AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

1.       To introduce the student to the history and operations of the Federal Bureau of Investigation through an examination of its own files and other relevant primary documentation, including interview tapes;

2.       To familiarize students with the comprehension and analysis of primary materials, both through hard copy and access to computer based files;

3.       To encourage a critical reading of materials disseminated often as disinformation and to weigh these against other interpretations of events;

4.       To facilitate small group work and independent study of selected groups of documents and taped interviews;

5.       To encourage students to evaluate uses and abuses of information in the context of developing power relations between agencies of the US government and between these agencies and the people.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Students, by the end of the course, should possess a good working knowledge of the activities and operations of the FBI.

1.       They should be familiar with the methods of gathering information used by the agency, the internal workings of the Bureau and its influence in American society and government.

2.       They will have increased their skills in gathering and decoding information, in critically reading a source of information for accuracy and intent, and in evaluating the use of information in its historical and social context.

3.       They will become particularly aware of the need to place an official source against other versions of events, in particular the defense of individuals against accusations of subversion and immoral acts.

4.       They will also need to be able to judge the needs of security against individual freedoms in society, issues of civil liberties in the modern state.

5.       In the process they will enhance their powers of critical thought, analysis and oral presentation, as well as written skills in the preparation of coursework and document analysis.

CONTENT:

The course materials will focus on the development of the agency and its role in targeting and gathering information on groups and individuals in the United States. A major part of the course will concern the anti-Communist and anti-radical programs of the Bureau and the evolution of its general investigative duties. Topics will include:

1.       The campaign against radical unions (IWW) and pacifists during WWI.

2.       Investigations of government officials, senators, congressmen, judges and presidents through the period.

3.       Files held on major literary and cultural figures.

4.       The FBI and the Civil Rights Movement, especially Martin Luther King and the Black Panthers.

5.       The COINTELPRO program against domestic subversives in the 1960s.

6.       The role of J Edgar Hoover in the establishment and agenda of the agency.

7.       Relations between the FBI and Joe McCarthy, House Un-American Activities Committee.

8.       The FBI and the Kennedy assassination.

TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODS:
 
The two hour seminar will be based on detailed study of documentation in its historical context. There will be both visual and audio materials available for group and individual study.

Seminars - 24 Hours

Independent learning for seminars - 48 Hours

Independent learning related to assessment - 78 Hours

ASSESSMENT:

A. Coursework (2000 words) 50%

B. Unseen Document Examination (1 hour) 50%