HST 344: The Automobile and American Life
CAP: Crossing Boundaries: Inquiry & Advanced Historical Studies
Class Meeting: TTH 3:35 – 4:50 p.m., Frericks Center 051
Instructors: John A. Heitmann and James Todd Uhlman
Office Hours:
Dr. Heitmann
Office Hours: By appointment (Heitmann)
E-Mail: Jheitmann1@udayton.edu
Blog page: http://www.automobileandamericanlife.blogspot.com
Dr. Uhlman (aka, Dr. U)
Office Hours: T/R 2:00 – 3:00, my office is located in HC 451
E-Mail: juhlman1@udayton.edu
Texts:
John Heitmann, The Automobile and American Life, 2nd Edition, McFarland, 2018,
978-1-4766-6935-9
Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Penguin, 1999
978-0140283297
Tom Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Test, Picador, 2008, 978-03124427597
William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways, Back Bay Books, 1999
978-0316353298
Gretchen Sorin, Driving While Black, Liveright, 2020
978-1631495694
And materials on Isidore.
Grades: The final grade for this course will be based on two hour exams, (50%), a review of Blue Highways (20%), and final exam (30%). The grade scale is as follows: A 94 to 100; A- 90 to 93; B+ 87-89; B 84-86; B- 80 - 83; C+ 77-79; C 74-76; C- 70-73. A similar pattern applies to lower grades. Letter grades are assigned a mid-point numerical grade. Additionally, attendance can influence your final grade: if you miss more than 3 classes, one letter grade will be deducted from your grade; if you miss more than 6 classes, a two letter grade reduction will take place. A good grade for this course is a B. Grade averages may be influenced by such factors as trends over the time of the course; for example, how you finish is far more important than how you start. Policies for exams strictly follows History Department Guidelines, and make-ups will only be offered with a valid, documented excuse.
Attendance at lectures is crucial if you are to expect a good grade in the course, and I want you to be at every class if that is at all possible. On many occasions the material presented is not covered in the readings, and so many of the ideas discussed central to the development of modern science are complex and often confusing. Your attitude and what you bring into the classroom can make the difference between a mediocre offering and a most positive educational experience.
Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated and offenses will be punished accordingly. A first offense will result in a failing grade for the exam or paper in question; a second offense will result in a failing grade for the course.
Course Purpose: It has been said that the automobile is the perfect technological symbol of American culture, a tangible expression of our quest to level space, time and class, and a reflection of our restless mobility, social and otherwise. In this course we will explore together the place of the automobile, driving, and the road in American life. How did it transform business, life on the farm and in the city, the nature and organization of work, leisure time, and the arts. More pointedly, how did it change what it means to be human? This is a most complex transition that we will study, as the automobile transformed everyday life and the environment in which we operate. It influenced the foods we eat; music we listen to; risks we take; places we visit; errands we run; emotions we feel; movies we watch; stress we endure; and the air we breathe.
There are two teachers in this course and two focal points. Heitmann will center his presentations and readings on the evolution of the automobile as a system of technology and the complex relationship between the engineers and other professions who were responsible for the manufacture, design and marketing of automobiles and the consumers and users. Car culture will be one handle tgo explore this symbiotic relationship. To that end he will often refer to his textbook, The Automobile and American Life, which is required reading. Uhlman will focus on inner and outer automobile journeys, drawing on the other books listed as required for this course.
SCHEDULE OF LECTURES AND ASSIGNMENTS
Week 1/August 24
Class Topics:
Introduction: What our cars tell us about ourselves. The car in everyday life: the automobile age and its contradictions
America’s first Transcontinental Road Trip.
Readings and Films:
Book-Heitmann, Auto and American Life, Introduction.
Film-“Horatio’s Drive.”
Week 2/August 31
Class Topics:
Automotive Pioneers. The Glidden Tours. Speed.
Reading and Films:
Book-Heitmann, Auto and American Life, Chapter 1.
Article-James Flink, “Three Stages of Automotive Consciousness” (Isidore)
Week 3/September 7
Class Topics:
Putting America on the Road
Automobiles and National Parks Tourism
The Marriage of Automobiles and Film
Week 4 September 14
Class Topics:
The Work and Legacy of Henry Ford
The Automobile Conquers the World
Reading and Films:
Book-Heitmann, Auto and American Life, Chapter 2.
Film: ” “With Car and Camera Around the World” (1929)
Week 5/September 21
Class Topics:
The Rise of General Motors
Reading and Films:
Book-Heitmann, Auto and American Life, Chapter 3
Film: “Master Hands”
Week 6/September 28
Class Topics:
On the Road; Discussion of Kerouac, On the Road
Reading and Films:
Book-Heitmann, Auto and American Life, Chapter 4
Book-Kerouac, On the Road
DUE October 5: EXAM #1 You will be tested on Keroauc
Week 7/ October 5
Class Topic: Religion, Courtship and Sex
Reading and Films:
Book-Heitmann, Auto and American Life, Chapter 5
Film-Clip from “It Happened One Night.”
October October 7
NO CLASS: MIDTERM BREAK
Week 8/ October 12
Class Topics:
The Interwar Years: The Great Depression
Aerodynamics, and Cars of the Olympian Age
Reading and Films:
Book-Heitmann, Auto and American Life, Chapter 6.
Film-Clip from “Grapes of Wrath”
Film-Clip from “Master Hands”
Week 9/October 19
Class Topics:
World War II: Detroit, the Arsenal of Democracy
The Post War Industry and Technological Suppression
Reading and Films:
Book-Heitmann, Auto and American Life, Chapter 7
Film-Clip from “Tucker: The Man and his Dream”
Film-Clip from “Detour”
Week 10/ October 26
Class Topics:
Speed during the 1950s: Chrome Dreams
Reading and Films:
Book-Heitmann, Auto and American Life, pp.149-168
Book-Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Test (begin)
Film-Clip from “To Please a Lady”
Film-Clip from “Rebel Without a Cause”
Film-Clip from “Hot Rod”
Week 11/12 November 2/9
Class Topics:
The Rise of the interstates.
Discussion of The Electric Kool-Aid Test.
Reading and Films:
Book-Heitmann, Auto and American Life, pp.
Book-Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Test (complete)
Film-“Divided Highways”
DUE: November 11, Exam #2 -- you will be tested on the Wolfe book at this time
Week 13/ November 16
Class Topics:
People of Plenty; The Prosperity Decade of the 1960s
The Rise of the American Muscle Car, Counterculture
Reading and Films:
Book-Heitmann, Auto and American Life, Chapter 9
Book-Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways (begin)
Film-“Two Lane Blacktop”
Week 14/15November 23 & 30
Class Topics:
Nervous Breakdown: Oil Shock I & II
Japan, James Bond, and Mobile Lovemaking
Discussion of Blue Highways
Reading and Films:
Book-Heitmann, Auto and American Life, Chapter 10
Book-Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways (complete)
Film-“Thelma and Louise”
DUE: November 30, Review of Blue Highways is due
Week 16/ December 7
Class Topics:
The Automobile World Upside Down, 1980s to the Present. Disruptive Technologies.
Discussion of Sorin Book.
Reading and Films:
Book-Heitmann, Auto and American Life, Chapter 11 and Epilogue.
FINAL EXAM, Friday
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