World War II

Catalog description

This course will focus on the American experience at home and abroad during World War II. It will cover military, political, economic, social, cultural, and diplomatic aspects of the war. Discussions of the methods of historical inquiry - particularly through primary and secondary sources - will be used to illustrate interpretations of the major events of World War II. Controversial aspects of the war and its conduct will be examined, especially pertaining to the role of the United States. Among the topics to be examined include the attack at Pearl Harbor, the issue of the timing of the second front in Europe, whether the Holocaust could have been prevented, the role of women on the home front, the brutality of the Pacific war, and whether it was necessary to drop the atomic bomb.