This course relies on student participation and class interaction.
ALL CLASSES are 2 to 5 pm on Thursdays AND Fridays, 6 hours a week for 10 weeks. ALL SESSIONS are held at Centro Aldo Moro, room S3.
COURSE STRUCTURE:
This course is structured is part as a LECTURE COURSE, in part as a DISCUSSION SEMINAR. Students are expected to READ texts BEFORE CLASS an INTERACT ON them in class.
FULL COURSE CALENDAR & WEEKLY READING LIST: This is the OFFICIAL, CONFIRMED COURSE CALENDAR and indicates in detail the weekly discuss topics. Do not email me asking confirmation of the course calendar: this is it.
| WEEK | DATE | week’s TOPIC | week’s texts (from course reader) | week’s books & screenings |
| 1 | Feb 1-2 | The West as American Frontier | Henry N. Smith. Eigteenth Century Origins, from Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth (1950); John O’Sullivan, Annexation; F.J. Turner, The Significance of the Frontier in American History; G.D. Nash, The West as Frontier; T. Roosevelt, The Winning of the Frontier; J. Cawelti, God’s Country, Las Vegas, …; L. McMurtry, Inventing the West | |
| 2 | Feb 8-9 | The West as Region | G.D. Nash, The West as Region; S. Aron, Taking the farther West; N. S. Momaday, A First American Views His Land, C. Gersdorf, Mapping the (critical) Territory; J. Didion, Holy Water | week’s novel: H. Sides, Blood and Thunder, ch. 1-18 |
| 3 | Feb 15-16 | Cities of the American West, part 1 | G.D. Nash, The West as Urban Civilization; Abu-Lughod, Los Angeles, 1820-1870; | this week’s novel: H. Sides, Blood and Thunder, ch. 19-28 |
| 4 | Feb 22-23 | Cities of the American West, part 2 | S. B. Warner, Megalopolis; C. Abbott, Multicentered Cities | this week’s novel: H. Sides, Blood and Thunder, ch. 29-35 this week’s screening: Shotgun Freeway: Drives Through Lost L.A. (Morgan Neville, Harry Pallenberg, 1995) |
| 5 | Feb 29-March 1st | REVIEW and EARLY EXAM 1 | Feb. 29 at 2 pm: REVIEW SESSION March 1st at 2.00 pm, aula informatica 3.06 Via S.Ottavio 54: EARLY EXAM n. 1 (esonero – covering materials for weeks 1 through 4 – – only for students who have attended at least 70% of sessions in the 1st part of the semester). | |
| 6 | Mar 7-8 | Borderlands: the West as Transnational Space | (these texts are at the bottom of COURSE READER PART 1) S. Aron, Reconstructing Races and Rights; G. Anzaldua, Borderlands; J. Abu Lughod, the LA Region Transformed; Economist, Dreaming of the Other Side of the Wire; New Yorker, A Voyage Along Trump’s Wall; Washington Post, How sanctuary cities work; Economist, Field of Tears INTRODUCTORY READINGS TO Narratives of Water Conference (week 8): Pilkin, from Sea Level Rise; Davis, from Ecologies of Fear | this week’s novel: N. West, The Day of the Locust, ch. 1-16 this week’s screening: |
| 7 | Mar 14-15 | Hyperreal West | Ross, How Hollywood Became Hollywood; Kazin, “Introduction” to The Day of the Locust; U. Eco, from Travels in Hyperreality; Carlson, More Real than Reality; Davis, Fortress Los Angeles | this week’s novel: N. West, The Day of the Locust, ch. 17-end this week’s screening: |
| 8 | Mar 21-22 | INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE + PERFORMANCE | March 21 and 22, 9am to 6 pm Narratives of Water, an International Conference. Full Program: https://sites.google.com/view/ narratives-of-water March 21st at 6pm: Troubled Waters: performance delle acque (Auditorium Aldo Moro) Related readings (part of the course syllabus) | |
| 9 | April 11-12 | Silicon Valley and the future of the Am. West + STUDENT PROJECTS | Fishman, Beyond Suburbia; Gleaser, The Rise of Silicon Valley; Wolfe, from Valley of the Gods; Zuboff, You Are the Object … | this week’s novel : S. Cisneros, The House on Mango Street this week’s screening: |
| 10 | April 18-19 | REVIEW and EARLY EXAM 2 | April 18 at 2 pm: REVIEW SESSION – ONLINE AT: April 19 at 2.00 pm, Aula Informatica 2, Aldo Moro : EARLY EXAM N. 2 (esonero – covering materials for weeks 6 through 9 – – only for students who have attended at least 70% of sessions in the 2nd part of the semester). | |
| 10 | May 9 | OFFICIAL WRITTEN EXAM | (This test is ONLY for students who still need to take one – or both – written exams). CHECK myunito for DATE AND VENUE: @ 2pm: written exam n. 1 @ 4pm: written exam n. 2 This 4-hour exam is offered in May 2024, September 2024 and January 2025. I do NOT RECOMMEND postponing this to September or – even worse – January. Exam syllabus WILL CHANGE after January 2025. No exceptions! | |