U.S. History & Culture – Key Vocabulary

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering major artists, authors, musicians, thinkers, laws, and historical concepts highlighted in the lecture notes.

Jackson Pollock

Abstract Expressionist painter famed for his drip technique and raw emotional canvases.

Abstract Expressionism

Post-WWII art movement emphasizing spontaneous, gestural brushwork and emotional intensity.

Andy Warhol

Pop artist who used mass-produced imagery to comment on consumerism and celebrity culture.

Pop Art

1960s art movement drawing on advertising and comics to blur high and low culture.

Georgia O’Keeffe

American Modernist noted for large-scale flower close-ups and Southwestern landscapes.

American Modernism

Early 20th-century movement breaking from European traditions to create a distinct U.S. style.

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Neo-Expressionist who fused graffiti aesthetics with social commentary on race and power.

Neo-Expressionism

Late-20th-century style reviving bold color and figurative painting to convey angst.

Edward Hopper

Realist painter of urban isolation, best known for “Nighthawks.”

Norman Rockwell

Illustrative realist who depicted Americana and later covered civil-rights issues.

Mark Rothko

Color-field painter whose luminous rectangles sought spiritual transcendence.

Color-Field Painting

Abstract style featuring large expanses of color to evoke contemplation.

Keith Haring

Street artist who used bold cartoon lines to raise AIDS awareness and promote activism.

Winslow Homer

19th-century realist celebrated for dynamic marine and wartime scenes.

Roy Lichtenstein

Pop artist who enlarged comic-book panels using Ben-Day dots.

Ben-Day Dots

Mechanical printing technique of colored dots popularized in Lichtenstein’s Pop Art.

Mark Twain

Satirical author whose use of dialect explored race and American life; often called America’s greatest writer.

Ernest Hemingway

Minimalist novelist of war themes, creator of the “Iceberg Theory,” Nobel laureate.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Chronicler of the Jazz Age; examined the American Dream in “The Great Gatsby.”

Toni Morrison

Nobel-winning novelist exploring slavery’s legacy and Black identity in America.

Edgar Allan Poe

Gothic writer and pioneer of modern detective fiction.

Emily Dickinson

Innovative poet known for slant rhyme and meditations on mortality.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Transcendentalist essayist who championed individualism and self-reliance.

Transcendentalism

19th-century philosophy stressing intuition, nature, and the inherent goodness of people.

Harper Lee

Author of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” highlighting racial injustice through a child’s lens.

John Steinbeck

Social realist novelist of the Great Depression, e.g., “The Grapes of Wrath.”

Maya Angelou

Memoirist and poet whose works express resilience and civil-rights activism.

George Gershwin

Composer who blended classical forms with jazz in works like “Rhapsody in Blue.”

Aaron Copland

Composer who evoked American folk spirit in ballets such as “Appalachian Spring.”

Leonard Bernstein

Conductor-composer who fused classical, jazz, and Broadway in “West Side Story.”

John Williams

Film composer renowned for iconic scores such as “Star Wars” and “Jaws.”

Philip Glass

Minimalist composer noted for repetitive structures and operas like “Einstein on the Beach.”

Samuel Barber

Composer of lyrical modern works, including “Adagio for Strings.”

Charles Ives

Experimental composer who layered American folk tunes and dissonance.

John Adams (composer)

Post-minimalist who wrote “Nixon in China” and “Short Ride in a Fast Machine.”

Duke Ellington

Jazz bandleader who expanded the genre with sophisticated orchestration.

Stephen Sondheim

Lyricist-composer who revolutionized musical theater with complex storytelling.

Louis Armstrong

Trumpeter whose improvisations made him a founding father of jazz.

Elvis Presley

“King of Rock ’n’ Roll,” merging blues, country, and pop.

Bob Dylan

Singer-songwriter who infused folk music with poetic protest lyrics.

Aretha Franklin

“Queen of Soul,” symbol of gospel-rooted, feminist empowerment.

Michael Jackson

Pop icon whose album “Thriller” became the best-seller worldwide.

Madonna

Pop chameleon known for reinventing image and pushing cultural boundaries.

Prince

Multi-instrumentalist blending funk, rock, and R&B with bold stagecraft.

Beyoncé

Singer-entrepreneur whose music and activism spotlight Black feminism.

Bruce Springsteen

Rock storyteller of working-class Americana, nicknamed “The Boss.”

Taylor Swift

Singer-songwriter famed for narrative lyrics and industry-shaping business moves.

John Dewey

Pragmatist philosopher who promoted experiential education and democracy.

William James

Founder of American pragmatism; advanced psychology and philosophy of truth as usefulness.

Henry David Thoreau

Transcendentalist advocating civil disobedience and simple living at Walden Pond.

Charles S. Peirce

Logician who originated pragmatism and semiotics.

Cornel West

Contemporary philosopher addressing race, democracy, and justice.

Judith Butler

Theorist of gender performativity challenging binary identities.

Richard Rorty

Neo-pragmatist who viewed truth as contingent on conversation and community.

Thomas Nagel

Philosopher exploring consciousness and “What is it like to be a bat?”

Stanley Cavell

Philosopher linking ordinary-language analysis with film and literature.

Tennessee Williams

Playwright of Southern Gothic dramas like “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

Arthur Miller

Playwright critiquing the American Dream in “Death of a Salesman.”

August Wilson

Playwright chronicling African-American life in the Pittsburgh Cycle.

Lorraine Hansberry

First Black woman on Broadway with “A Raisin in the Sun.”

Eugene O’Neill

Father of American drama, wrote “Long Day’s Journey into Night.”

Neil Simon

Prolific comedic playwright of works such as “The Odd Couple.”

Edward Albee

Absurdist playwright of marital dissection “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

Sam Shepard

Playwright blending Western myth and family conflict in “Buried Child.”

Suzan-Lori Parks

Pulitzer-winning playwright of “Topdog/Underdog,” exploring race and history.

David Mamet

Playwright using rapid-fire dialogue and moral ambiguity in “Glengarry Glen Ross.”

Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Sculptor of Civil War monuments like the Shaw Memorial.

Daniel Chester French

Sculptor of the seated Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial.

Frederic Remington

Sculptor and painter famed for dynamic works of the American West.

Hiram Powers

19th-century neoclassical sculptor of “The Greek Slave.”

Louise Nevelson

Modern sculptor who assembled monochrome wooden wall reliefs.

Alexander Calder

Inventor of the mobile, creating kinetic abstract sculpture.

Isamu Noguchi

Sculptor blending Japanese aesthetics with modernist abstraction in gardens and furniture.

Richard Serra

Minimalist sculptor known for monumental curved steel installations.

Duane Hanson

Hyper-realist sculptor of life-size human figures.

Deborah Butterfield

Sculptor recognized for horse forms crafted from found materials.

Phonograph

Edison’s 1877 device that launched recorded sound entertainment.

Radio

Early 20th-century medium that unified national culture through live broadcasts.

Film

Visual medium that created the modern celebrity and mass narratives.

Television

Post-WWII household technology that reshaped politics and advertising.

Internet Streaming

Digital distribution model that democratized content creation and viewing.

Black Monday (1987)

Historic single-day Dow Jones fall of 22.6%, prompting circuit breakers.

Dot-Com Bust

2000-02 NASDAQ collapse (~80%) following tech-stock overvaluation.

TARP

2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program designed to stabilize banks during the Great Recession.

Quantitative Easing (QE)

Federal Reserve policy of large-scale asset purchases to inject liquidity.

Clean Air Act (1970)

Landmark law regulating air pollutants via EPA enforcement.

Superfund (CERCLA 1980)

Program funding cleanup of toxic waste sites.

Paris Agreement (2015)

Global pact to limit climate change, rejoined by U.S. in 2021.

Louisiana Purchase (1803)

Jefferson’s acquisition doubling U.S. territory west of the Mississippi.

Mexican Cession (1848)

Lands ceded after the Mexican-American War, including California and Southwest.

Sunbelt Migration

Post-1960 demographic shift toward the South and West for jobs and climate.

Separation of Powers

Constitutional division into legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

Judicial Review

Power of courts to declare laws unconstitutional, established in Marbury v. Madison (1803).

Implied Powers

Federal authorities inferred from the elastic clause, e.g., creating a National Bank.

Northwest Ordinance (1787)

Plan for statehood that banned slavery north of the Ohio River.

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

First federal law to outlaw monopolistic business practices.

Social Security Act (1935)

New Deal law establishing pensions and unemployment insurance.

Civil Rights Act (1964)

Law banning segregation and job discrimination based on race, sex, religion, or origin.

Voting Rights Act (1965)

Legislation protecting minority voting by abolishing literacy tests and federal oversight.

War Powers Act (1973)

Requires presidential notification and 60-day limit on troop deployment without Congress.