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masthead  Fall 2009  AMS 370 • US Culture and the Great
Depression-W  Unique Days Time Location Instructor 29977 TTh
2:00 PM-3:30 PM BUR 436A  Course Description  In a 1930 radio
broadcast with President Herbert Hoover, Will Rogers said of the
American people: "We'll hold the distinction of being the only
nation in the history of the world that ever went to the poor
house in an automobile." Indeed, the United States economic
collapse in 1929 made obvious an American paradox: We can
generate luxurious technologies and material comforts, but we
seem unable to feed and clothe all the citizens of the United
States. This course examines cultural reactions to this paradox,
which became undeniably obvious in the 1930s. American citizens
during this decade experienced, witnessed, and documented the
largest economic downturn of the twentieth century. To best
understand these peoples lives we will examine the ways
filmmakers, documentarians, radio perso