This is an introduction to the study of America since 1945--the period in which the US became a world power. Alternate chapters provide the historical background and illuminate themes through culture and the arts, grounding students in the facts before exploring more interpretive approaches. In this way, awareness of central currents in art, film, theater, intellectual history and media is developed alongside an understanding of political and social change.
It is time for a new conversation. Amid the biggest economic transformation in a century, the challenge of our time is to make sure that all Americans benefit from the wave of digital revolutions around the world that have permeated and upended modern life. Yet today's economic arguments seem stuck. We need a new vision of a hopeful future and a new action agenda. So many Americans are uncertain about the future. How can there be so many paths to opportunity with so few people traveling them? As a nation, we have to understand what is required to help Americans succeed now, and how to prepare our country for what comes next. We have been here before. A hundred years ago, America experienced the greatest economic transformation and technological revolution in its history. The transformation of the past twenty years—as the world has moved through the information era into the digital age—has turned our life and work upside down once again. It is a time of tremendous change but also of tremendous possibility. Rework America is a group of American leaders who know from experience the challenges we face—and the potential solutions. In America's Moment they suggest a practical agenda for an exciting future. It is illustrated by people who are already showing the way and includes actions Americans can take today in their own communities: preparing people to succeed, using the reach of the Internet and data to innovate jobs and to reach new markets all over the world, using technology to match employers and workers, and transitioning to a "no-collar" working world— neither blue collar nor white collar. Set against the history of how Americans succeeded once before in remaking their country, America's Moment is about the future. It describes how the same forces of change—technology and a networked world—can become tools that can open opportunity to everyone.
"Levy's prose is eminently readable, his focus always clear, the connections between major points always apparent, and his tempo just right." -- American Studies International
"In a class by itself. Goldberg provides an engaging, nicely written narrative and draws upon a variety of secondary and primary sources to create an outstanding historical synthesis." -- Ohio Historian
In this update to his landmark publication, William J. Reese offers a comprehensive examination of the trends, theories, and practices that have shaped America’s public schools over the last two centuries. Reese approaches this subject along two main lines of inquiry—education as a means for reforming society and ongoing reform within the schools themselves. He explores the roots of contemporary educational policies and places modern battles over curriculum, pedagogy, race relations, and academic standards in historical perspective. A thoroughly revised epilogue outlines the significant challenges to public school education within the last five years. Reese analyzes the shortcomings of “No Child Left Behind” and the continued disjuncture between actual school performance and the expectations of government officials. He discusses the intrusive role of corporations, economic models for enticing better teacher performance, the continued impact of conservatism, and the growth of home schooling and charter schools. Informed by a breadth of historical scholarship and based squarely on primary sources, this volume remains the standard text for future teachers and scholars of education.
THIS AMERICAN MOMENT is a commentary on the frustration, challenges, and uncertainty of a people suffering - a people struggling day-to-day to survive economic agenda of America's Subsistence Trickle-Down Society. "Today I bear witness to the duplicity, iniquity, and pretension of this American Moment; /Today I face the frustration, uncertainty, and despair of a people living 'in quiet desperation;' /Today I endure the ordeal, misery, and distress of a proud industrious people; /Today I struggle to survive the betrayal, corruption, and desolation of Deregulation, Free Trade, and the Robber Barons of this American Moment; /Today I know this day is my every day for all my tomorrows." M.G. Montpelier M.G. Montpelier is a Catholic, Eagle Scout, teacher, genealogist, and retired Federal officer. He is a native of Rouses Point, New York; a graduate of Paul Smith's College and the State University of New York at Plattsburgh; and in retirement enjoys riding the rails of the world's classic rail journeys.
"Well written, with a very useful bibliographical essay and index, this book can be recommended for medical and general readers alike."--Guenter B. Risse, M.D., Ph.D., Journal of the American Medical Association. "The best brief history of health care in America since Richard H. Shryock's classic survey appeared over thirty years ago."--Ronald L. Numbers, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
According to this book, the United States is currently in a moment of crisis, fomented by anxieties around race and gender politics. Unlike fear, which is usually focused on a particular object, anxiety is indeterminate and uncertain. It is also the emotion that led to the election and continued support of President Trump. But Caron Gentry says that we can deal with this anxiety in a productive way. To do so, she turns to Reinhold Niebuhr, whose philosophy of Christian realism has been an abiding influence on foreign policy since the Cold War. According to Niebuhr "Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary." Anxiety is central to Niebuhr's ideas: an emotion that is abiding because we lack control over the circumstances of our lives. In turn, anxiety prompts a desire for unity, but also an intolerance for difference. Niebuhr suggests that anxiety can be dealt with destructively or creatively, and that power must be balanced to prevent destructive action. Gentry is critical of Niebuhr, saying that he gives in to destructive tendencies in humans by elevating power above other, more creative solutions. In This American Moment, she offers feminist Christian realism as an alternate approach to anxiety in international politics. Gentry's feminist Christian realism differentiates itself from Niebuhr's Christian realism by re-engaging the importance of love and relationships over power. It suggests that we can arrive at creative solutions to anxiety through a conversation about the imago dei and the inherent commitments to community borne of one's relationship with God, including the recognition of obligation in the face of vulnerability. Throughout Gentry applies her ideas to the problems of police brutality, women's reproductive health, and the rise in fascist politics.
