HUHI 7313 001
Course Title American Intellectual History

Term Spring 2011

Days & Times T 10:00-12:45

Professor Contact Information

Professor Wickberg
Office Phone 6222
Other Phone 214 942-1690
Email Address wickberg@utdallas.edu
Office Location JO 5.428
Office Hours T 9:00-9:30, R 1:00-2:00

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions

Graduate Standing in the School of Arts and Humanities or permission of the instructor

Course Description

This course is a PhD-level overview of American thought from the seventeenth century to the
present, with a focus on philosophy, political thought, and social thought. We will be reading
both primary writings by American thinkers and a selective sample of recent scholarly literature
on American intellectual history. Topics covered include: Puritanism, the American
Enlightenment, evangelical religion, romanticism, feminism, abolition and pro-slavery thought,
Darwinism, natural science and religion, modernism and antimodernism, cold war liberalism and
its critics, the rise of social science, pragmatism, forms of relativism, postmodernisms. The course
seeks to balance intensive attention to primary readings with a substantive introduction to
historiography of the field. This course lays the foundation for students who are interested in
pursuing a PhD exam field in American intellectual history.

As an overview, the course generally sacrifices depth for breadth; it seeks to put students on a
basis of familiarity with a broad range of thought and issues, but does not provide an in-depth
examination of a specific issue or problem. Students will be able to explore specific topics in
more depth with their papers. One of the secondary purposes of the course is to give students a
working understanding of the approaches to the past characteristic of intellectual history as a
discipline. Students will learn the variety of ways in which scholars approach the thought and
thinkers of the past, how they use sources, what kinds of argumentation and modes of writing are
characteristic of intellectual history. In particular, the purpose of reading substantial secondary
and primary materials in concert is to get students to understand how to think about ideas
historically, rather than in other ways, such as philosophically or instrumentally.

Course Syllabus Page 1

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes
Students will demonstrate knowledge of major figures and schools of thought in American
intellectual history.

Students will analyze and interpret a significant body of thought in American intellectual history.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of historiography of American intellectual history.

Required Textbooks and Materials

Required Texts

David Hollinger and Charles Cappers, eds., The American Intellectual Tradition, vols, I and II, 6th
edition. Please note: Only the 6th edition contains all relevant required readings.

Thomas Bender, ed., The Antislavery Debate

Howard Brick, The Age of Contradiction : American Thought and Culture in the 1960s

Eugene Genovese and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, The Mind of the Master Class

Robert Genter, Late Modernism: Art, Culture, and Politics in Cold War America

Sarah Igo, The Averaged American

Linda Kerber, Toward an Intellectual History of Women

Richard King, Race, Culture, and the Intellectuals

James Livingston, The World Turned Inside Out: American Thought and Culture at the End of
the Twentieth Century

Louis Menand, The Metaphysical Club

Additional materials on course electronic reserve as indicated in the schedule of readings

Assignments & Academic Calendar

Topics, Reading Assignments, Due Dates, Exam Dates

Week I Tuesday, January 11

Introduction. No reading.

Week II Tuesday, January 18

American Intellectual Tradition, vol. I, pp. 3-108
Perry Miller, “The Marrow of Puritan Divinity” in Errand Into the Wilderness
Janice Knight, Orthodoxies in Massachusetts, introduction and chapter 4,
pp. 3-11, 88-108

Week III Tuesday, January 25

American Intellectual Tradition, vol. I, pp. 111-216

Course Syllabus Page 2

 Henry May, The Enlightenment in America, Introduction and Chapter I, “The
Moderate Enlightenment,” pp. xi-xx , 1-101 (available as e-book through UTD
library: permanent URL
http://hdl.handle.net.libproxy.utdallas.edu/2027/heb.00282.0001.001 )

Richard B. Sher, Enlightennment and the Book: Scottish Authors and Their
Publishers in Eighteenth-Century Britain, Ireland, and America , introduction
“Toward a Book History of the Scottish Enlightenment,” pp. 1-24 (available as e-
book through UTD library: persistent link:
http://library.utdallas.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=1337550

Week IV Tuesday, February 1

Linda Kerber, Toward an Intellectual History of Women

Week V Tuesday, February 8

American Intellectual Tradition, vol. I, pp. 219--348
Mark Noll, America’s God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln, chap.
13, pp. 253-268
Robert Abzug, Cosmos Crumbling, chap. 6, pp. 129-62
Paul Conkin, Prophets of Prosperity, chaps. 10-11, pp. 261-307

Week VI Tuesday, February 15

American Intellectual Tradition, vol. I, pp. 351-449
Jeffrey Sklansky, The Soul’s Economy: Market Society and Selfhood in
American Thought, 1820-1920, chap. 2, pp. 33-72
George Fredrickson, The Inner Civil War, chaps. 1-2, pp. 7-35
John L. Thomas, “Romantic Reform in America, 1815-1865,” American
Quarterly 17 (1965): 656-81

Week VII Tuesday, February 22

PAPER PROPOSALS DUE
Thomas Bender, ed., The Antislavery Debate

Week VIII Tuesday, March 1

American Intellectual Tradition, vol. 1, pp. 453-537
Eric Foner, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, chapter 4.
pp. 92-131
David W. Blight, “The Theft of Lincoln in Scholarship, Politics, and Public
Memory,” chapter 11 in Our Lincoln, ed. Eric Foner, pp. 269-282
George Fredrickson, The Black Image in the White Mind, chap. 4, pp. 97-129

Week IX Tuesday, March 8

Eugene Genovese and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, The Mind of the Master
Class, chaps 1-4, 7, 10, 11, 15-17, 19-22 and epilogue

SPRING BREAK

Week X Tuesday, March 22

American Intellectual Tradition, vol. 2, pp. 3-120
Louis Menand, The Metaphysical Club

Course Syllabus Page 3

Week XI Thursday, March 29
American Intellectual Tradition, vol. 2, pp. 123-254
Sarah Igo, The Averaged American

Week XII Tuesday, April 5

American Intellectual Tradition, vol. 2, pp. 257-348
Robert Genter, Late Modernism

Week XIII Tuesday, April 12

American Intellectual Tradition, vol. 2, pp. 349-416
Richard King, Race, Culture, and the Intellectuals

Week XIV Tuesday, April 19

American Intellectual Tradition, vol. 2, pp. 419-509
Howard Brick, Age of Contradiction

Week XV Tuesday, April 26

American Intellectual Tradition, vol. 2, pp. 510-636
James Livingston, The World Turned Inside Out

Tuesday, May 10
PAPERS DUE @ 1:00 pm JO 5.428

Grading Policy
Grades will be based on class participation, one short oral presentation, and a research paper of
15-20 pages. Grades will be determined on the following basis:
Participation 40%
Oral Presentation 10%
Term Paper 50%

Course Policies
Late Work
It is extremely important that students complete all assigned readings for the discussion dates set
in the syllabus. Students will also have an assigned date for an oral presentation; if illness or
emergency prevents you from making this assigned date, you must let me know immediately. If
there are legitimate reasons, we can arrange to reschedule, but generally extensions will not be
granted for lack of foresight or matters of preference. Please make every effort to meet course
deadlines.
Class Attendance
Attendance is required. Illness, emergencies, and religious holidays are the only legitimate
reasons for missing class. Missed classes will affect your participation grade, and excessive
absence will result in failure of the course.
Classroom Citizenship
This is a discussion class. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the reading.
Lateness is disruptive, so please make every effort to be on time. Give fellow students and the
instructor the courtesy of listening to their ideas. Disagreement and argument are the lifeblood of
intellectual work and are encouraged, but please avoid personal remarks and rudeness. My aim is
to make all students comfortable and willing to discuss their ideas, but also to challenge students
to develop their ideas or defend their claims. Please do not take such challenges personally.
Please give the class your full attention: cell phones, laptops (unless being used specifically for

Course Syllabus Page 4

class-related purposes), and unrelated notes and books should be put away during class. Do not
pass notes or hold whispered side-conversations with fellow students during class; if there is
something worth saying about the class material, please address the entire class.

Please consult university policy for information about educational matters and regulations not
discussed here. This class will be conducted according to university policies.

Course Syllabus Page 5