Unbroken Chain Public Symposium|Fall 2007 Courses|Message Board|Chat Room |
|
| Instructor: | Robert E. Weir, Ph.D. |
Course Description: History 297D How Does the Song Go? The Grateful Dead as a Window into American Culture is a lecture, audiovisual, and discussion course that looks at American society and politics between 1965 and 1995 as reflected in American popular music, especially The Grateful Dead.
Although no single individual, band, song, or movement can encapsulate the complexity of multiple decades of social change, the roots, production, the legacy of The Grateful Dead provide useful lenses through which to view many of the demographic, economic, political, and personal challenges facing Americans of varying backgrounds and ideologies. This course is designed to take a deeper look at the Zeitgeist of late 20th century American culture.
As such, music is merely the vehicle through which we will apply scholarly analysis and illumine historical change. It is not a “tribute” to The Grateful Dead, a music appreciation course, or a pop culture apologia.
Connections2007: In addition to their regular classwork, students will be required to attend November’s Unbroken Chain symposium. Afterwards, we’ll be asking them to write an article—not to exceed 600 words—on the weekend as if they were submitting it to a newspaper to inform its readership. It’s an assignment that allows them to be creative—they can approach the event as if they were a Collegian reporter, metro newsroom reporter, underground newspaper writer, gonzo journalist… But, like any reporter, they’ve got to remember the 5Ws of journalism (Who, What, Where, When, and Why), communicate clearly, and not go over their word limit.
Web Summary: We’re also asking the students to observe traffic on the “Unbroken Chain” Website. This is a synthesis assignment: a lot will be going on, and their job will be to make sense of it! They will be asked to produce a short paper (2 to 3 pages) in which they discuss the important themes that emerge on the site and evaluate them by placing them into the broader contexts provided by the lectures and reading assignments.
Readings and Music: HIST297D has four required texts:
| Dennis McNally, | A Long Strange Trip: Inside History of the Grateful Dead |
| Glenn Altschuler, | All Shook Up: How Rock & Roll Changed America |
| John Rocco, | Dead Reckonings: Life and Times of the Grateful Dead |
| Norman & Emily Rosenberg, | In Our Times: America Since World War II |
Throughout the class we will supplement these works with a variety of primary sources illustrative of the social and cultural themes of the times. We’ll also make reference to songs by the Grateful Dead that devotees of the music might find particularly germane for the week’s topics. It is not required that students listen to them, though they might enliven and enlighten their understanding.
Lecture/Reading Schedule
| 9/5 | Don’t Call Me Bob: Course Introduction "The Grateful Dead as an American Phenomenon" |
| Dead Song: | “Uncle John’s Band” |
| 9/7 | Sections: Syllabus review & “What does the Grateful Dead mean to you?” |
| 9/10 | Searching for American Culture: Folk Revival and Authenticity |
| 9/12 | Jerry’s Boyhood: American Society after World War II |
| Read: | McNally, chpts. 1-2 Altschuler, chpt. 1 Rosenberg, chpts. 1 & 2 Rocco, “Introduction #2” pp. 78-88 Schneider, “Crank up the Old Victrola” in Rocco, 110-112 |
| Supplemental: | Winston Churchill, “Iron Curtain” Speech Arthur Schleisinger, “Vital Center” Howard Fast “Peekskill Riot” |
| Dead Songs: | “Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad” “Casey Jones” “Mindbender” |
| 9/17 | Rockin’ the Conformity Boat: R & B, Elvis, and The Other |
| 9/19 | Beat it Kid: Non-conformists and Intellectuals in the 1950s |
| Read: | McNally, chpts. 2-3 Altschuler, chpts. 2-4 Rosenberg, chpts. 3 & 4 Tytell, from Naked Angels, in Rocco, 70-78 |
| Supplemental: | Clellon Holmes “Beat Generation” Allen Ginsberg “ Howl” & “America” George Marshall, “Salem 1950” Arthur Miller, “Communist Fear” William White, “Organization Man” Vance Packard, “Hidden Persuaders” Norman Mailer, “White Negro” Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “Vast Confusion” |
| Dead Songs: | “Cassidy” “Standing on the Corner” “Mountains of the Moon” |
| 9/24 | Pigpen’s Blues: Newport, Black Culture, White Awakening |
| 9/26 | Mind Flowers: Drugs and American Culture Before 1965 |
| Read: | McNally, chpts. 4-9 Altschuler, chpt. 5 Rosenberg, chpts. 4-5. |
| Supplemental: | Aldous Huxley, “Doors of Perception” US Supreme Court, Brown v Ed decision Daniel Bell, End of Ideology |
| Dead Songs: | “That’s It for the Other One” “One More Saturday Night” “Beat it on Down the Line” “Morning Dew” “Stagger Lee” |
| 10/1 | Childhood’s End: Baby Boomers and Questioning the American Dream |
| 10/3 | You’re Either on the Bus or Off the Bus: The Merry Pranksters |
| Read: | McNally, chpts. 10-15 Altschuler, chpt. 6 Rosenberg, chpts. 5-6 Kesey, “Tools from my Chest” in Rocco, 40-46 Jackson, “Kesey: A Day on the Farm” in Rocco, 47-70 |
| Supplemental: | Kennedy, Inaugural Address M L King, Letter from Birmingham Jail M L King, “I Have a Dream” speech Port Huron Statement Free Speech Movement Newsletter Dylan, “Hard Rain” and “Rolling Stone” |
| Dead Songs: | “Childhood’s End” “Doin’ that Rag” “China Cat Sunflower” |
| 10/9 | Turn on Your Love Light: Hippies and Subcultures |
| 10/10 | Bearing Up: Drugs and Minds Expanded and Blown |
| Read: | McNally, chpts. 12-22 Rosenberg, chpt. 6 |
| Supplemental: | Time, “The Hippies” Digger Philosophy Newsweek, “Hair Around the World” |
| Dead Songs: | “Turn On Your Love Light” “Dark Star” “Saint Stephen” “Cosmic Charlie” “The Eleven” |
| 10/15 | Ship of Fools: The Establishment Struggles |
| 10/17 | Eros and Thanatos: Woodstock, Altamont and the Underside of the Sixties |
| Read: | McNally, chpts. 23-29 Rosenberg, chpt. 6 Newsweek, “Dropouts with a Mission” in Rocco, 13-19 Lydon, “The Grateful Dead” in Rocco, 20-39 Makower, “Woodstock: Oral History” in Rocco, 103-107 |
| Supplemental: | Trips Festival Woodstock 1969 McDonald, “Fixin’ to Die Rag” Black Panther Ten Point Program Rethinking the Hell’s Angels (1970s folder) Phil Ochs Quotes |
| Dead Songs: | “Ship of Fools” “New Speedway Boogie” “Don’t Murder Me” |
| 10/22 | Workingman’s Dead: Changing Patterns in the 1970s |
| 10/24 | American Beauty: Searching for America |
| Read: | McNally, chpts. 30-36 Rosenberg, chpt. 7 |
| Supplemental: | Friedan, Feminine Mystique Tom Wolfe, Radical Chic Vietnam Vets/ Kerry speech Jane O’Reilly, Click! Equal Rights Amendment Supersized Concerts Earth Day report |
| Dead Songs: | “Dire Wolf” “Dupree’s Diamond Blues” “Casey Jones” “Truckin’” “Box of Rain” |
| 10/29 | Malaise and Misery: U.S. Society in the Late 1970s |
| 10/31 | Pop Goes the Music Market: Disco, Punk, and Deadhead Cultures |
| Read: | McNally, chpts. 37-44 Rosenberg, chpt. 8 Skully & Dalton, “Chronicles of the Dead” in Rocco, 89-102 Jackson, “This Must be Heaven” in Rocco, 162-168 Ganter, “Tuning In” in Rocco, 172-180 Grushkin, “New Years” in Rocco, 199-203 |
| Supplemental: | Carter, “Malaise” speech Anthems to a Blank Generation Evacuating Saigon Anti-equality of Women Iran Hostage Memories |
| Dead Songs: | “Money, Money” “The Wheel” “Terrapin Station” “I Need a Miracle” |
| 11/5 | Marketing the Cool and the New Consumerism of the 1980s |
| 11/7 | Wave That Flag: Jingoism and Reaganism |
| Read: | McNally, chpts. 45-48 Rosenberg, chpt. 9 Sutherland, “Acid Daze” in Rocco, 121-134 |
| Supplemental: | Reagan First Inaugural Evil Empire Speech Time Evaluates the Sixties Rethinking the War on Drugs Anti-Reaganomics |
| Dead Songs: | “U.S. Blues” “Blues for Allah” “Keep Your Day Job” |
| 11/14 | MTV, Yuppies, and Identity Politics |
| Read: | McNally, Review 45-48 Rosenberg, chpt. 9 |
| Supplemental: | Grateful Dead in the 1980s |
| Dead Songs: | “West L.A. Fadeaway” “Hell in a Bucket” |
| 11/16-17 | Unbroken Chain Symposium |
| 11/19 | Touch of Grey: Conformity and Non-Conformity in the 1980s |
| 11/21 | Radical Chic, Ice Cream Rebels, and Accidental Capitalists |
| Read: | McNally, chpts. 49-52 Rosenberg, chpt. 9 Zane, “Roadie?” in Rocco, 185-188 Jackson, Built to Last Interview, in Rocco 232-245 |
| Supplemental: | Gore, Rock Music Should be Labeled PMRC Letter Zappa, Speech before Congress Hippies Invent the Computer The First Laptops G. H. Bush of Gulf War; New World Order |
| Dead Songs: | “Touch of Grey” “Victim or the Crime” “We Can Run but We Can’t Hide” |
| 11/26 | Woodstock in the White House? The Early 1990s |
| 11/28 | Shakedown Ethics: The Importance of Being Seen in the Scene |
| Read: | McNally, chpts. 45, 51-52 Rosenberg, chpt. 10 Plimpton, “Bonding” in Rocco, 211-215 Barich, “Still Truckin’” in Rocco, 260-270 |
| Supplemental: | Barlow Defends the Internet 1992 Republican Convention According to the Unabomber Gingrich Speech Clinton—Inaugural Speech |
| Dead Songs: | “Shakedown Street” “Built to Last” “Way to Go Home” |
| 12/3 | He’s Gone: The Final Tour, 1995 |
| 12/5 | Was the Dream a ‘Dream?’: Vermont 1994, 1995 |
| Read: | McNally, chpts. 53-54 Rosenberg, chpt. 10 Adams, “Mourning for Jerry” in Rocco, 141-146 |
| Supplemental: | Sen. Abraham Speech Family Dog Obit Garcia Dies Woodstock 1995 The New Counterculture Mexican-American Voices |
| Dead Songs: | “He’s Gone" “Picasso Moon” “Sugar Magnolia” |
| 12/10 | Not Fade Away: The Legacy of the Dead |
| 12/12 | So Many Roads: The Threads and Fabric of American Culture |
| Read: | McNally, chpt. 54 Altschuler, Epilogue Juanis, “Furthur Festival” in Rocco, 215-218 Stone, “End of the Beginning” in Rocco, 278-281 Bloom, “Dark Star Burns Out” in Rocco, 282-285 Pareles, “Music Do the Talking” in Rocco, 285-288 Constantin, “Good-Bye for Now” in Rocco, 288-292 Kesey, “False Notes” in Rocco, 292-294 |
| Supplemental: | Woodstock 1999 |
| Dead Songs: | “Not Fade Away” “So Many Roads” “Eternity” “Easy Answers” |
|
||||||||||||
©2007 University of Massachusetts Amherst.