The Sixties Experience

Course Description

This seminar will focus on the in-depth discussion and analysis of the philosophy, politics, and music of the 1960’s. Sessions will be devoted to the important movements of the time, including the Civil Rights Movement, the Free Speech Movement, the Anti-War Movement, the Women’s Rights Movement, and the Gay Rights Movement. We will also discuss various aspects of the Vietnam War and the counterculture that was centered in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. There will be several listening sessions devoted to the music of the 1960’s, and we will examine some of the poetry, art, and films that were made during this unique time in U.S. and world history. Finally, we will reflect on how the Sixties Experience relates to many of the important issues that we face today.

A highlight of the semester will be a field trip to relevant sites and events in the San Francisco Bay Area. Possible sites include City Lights Bookstore in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, People’s Park and the UC, Berkeley campus, the Oakland Museum, and the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. At times we have been able to incorporate area events into the field trip, such as a memorial service for Mario Savio, the leading spokesperson for the Free Speech Movement, and an Andy Warhol exhibit at the DeYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park.