Lana Povitz

Modern American Jewish History
What characterizes the modern American Jewish experience? Is it the effort to assimilate into the American mainstream? Is it about the struggle to preserve Jewish distinctiveness? Drawing on historical scholarship and primary sources (films, art, cartoons, newspapers, literature), we will consider the many meanings of American Jewish identity, particularly its religious, racial, ethnic, and national connotations. We will begin in the 1880s, during the largest wave of Jewish immigration to the U.S. Topics will include “Americanization,” labor, political activism, religious reform, World War II and the Holocaust, “Jewish continuity,” gender roles, race relations, urbanization, suburbanization, and the relationship of Jews to white flight, Zionism, anti-Semitism, and philanthropy. 3 hrs. lect.

A History of “American Freedom” From the Progressive Era to 9/11
The goal of “freedom” has commanded the attention of the most elite Americans as well as the most oppressed, eliciting a range of strategies for achieving it and an array of visions about how it should look. In what contexts have Americans sought the “freedom to,” as opposed to “freedom from”? We will explore the valences of “freedom” starting in the Progressive Era, at the conclusion of the nineteenth century, and end with the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. We will use primary and secondary sources to examine this history across the political spectrum.

Gender, Sexuality, and Psychiatry in US History
In this seminar we will examine how gender and sexuality have intersected with the psychiatric profession since the nineteenth century, focusing mostly on women, and to a lesser extent gender-nonconforming people and men. Course material will be rooted in the U.S. but will occasionally also cover Europe and Latin America. Topics will include racialized notions of madness and hysteria, depression, psychoanalysis, “deviant” genders and sexualities, the rise of psychotropic prescription drugs, addiction, PTSD, eating disorders, and the medicalization of heterosexual women’s desire. Students will explore relevant historiography and will conduct oral histories of a related topic. (Counts for HSMT credit) 3 hrs. lect.

Histories of U.S. Radicalism, 1917-2017
From communism to libertarianism, Black Nationalism to radical feminism, this seminar examines the many facets of radical social movements in the United States during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. In particular, we will draw on individual and collective biographies of radicals to explore chronological linkages and social connections between apparently discrete political tendencies. We will also consider the political, social, cultural, and economic contexts that catalyzed these movements, the various forms of backlash and repression they faced, and the changing political uses to which these historical movements have been put. 3 hrs. sem.

Writing History
In this course students discuss historical methods and writing strategies to create convincing historical narratives. With the approval and guidance of the professor, students complete a 20-25-page research paper based on primary and secondary sources. Students take this course in the fall of their junior year or with permission in the spring. If students are away for the entire junior year, they can take the course in the fall of their senior year. 3 hr. sem. Restricted to HIST, ESHI, HSMT majors and HIST minors.

Practicing Oral History
In this intensive, hands-on workshop, students will prepare for, conduct, and process their own oral histories. We will decide collectively on an overarching theme to investigate through the interviews, such as work, friendship, or mental illness. The first week will be introductory and theoretical. We will explore what oral history is, why historians do it, how the interview fits as an historical source among other sources, and the problem of memory. During the second week, students will focus on preparing for and conducting the interview. This will include conducting background research, developing consent forms, and refining interview techniques. The third week will be about making sense of the interview and exploring different ways to process it (indexing, abstracting, transcribing, storyboarding). Students will also write a reflective paper on the interview process. The fourth week will consist of historical presentations in which the interview is supplemented with other historical sources. The workshop will be grounded in the methodological concerns and questions of the discipline of history. It may also be of special interest to those interested in journalism, sociology, and anthropology (among other fields!). Students from any discipline, with prior oral history experience or none at all, are all welcome.