"Modern Times" explores the turbulent years of boom and bust between the end of World War I and the beginning of World War II. The work includes consideration of the growth of modern urban mass culture, the impact of the Russian Revolution upon US politics, life during the Great Depression, the significance of the New Deal and American perspectives on the rise of Fascism in Europe. The political and social ideas of the era are a key focus of the work and students will investigate the reactionary politics of the Ku Klux Klan, the radical "Popular Front" of the Communist Party, the populist challenge of "Kingfish" Huey P. Long and, of course, the Democratic Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.