| 7/16/2026 6:41:51 PM |
| New Course (First Version) |
| CATALOG INFORMATION
|
| Discipline and Nbr:
HUM 51 | Title:
MONEY |
|
| Full Title:
Money, Wealth, and Success in America |
| Last Reviewed:5/13/2024 |
| Units | Course Hours per Week | | Nbr of Weeks | Course Hours Total |
| Maximum | 3.00 | Lecture Scheduled | 3.00 | 17.5 max. | Lecture Scheduled | 52.50 |
| Minimum | 3.00 | Lab Scheduled | 0 | 6 min. | Lab Scheduled | 0 |
| | Contact DHR | 0 | | Contact DHR | 0 |
| | Contact Total | 3.00 | | Contact Total | 52.50 |
| |
| | Non-contact DHR | 0 | | Non-contact DHR Total | 0 |
| | Total Out of Class Hours: 105.00 | Total Student Learning Hours: 157.50 | |
Title 5 Category:
AA Degree Applicable
Grading:
Grade or P/NP
Repeatability:
00 - Two Repeats if Grade was D, F, NC, or NP
Also Listed As:
Formerly:
Catalog Description:
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From 'tech bros' to shipping magnates and real estate speculators, what identities and values have been valorized through an economic and cultural system based on infinite wealth? This course is a multidisciplinary exploration of money, wealth, and success in America through the 21st century. Students examine cultural periods, such as the Gilded Age and post-World War II America, that solidified resilient cultural norms about money, new definitions of wealth, standards for success, appropriate forms of charity, and mechanisms of income redistribution. Students will question financial institutions from stock exchanges to insurance to credit and how they shape the economic fortunes of individuals, communities, corporations, and nations. In this course the student will learn the role of money, wealth, and success in social mobility, environmental stewardship, peace, and equality.
Prerequisites/Corequisites:
Recommended Preparation:
Eligibillity for ENGL C1000 or equivalent or appropriate placement based on AB705 mandates
Limits on Enrollment:
Schedule of Classes Information
Description:
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From 'tech bros' to shipping magnates and real estate speculators, what identities and values have been valorized through an economic and cultural system based on infinite wealth? This course is a multidisciplinary exploration of money, wealth, and success in America through the 21st century. Students examine cultural periods, such as the Gilded Age and post-World War II America, that solidified resilient cultural norms about money, new definitions of wealth, standards for success, appropriate forms of charity, and mechanisms of income redistribution. Students will question financial institutions from stock exchanges to insurance to credit and how they shape the economic fortunes of individuals, communities, corporations, and nations. In this course the student will learn the role of money, wealth, and success in social mobility, environmental stewardship, peace, and equality.
(Grade or P/NP)
Prerequisites:
Recommended:Eligibillity for ENGL C1000 or equivalent or appropriate placement based on AB705 mandates
Limits on Enrollment:
Transfer Credit:CSU;
Repeatability:00 - Two Repeats if Grade was D, F, NC, or NP
ARTICULATION, MAJOR, and CERTIFICATION INFORMATION
| Associate Degree: | Effective: | Fall 2025
| Inactive: | |
| Area: | L3
| Arts and Humanities
|
| |
| CSU GE: | Transfer Area | | Effective: | Inactive: |
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| IGETC: | Transfer Area | | Effective: | Inactive: |
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| CSU Transfer: | Transferable | Effective: | Fall 2025 | Inactive: | |
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| UC Transfer: | | Effective: | | Inactive: | |
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| C-ID: |
Certificate/Major Applicable:
Major Applicable Course
COURSE CONTENT
Student Learning Outcomes:
At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:
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1. Describe the role of money, wealth, and success in different cultural periods.
2. Explain the changing standards of money, wealth, and success for different historical regimes and different audiences.
3. Analyze the relationship between money, wealth, and success with social mobility, environmental stewardship, and equality.
Objectives:
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At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:
1. Provide different definitions of money, wealth, and success according to different cultural periods and different audiences.
2. Identify key actors, relationships, and avenues that promote particular forms of money, wealth, and success.
3. Evaluate the "cost" of money, wealth, and success in relation to environmental health and social equality.
Topics and Scope
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I. The Age of Wealth
A. Colonial encounters
1. European settlement of the Americas
2. Indigenous displacement
3. Changing ideas about property
4. Ownership
5. Chattel
6. Enslavement
B. Post-World War II and the "American Century"
II. Wall Street
A. The rise of banks
B. The insurance industry and slavery
C. Finance and its central role in pharmaceuticals, technology, defense
III. Main Street
A. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism or the idea of work as a "calling"
B. Work as the new religion in American culture
C. The valorization of entrepreneurship and the demise of public service
D. "Mom-and-Pop" stores in practice, as a cultural ideal, and as a relic
E. Expanding sites of labor: from agricultural fields to Work-From-Home
F. Making "credit" more accessible
G. Debt
IV. Silicon Valley
A. The Americanization and Californization of technology and design
B. Globalization, manufacturing, and overseas labor
C. The rise of a new technological elite
V. Captains of Industry
A. "Tech-bros"
B. Venture capitalists
C. Pharmaceutical and medical entrepreneurs
D. Railroad barons
E. Media empires
F. Gender and industry
G. The affect and attitude of American enterprise (i.e: Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends & Influence People")
VI. Spreading the Wealth
A. The role of equality
B. Methods of income redistribution
C. Taxation
D. Charity
E. Environmental stewardship
F. Succession, legacies, and the role of colleges
Assignments:
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1. Read 50-75 pages of primary and secondary materials each week (or watch or listen to course materials as applicable).
2. Group activities such as class discussions or group projects.
3. Writing assignments (5 - 7) such as essays and response papers of at least 500-750 words each.
4. Various forms of evaluation such as exam(s) (1 or 2), tests (at least 2), and/or quizzes.
5. Discussion board activities (at least 8).
6. Group activities
Methods of Evaluation/Basis of Grade.
| Writing: Assessment tools that demonstrate writing skill and/or require students to select, organize and explain ideas in writing. | Writing
30 - 50% |
| Writing Assignments | |
| Problem solving: Assessment tools, other than exams, that demonstrate competence in computational or non-computational problem solving skills. | Problem Solving
0 - 0% |
| None | |
| Skill Demonstrations: All skill-based and physical demonstrations used for assessment purposes including skill performance exams. | Skill Demonstrations
0 - 0% |
| None | |
| Exams: All forms of formal testing, other than skill performance exams. | Exams
30 - 50% |
| Exam(s), tests, and/or quizzes | |
| Other: Includes any assessment tools that do not logically fit into the above categories. | Other Category
10 - 20% |
| Group activities/discussion board | |
Representative Textbooks and Materials:
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American Bonds: How Credit Markets Shaped a Nation. Quinn, Sarah L. Princeton University Press. 2019. (classic).
American Plastic: Boob Jobs, Credit Cards, and Our Quest for Perfection. Essig, Laurie. Beacon Press. 2010. (classic).
American Business Since 1920: How It Worked. McCraw, Thomas K. and William R. Childs. Wiley-Blackwell. 2018. (classic).
An Empire of Wealth. Gordon, John Steele. Harper Perennial. 2005. (classic).
Boom and Bust: A Global History of Financial Bubbles. Quinn, William and John D. Turner. Cambridge University Press. 2020. (classic).
Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys' Club of Silicon Valley. Chang, Emily. Penguin. 2018. (classic).
Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future. Wainwright, Joel and Geoff Mann. Verso. 2020. (classic).
Democracy Declined: The Failed Politics of Consumer Financial Protection. SoRelle, Mallory E. University of Chicago Press. 2020. (classic).
Entrepreneurship and Self-Help Among Black Americans: A Reconsideration of Race and Economics. Butler, John Sibley. State University of New York Press. 2002. (classic).
Freaks of Fortune: The Emerging World of Capitalism and Risk in America. Levy, Jonathan. Harvard University Press. 2014. (classic).
Geneology of American Finance. Wright, Roberts. Columbia Business School Publishing. 2015. (classic).
Globalization and the Environment: Capitalism, Ecology, and Power. Newell, Peter. Polity. 2013. (classic).
Government and the American Economy: A New History. Fishback, Price V. and Douglas C. North. University of Chicago Press. 2008. (classic).
How to Win Friends and Influence People. Carnegie, Dale. Pocket Books. 1998. (classic).
Made in China, Designed in California, Criticized in Europe: Design Manifesto, Gerritzen, Mieke. BIS Publishers. 2021.
Manufacturing Revolution: The Intellectual Origins of the Early American Industry. Peskin, Lawrence A. Johns Hopkins University Press. 2007. (classic).
The Alternative: How to Build a Just Economy. Romeo, Nick. PublicAffairs. 2024.
The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America. O'Mara, Margaret. Penguin Books. 2019. (classic).
The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap. Baradaran, Mehrsa. Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press. 2019. (classic).
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Weber, Max. Penguin Classics. 2002. (classic).
Unpayable Debt. Ferreira da Silva, Denise. Sternberg Press. 2022.
Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. Giridharadas, Anand. Vintage Press. 2019. (classic).
Instructor prepared materials
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