America entered the atomic age right here in our own backyard! How much do you know of the top-secret Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, the explosion of the first nuclear device at the White Sands Missile Base in Alamogordo, or the assembly of the first atomic weapons in the nuclear arsenal at Z Division, what is now known as Sandia National Laboratories, right here in Albuquerque? This class will explore nuclear history from its beginnings in WWII through the Cold War and beyond. It will explore the scientific, military, diplomatic, and cultural impact of nuclear weapons in America. This will include the creation of the nuclear weapons complex in the US, the Cold War arms race with Russia, nuclear testing both atmospheric and underground, uranium mining, and disarmament. It will also investigate how these events impacted the environment and the people who lived in the Southwest where these events occurred. Lastly, we will look at the lasting cultural impact of atomic science on art, movies, and other media. This will primarily be a seminar class with weekly readings, discussion, and writing assignments. We will also have several guest speakers and field trips.

Students who wish to take this course for Advanced credit will be required to complete a capstone project over the course of the semester that includes creating a research question, conducting research with a required number of sources, writing an eight- to 10-page research paper, and presenting/defending their paper.