The 60s Counterculture and Rock Music in American History

Description

This begins by showing how the emergence of a post-scarcity society and the distinctive developments of religion and secular spirituality made the sixties counterculture possible.  It then explores how the discovery of LSD and the innovative leadership of Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey inspired a new culture of authenticity centered in Haight-Asbury.  The second half of the course traces the history of rock music back to the musical-spiritual formations of enslaved African-Americans, evolving into the gospel and blues of the late 19th century.  It then explores how rock music in the 60s with the Beatles and Bob Dylan became the bearer of the new consciousness being forged by the hippies, the psychedelic drug experience and the quest for non-conformist lifestyles.  The course concludes with a discussion of the sexual revolution and the larger relevance of the sixties for today.

Presenter:  Richard Schneirov, a Sun City resident,  was professor of history at Indiana State University for 33 years and taught the popular course, “The Sixties:  Counterculture and Protest”,   He came of age in the sixties as part of the counterculture and was an activist in the antiwar movement. 

6 Tuesdays, February 4, 11, 18, 25, and March 4, 11 at 2:00 p.m. in the Activity Center’s Hopi Room.