FILM , POLITICS AND CULTURE OF THE 1970’S

Burton Atkins

DESCRIPTION: Beginning in 1970, and through much of the next decade, many of the cultural and political issues that divided the country in the 1960’s remained the focus of political debate and conflict. The assassinations of JFK, RFK and MLK still cast a long shadow on American politics. The war in Vietnam continued to divide the country. The women’s equality movement (“women’s lib”) gained momentum. The Watergate scandal riveted the nation and ended Nixon’s presidency. The OPEC oil embargo led to economic “stagflation.” The Iranian hostage crisis both doomed the presidency of Jimmy Carter and ushered in the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. Still, by the end of the 1970’s , popular music hinted at how the sounds and images evocative of the 1960’s, such as The Beatles iconic Sgt. Pepper, were being replaced by new and less confrontational cultural symbols, such as John Travolta in a polyester leisure suit dancing to disco rhythms in Saturday Night Fever. In this series, we will use portions of film as our visual texts to examine these and other significant political, social and cultural events that defined the decade of the 1970’s. (The topics, film selection and order of presentation are subject to change)

EIGHT LECTURES:

1. The Mood of the Early 70 ‘s: Five Easy Pieces (1970); One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
   
2. Reaction to 1960 ‘s Liberalism and Fear of Crime: Dirty Harry (1971); Death Wish (1974)
   
3. Worrying About the Future: Andromeda Strain (1971); Soylent Green (1973)
4. Women’s Issues: The Stepford Wives (1975); Norma Rae (1979)
5. President Nixon and Watergate: Nixon (1998); Frost-Nixon (2008)
6. Music and 70’s Culture: Saturday Night Fever (1977); All that Jazz (1979)
7. The Politics of Paranoia: The Parallax View (1974); The Conversation (1974)
8. Woody Allen as 70 ‘s Social Commentator: Annie Hall (1977); Manhattan (1979)

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Dr. Burton Atkins is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Florida State University (FSU) and currently teaches political science at Florida Atlantic University (FAU). He also serves on the faculties at Virginia Tech and Penn State Universities. In his 35-year career at FSU, Dr. Atkins taught a variety of courses on, and wrote extensively about, constitutional law and U.S. politics; served as chair of the Political Science department; lived in London from 1992 to 1997 while serving as the Director of FSU’s London Study Center; and from 1997 until his retirement in 2006, served as Director of the FSU International Affairs Program. An avid supporter of international education, Dr. Atkins has organized and led study semesters abroad to London, Brussels and Paris for FSU and FAU.