Course Calendar

Week 1

Week 1: T 9/26. Syllabus and assignments. Lecture: What is the West? Viewing and discussion of American Cinema, part 4: The Western (1995).

Note: I recommend that you begin reading Alexie early in the term. We will have a full discussion of Reservation Blues during week 8.

Week 2: T 10/3. Themes and issues. Reading: Campbell, Introduction, 1-30, Decker, Introduction, 1-10, Durning, 2-23, and HCN, Foreword (Egan) and Preface (Larmer), vi-xi. Viewing and discussion of Stagecoach (1939).

Week 3: T 10/10. The New reconsiders the Old. Reading: Reading: Decker, Chapters 1-2, 11-56, and HCN, Part 2 (Oko), (Clayton), (Hasselstrom), (Reedy), and (Miller), 45-53 and 63-64. Viewing and discussion of Deadwood. Response essay #1 posted to class webpage.

Week 4: T 10/17.Physical landscapes of the West. Reading: Campbell, Chapter 1, 31-62, and HCN, Part 5 (Lyons),(Robinson),(Reed), (Peterson), (Walters) 155-157, 175-180, 186-187, and 192-193. Viewing and discussion of Chinatown (1974). Response essay #1 due.

Week 5: T 10/24. Economic and cultural change (I). Decker, Chapters 3-4, 57-105, Durning, 39-66, and HCN, Part 3 (Marston), (Wolper), (Zakin) and (Mecklenberg), 71-73, 78-80 and 96-100. Viewing and discussion of The West, episode 5: The Grandest Enterprise Under God (1996).

Week 6: T 10/31. Economic and cultural change (II). Reading: Decker, Chapters 5-6, 107-156, Durning, 67-84, and HCN, Part 6 (Olsen), (Linze), and (Clifford), 212-215 and 218-219. Viewing and discussion of The Milagro Beanfield War (1988).

Week 7: T 11/7. Economic and cultural change (III). Reading: Decker, Chapters 7-8, 157-193, Durning, 24-38 and 85-91, and HCN, Part 1 (Wright), (Ewing), (Reed), (Larmer), 3-6, 20-21, and 24-26, Part 4 (Matthews), 135-137, and Part 6 (Quillen) and (Chisholm), 210-211 and 229-230. Cadillac Desert, part 2: An American Nile (1997). Response essay #2 posted to class webpage.

Week 8: T 11/14. Western Histories/Western Peoples. Reading: Campbell, Chapter 3, 99-129, and HCN, Part 1 (Gowdey), 22-23, and Part 2 (Lyons) and (Goodtimes), 40-44, and Part 4 (Lyons) and (Manning), 109-111 and 118-120. Discussion of Alexie. Response essay #2 due.

Week 9: T 11/21. Visualizing the changing West. Reading: Campbell, Chapter 2, 63-98. Viewing and discussion of Lonestar (1996). Guidelines for rewrites of essays 1 and 2 posted to class webpage.

Week 10: T 11/28. Western urbanism(?) and conclusions. Campbell, Chapter 4 and Epilogue, 130-163 and 164-167, and HCN, Part 6 (Krza), 216-217. Viewing and discussion of Blade Runner (1982/1992). Response essay #3 posted to class webpage.

Finals week: Response essay #3 due by 5:00 on T 12/5. You may it turn it to my office (HSS 217) or the Social Science Division office (HSS 231A). E-mail submissions accepted with advance notice.