Since synchronous section attendance is no longer mandatory, each week I will post a few potential discussion questions that you must respond to in lieu of attendance. To receive full participation points, you must do the following:

First:

You will select one question that you want to engage with and provide a response. Your response should be no less than 200 words. Please include parenthetical citations in your responses to show what ideas are coming from the lecture versus an assigned source. Your response must be posted by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. No late submissions will be accepted.

Note: You will not be able to see your classmates’ posts until after you have posted. Thus, you will need to do the first part to move onto get any credit.

Second:

You must choose two different colleagues who have written on two questions that you did not answer. You will need to substantively respond to two classmates (meaning actual engagement with the topic addressed). Simply complimenting or thanking a colleague for their comments will not be considered a responses moving forward and you will not receive credit for this reply. You do not have to agree with your classmates. Civil and respectful debate is encouraged. Reply posts should be approximately 50 words for each. Your peer replies must be posted by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. No late submissions will be accepted. If for some reason you have technical difficulties, please email me immediately to alert me to your issues and avoid losing credit it possible.

In total, there are three parts. Each of the questions for our discussion boards are geared toward helping you prep for your course exams. It can be helpful to use our discussion board questions as a study guide for the midterm.

Week 3 Readings – Discussion Prompts (Please Respond to 1 Question):

1. Using the “American Yawp” as your main source for this response, please answer all of the following parts on the connections between the New Deal and Progressive era Activism: 1) On the federal level, what methods of organizing and strategies did the Townsend Movement pursue to successfully influence the passage of the 1935 Social Security Act and address economic inequality? 2) How did this differ at the state-level to address similar challenges of passing Old-Age Assistance programs? 3) What were the connections between social movements in the early 20th century and the policies FDR embraced in the New Deal to address the economic needs of Americans? Cite two examples from any of the assigned readings to support your analysis.
2. Japanese Americans of all ages, naturalized or US born were subject to internment under Executive Order 9066, but did not necessarily all share the same experiences. How did the Issei and Nisei experience internment and the Second World War in the United States? (Be specific) How did answers the respondents gave to question 28 of the Loyalty Questionnaire reveal what John Okada refers to as “the dilemma of loyalty” between the two generations, and the development of a social movement in the form of the No-No Boys? (Okada, 307) Cite two examples from the assigned readings to support your analysis.
3. We have discussed Black American activism over the last two weeks. However, focusing on the post-war period following WWII specifically, how did Black Americans frame the struggle against fascism in Europe with the struggle for civil rights in the United States? How did the international stage of Communism vs. Democracy in the Cold War inform domestic policy and activism against Jim Crow? Discuss both Dayo Gore’s Radicalism at the Crossroads and Paul Robeson’s testimony to HUAC. Cite two examples from the assigned materials to support your analysis.