While the achievements of humans being launched into space, orbiting Earth, and walking on the Moon extended exploration, the Sixties are known as the "cultural decade" in the United States and other Western countries. There was a revolution in social norms, including clothing, music, drugs, dress, formalities, civil rights, precepts of military duty, and schooling. Others denounce the decade as one the decay of social order. A wide range of music emerged; from popular music inspired by and including the Beatles (in the United States known as the British Invasion), the folk music revival, to the poetic lyrics of Bob Dylan. In the United States the Sixties were also called the "cultural decade" while in the United Kingdom (especially London) it was called the Swinging Sixties.

The following sections will be explored over the eight week course: "The Cold War", "The Space Race", "John F. Kennedy & The New Frontier", "Bob Dylan", "The Beatles", "The Vietnam War & Other Proxy Wars", "Civil Rights & Women's Rights", "Assasinations, Coups, Strikes & Revolutions".