Mourning’ in America: The Rise of Trump and the Return of the 1980s

MTV, Atari Game Systems, Crazy hairdos, lame pop music and a Hollywood

President who can't stop smiling: Scholars still consider the 1980s as a relatively

benign period of national regeneration that solidified a conservative revolution. After

the traumatic 1960s-1970s, many Americans agreed that, indeed, “It’s Morning in

America” – as Ronald Reagan’s catchy 1984 reelection slogan put it. But the

astounding electoral success of Trump three decades later forces us to reassess the

import and impact of this rather misunderstood period. This course will reassess the 1980s through a variety of disciplines (history, literature, political science, music, TV) and explore, among other things:

Reaganomics, Neoliberalism and the financialization of the economy; the culmination

 and finale of the Cold War; “Yuppie” consumer culture; the "Canon Wars" in universities; the Crack Epidemic and African-American mass incarceration; Aids crisis, Gay Politics and the Anti-abortion movement. 

Grading and Assignments

In-Class Midterm Exam: 30%

Final Paper: 50%

Class Participation: 20%