The Cold War in Literature, Politics, and History

Catalog description

The course will focus on the history and politics of the Cold War and its depiction in literature and film, especially in British and American literature, but also in that of other countries. Students will read political science and history texts, novels, short stories, and poetry, and view films. Students will analyze the reasons that the Cold War has been and continues to be a major inspiration for literary production and a transformative influence on literary style. Students will be encouraged to explore alternative methodologies for research on cold war topics including the use of primary sources, for ex. documents from the intelligence community archives that have since been declassified. In addition to a class field trip, students will be encouraged to make additional site visits to appropriate institutions in U.S. intelligence history. They'll be making a series of visits to relevant sites.