From astronaut Neil Armstrong’s “The Eagle has landed” to Barack Obama’s “Yes we can”, from the Watergate Scandal to the 2016 presidential race, from the Vietnam War to 9/11, from the development of Hip-Hop to the launch of Facebook – the last 50 years of US cultural history feature many iconic events that changed America – and sometimes the entire world. Many of these events have shaped the American character, but have also reflected certain cultural beliefs and constructs (most famously the “American Dream”). Some episodes were even featured in blockbuster movies, bestsellers, chart breakers and other forms of cultural production.

This seminar wants to put a spotlight on some of these events, figure out their cultural background, historical facts as well as their impact on society, and their sometimes manipulative or falsifying reflection in works of cultural production. We will start off at the end of the 1960s and work our way through the rest of the 20th century to finally focus on relatively recent events such as the so-called dawn of the Information Age, the “War on Terror”, and the first black US president.

The aim is to give students a brief – and not solely political – overview of the USA’s contemporary history and crucial beliefs of its civil religion, but also the skill to actively apply this knowledge to present day questions and analyses.