War and American Society

Writing in the wake of the Civil War, poet Walt Whitman insisted that “the real war will never get in the books.” Throughout American history, war has fundamentally shaped the ways that Americans think about themselves, their fellow Americans, and their country’s place in the world. This subject examines how Americans have experienced war and represented it in the rapidly evolving media of communication in the twentieth century, and interprets history, politics, and popular culture in terms of changing ideas about American national identity.

The War at Home: American Politics and Society in Wartime

with Adam Berinsky

This subject examines the relationship between war and domestic politics in the United States since the beginning of the twentieth century. Students engage in historical and social scientific research to analyze the ways that overseas military commitments shaped U.S. political institutions, and how domestic politics has in turn structured American engagements abroad. Moving chronologically from World War I to the Iraq War, subject draws on materials across the disciplines, including political documents, opinion polls, legal decisions, and products of American popular culture.