A New Course for Fall 2026! HPS 141 – The Decade that Changed America.
“Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world…”
— W.B. Yeats, quoted by Joan Didion in Slouching Towards Bethlehem (1967)

The 1960s was one of the most turbulent, transformative, and electrifying decades in modern American history. From the frontlines of the Civil Rights Movement to the jungles of Vietnam, from the moon landing to Woodstock, and from the rise of Black activism to Native activism, this course explores how a single decade reshaped American culture forever.
A writer once remarked that the 1960s felt like the moment when the bolts holding America together were about to pop off. The Civil Rights Movement exposed the nation’s deepest moral contradictions; Vietnam eroded trust in government; assassinations shattered any illusion of stability; and youth countercultures challenged long-standing beliefs about authority, family, and identity.
This course examines the forces of protest, liberation, and upheaval that profoundly challenged America and helped create the world we live in today.

Enroll this fall and explore the decade that changed America.

Professor: Harvey DuMarce, BA, MA | hdumarce@swcollege.edu
Schedule: Tuesday and Thursday, 2:00 PM to 3:20 PM
Location: Room 9