Unsettling the West
AMERICAN STUDIES
333
Spring 2007
W. Register, instructor
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Unsettling the West AMERICAN STUDIES
333 |
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Class Description:
This seminar is designed for advanced students with background and interest in American history and culture. Much of the class will be devoted to analyzing problems in the study and conceptualization of the American West. We will approach the landscape as both imagined and "real" or "historical." Beyond these obvious aspects, the course aims to introduce students to the interdisciplinary concepts, methods, and tools of American Studies.
Book List:
Online sources:
Written Assignments and Grading
1. Critical essays: Two analytical essays, approx. 8 pages each. Topics will be handed out in class. Each essay will count 25% of your grade.
2. One take-home exam, worth 25% of your grade.
3. Attendance and participation. Preparation for and active participation in all discussions will constitute 25% of your final grade.
Movies: All movies are required viewing. You should keep the evenings free on the scheduled dates, which are listed at the end of the syllabus.
Electronic Syllabus: http://www.sewanee.edu/amstudies/amst/amst333.html.
Section I: The Story of the West
WEEK 1: Jan 16: Which way is west?
WEEK 2, Jan. 23
Reading: Limerick, 17-54; 78-96; 134-175
Movie: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962; 118 m.)
WEEK 3, Jan. 30
Movie: Stagecoach (1939; 125
m.)
Reading:
Frederick
Jackson Turner, "The
Significance of the Frontier in American History" (1893)
Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Roger
Malvin’s Burial" (1832)
WEEK 4: Feb. 6
Reading: Owen Wister, The Virginian (1902)
WEEK 5, Feb. 13
Reading: Richard Slotkin, Gunfighter Nation [pages TBA]
WEEK 6, Feb. 20
Movies: High Noon (1952,
84 m.) and Shane (1953; 118m.)
Section II: Savages
WEEK 7, Feb. 27
Reading: James Fenimore
Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans (1826)
Website: "People Start Pollution, People
Can Stop It," Keep America Beautiful Foundation
WEEK 8, March 6
Movie:
The
Searchers (1956, 119m)
Reading:
Limerick, 179-221
Section III: Outside the Law
** March 13 & 20: No class; Spring Break
WEEK 9, March 27
Reading: Deadwood Dick, Prince of the Road, in Brown, Reading the West
Movie: Outlaw Josey Wales (1976; 135m.)
WEEK 10, April 3
Reading: McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses
Movie: Brokeback Mountain (2005, 134m.)
WEEK 11:, April 10
Movies: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969, 110m.); Thelma and Louise (1991, 129m.)
Section IV: The Nature of the West
WEEK 12, April 17
Reading: Will
James, Smoky the Cowhorse (1926)
Movie: The
Horse Whisperer (1998; 170m.)
WEEK 13, April 24
Reading: Ehrlich, The Solace of Open Spaces
WEEK 14, May 1
Reading: Gilbert, The Last American Man
Movie: Grizzly Man (2005, 103m.)
Warning: Media Services will hold these movies beginning several days before their scheduled screening. If you wish to watch the movie before the scheduled time, go to Media Services and ask them to screen it for you. You will not be able to check it out in advance.
Monday, January 22, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Sunday, January 28, Stagecoach
Sunday, February 18, High Noon
Monday, February 19, Shane
Sunday, March 4, The Searchers
Monday, March 26, The Outlaw Josey Wales
Sunday, April 1, Brokeback Mountain
Sunday, April 8, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Monday, April 9, Thelma and Louise
Sunday, April 15, The Horse Whisperer
Sunday, April 29, Grizzly Man