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Revision 1 closed, replaced by current version.
Delivery mode: Individualized study.
Credits: 3 - Humanities
Prerequisite: Permission of the professor. HIST 225 is recommended. Students without a strong background in Canadian history but who have an interest in this course are urged to register in HIST 326 rather than HIST 426. HIST 426 is a more advanced version of HIST 326. Contact the course professor if you are in doubt.
Precluded course: HIST 326 (HIST 426 may not be taken for credit if credit has already been obtained for HIST 326).
Centre: Centre for State and Legal Studies
HIST 426 has a Challenge for Credit option.
HIST 426 focuses on social change and social conflict since 1945. Beginning with a study of the Cold War in the immediate aftermath of World War II, it demonstrates both official and popular efforts to create a conservative society in which dissent was suppressed, class, sexual, and racial hierarchies were maintained, and the United States was the arbiter of political, economic, and cultural correctness.
It then examines the social pressures that challenged such an agenda in the decades following the war. Included in the study of social conflicts are the emergence of the women's movement, movements of Native peoples and visible-minority groups, as well as the Quebec independence movement and movements of regional resistance to the perceived federal agenda. Particular emphasis is placed on the social experiences of the generations born after the war, the “baby boomers,” followed by the “Generation Xers.”
Also included is a study of the emergence first of the Keynesian welfare state and later the neo-conservative challenge to its expansion and indeed to its existence.
Unit 1: The Cold War
Unit 2: The Baby Boomers
Unit 3: Social History of the Post-War Period
Unit 4: The Changing Position of Women
Unit 5: Nationalism and Regionalism
To receive credit for HIST 426, you must complete all of the assignments, achieve a minimum grade of 50 per cent on the final examination, and obtain a course composite grade of at least “D” (50 per cent). The weighting of the course assignments is as follows:
| Assignment 1 | Assignment 2 | Final Exam | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30% | 30% | 40% | 100% |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.
Finkel, Alvin. 1997. Our Lives: Canada After 1945. Toronto: James Lorimer.
Owram, Doug. 1996. Born at the Right Time: A History of the Baby Boom Generation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Parr, Joy, ed. A Diversity of Women: Ontario 1945-1980. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995.
Whittaker, Reg, and Gary Marcuse. 1994. Cold War Canada: The Making of a National Insecurity State, 1945-1957. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
The course materials also include a student manual and a study guide.