This course will explore the role of the university in the world, using USC as an example. The course will emphasize original research into the twentieth-century history of the university as an active participant in political, economic, ideological, and environmental trends in the city, the nation, and the world. Topics will include the eugenics movement, anti-Semitism and wartime politics, McCarthyism, student protest, immigration, labor, real estate development, city politics, Japanese internment, and race, gender, and sexuality on campus. Students will produce an original research paper based on supervised work in locally accessible and digital archives, and oral histories where possible.
