HUMN 4472: Studies in Culture

The course will focus on the American West as represented in film and literature, looking particularly at the West as a regional culture, at times raised to a mythical level. While the West has typically been viewed as the land of cowboys and outlaws, the course will examine the diverse populations that lived and interacted within this region, including Native Americans, Hispanics, and African Americans. The course will look at a number of associated topics through the eyes of literature and film, including the mythology of the Wild West, westward expansion and the introduction of the railroad, the American cowboy, women in the West, Native American displacement, contributions of African Americans and Hispanics to Western history and culture, the Gold Rush, and the emergence of West Coast cultural centers such as San Francisco in the 1890s. The course will end by taking a look at trends today toward demystifying the West, particularly in the film Unforgiven by Clint Eastwood and in the story “Brokeback Mountain” by Annie Proulx.

SUMMER 2007
Dr. Amy Berke
MW 12:30 – 2:50; H/SS122