American Experience Week

Monday and Tuesday, July 7 & 8

Freedom’s Dominion – American freedom is typically associated with the fight of the oppressed for a better world. But for centuries, some Americans have also used that language to justify their freedom to dominate others. These talks consider American freedom, federal power, states’ rights, and their inter-relationships from the early Republic through Reconstruction to the present day.

Wednesday, July 9

The New Deal Era: The Promise and Limits of American Reform – Where does the New Deal fit in the big picture of American history? In the period between the Great Depression and the 1970s, the United States government used its considerable resources on behalf of working Americans to achieve a unique level of equality. What happened to the economic equality it once engendered, and what does this tell us about our era?

Thursday, July 10

Key Words in American Political History – American politics often hinges on the partisan ownership of key words, such as freedom, democracy, faith, and patriotism.  In this lecture, Professor Cowie will take these terms as his jumping off point to share insights from his new project on the idea of narrative, how historians think, and the connections between interspersed events in American history,

Friday, July 11

Johnny Cash: The Many Redemptions of an American Soul – This talk, based on Professor Cowie’s forthcoming biography of Johnny Cash considers how this existential pop loner was really a product of several key collaborations that redeemed his art throughout his life.