Headlines
The discussion sections will meet for the first time on Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 8-9.
If you are interested in this course and have not yet been able to register, come to the first lecture and speak with Prof. D.
The first paper assignment will be handed out in lecture on Thursday, September 24, and will be due in lecture on Thursday, Oct. 1.
Welcome
For a brief overview of History 247 this semester, read on. For detailed information, click on the links on the left. Periodically, I will post bits of news in the right-hand column.
Lectures meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4:00-5:15 p.m., in 1641 Humanities. Prof. D.'s office hours are on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:30-6:30 p.m., in 5109 Humanities -- stop by for a chat!
Source: Earliest known photo of Wall Street, Museum of American Financial History.
Why study business history?
What could be a more exciting time to study American business* history than the present? Everything -- from financial markets, global trade flows, and work relations to international competitiveness, consumer behavior, and government regulation -- seems to be in turmoil and (perhaps) in the throes of change. History cannot be used to predict the future (alas), but understanding the historical processes by which we arrived at our current condition will aid in evaluating the changes going on around us today.
* This course is in the process of being retitled. In future semesters, it will be called "History of American Capitalism."
Themes
This survey is structured around three broad and persistent themes in American business history:
- the development of a distinctive American version of capitalism (with some comparison with other variants of capitalism);
- the critical, though changing, role that government has played in shaping American business history
- American business as a social world, composed of social relations and the social rules that determine who participates in American business and under what terms.
As we explore these themes in American business history, the lectures, assigned readings, and writing assignments will encourage you to develop your analytical and historical-thinking skills. If you do well in the course, you may describe yourself as "adept at analyzing complex, dynamic events on the basis of incomplete information" (since historical information is never complete).