- This course is based on the premise that American society and culture are defined as much by what is excluded and situated on its margins as it is by its center. This is a longstanding American Studies principle; from its origins, American Studies has concerned itself with documenting the ways that works that were often marginalized in their own era were indeed central to the definition of "What makes American culture 'American.'"
- In this course, we will focus on ways of "reading" American society and culture by harnessing the interdisciplinary methodologies used in the field of American Studies. We will be examining American cultural texts of many kinds: folk songs, poems, plays, paintings, sculptures, photographs, foods, short stories, folklore, and film, among others. By unearthing the cultural and social contexts in which these texts were created and received as well as performing a variety of "close-readings" of the texts themselves, we will trace the major artistic and intellectual developments in America from the eighteenth century to the present, and their relationship to changing social and political realities.
- The following materials are available online. The files which are named "America Through..." are printable versions of the in-class lectures and discussions. The files which are named "Reading..." are the assigned readings and texts for the class session. If a file size is given, that means that you may download the media file. If you are prompted for a password, enter the professor's last name all in lowercase. Please choose the one you wish to view:
Course Syllabus, Spring 2009
- Cultural Event Assignment Sheet
- Study Guide for First Midterm
- Guidelines for Final Paper Assignment, including the guidelines for the Outline portion of the assignment.
- Study Guide for Second Midterm (see the handout below, too!)
- Handout to assist with Final Exam Preparation: Illustrations of Film Terms with Stills from Citizen Kane
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- Reading 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
- Mark Jarman, "Solving for X: The Poetry and Prose of Wallace Stevens (Review of Wallace Stevens: Collected Poetry and Prose, ed. by Frank Kermode and Joan Richardson. The Library of America)," The Hudson Review, Vol. 51, No. 1 (Spring 1998): 250-256.
- Deatt Hudson, "Wallace Stevens," Twentieth Century Literature, Vol. 1, No. 3 (October 1955): 135-138.
- Nancy Bogen, "Stevens's Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," The Explicator, Vol. 62, Issue 4 (Summer 2004): 217-221.
- Peter L. McNamara, "The Multi-Faceted Blackbird and Wallace Stevens' Poetic Vision," College English, Vol. 25, No. 6 (March 1964): 446-448..
- Robert C. Jones, "If Mr. Wallace Stevens instead of Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett Browning Had Written Sonnet #43 from the Portuguese," The English Journal, Vol. 80, No. 6 (October 1991): 103.
- John Engman, "One Way of Looking at Wallace Stevens," The Antioch Review, Vol. 36, No. 4 (Autumn 1978): 465.
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- America Through Artworks (Painting and Sculpture)
- John Singleton Copley, Watson and the Shark (1777)
- Edward Hicks, The Peaceable Kingdom (1830s-1840s)
- Lilly Martin Spencer, Peeling Onions (ca. 1852)
- Daniel Chester French, The Four Continents (1907)
- George Bellows, Both Members of This Club (1909)
- Edward Hopper, Nighthawks (1942)
- Jackson Pollock, Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist) (1950)
- Reading Artworks
- John Fagg, "Anecdote and the Painting of George Bellows," Journal of American Studies, Volume 38, Issue 03 (December 2004): 473-488.
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- America Through Folk Songs (Tom Dooley)
- Grayson and Whitter, "Tom Dooley," Victor, 1929 (2.9MB)
- Frank Proffitt, "Tom Dooley," field recording by Frank Warner, 1940 (1.1MB)
- The New Lost City Ramblers, "Tom Dooley," 1954 (3MB)
- The Kingston Trio, "Tom Dooley," Capitol, 1958 (4.2MB)
- Frank Proffitt, "Tom Dooley," field recording by Frank Warner, 1959 (2.4MB)
- Curtis Hoback & The All-Stars, "Tom Dooley," radio broadcast, Dixieland Jamboree, Corinth, Mississippi, 1959 (2.4MB)
- Doc Watson, "Tom Dooley," Vanguard Records, 1964 (4.5MB)
- The Sundowners, "Tom Dooley," Bloodshot Records, 1967 (2.8MB)
- Steve Earle, "Tom Dooley," Bloodshot Records, 2002 (6.6MB)
- Frantic Flintstones, "Tom Dooley," Anagram Psychobilly, 2003 (4.8MB)
- Reading Folk Songs
- Martin Pedersen, “Factlore, Fakelore, or Folklore: Sorting Through Folk Song Origins,” Social Studies, Volume 88, Number 4 (1997): 181-85.
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- America Through Outsider Art
- Reading Outsider Art
- N.F. Karlins, “Review – A.G. Rizzoli: Architect of Magnificent Visions,” Art Journal, Winter 1997.
- Kristin E. Espinosa, and Victor M. Espinosa, "Outsider Art and Biography: The Social Construction of a Mystery," Conference Papers -- American Sociological Association, 2004 Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
- Writing Assignment: Answer the following question in a paragraph/page for A.G. Rizzoli, Henry Darger, and Martin Ramirez: "What was it about this artist that resulted in his or her marginalization? What barriers in society (or in the artist’s particular experiences) created this marginalization?" Due in class, 25 February 2009.
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- America Through Poetry
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- Reading Poetry
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- Heinz Ickstadt, "Emily Dickinson's Place in Literary History; or, the Public Function of a Private Poet,"
The Emily Dickinson Journal, Vol. X, No. 1 (2001): 55-69.
- Paul H. Outka, "Whitman and Race ('He's Queer, He's Unclear, Get Used to It')," Journal of American Studies, 36/2 (2002): 293-318.
- Writing Assignment: Answer the following two questions in a paragraph/page each:
- 1) According to Heinz Ickstadt, what was the effect that Dickinson had on Hart Crane?
- 2) According to Paul H. Outka, how does "queering" a reading of Whitman's attitudes on race explain the differences between his editorials and his poems?
- Due in class, 4 March 2009.
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- America Through Vernacular Poetry
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- Reading Poetry
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- Study Guide for First Midterm
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- Reading Film
- Handout: Illustrations of Film Terms with Stills from Citizen Kane
- "Remembering Stan Brakhage: An E-mail Conversation between Steve Anker and Willie Varela," Journal of Film and Video 57.1-2 (Spring/Summer 2OO5): 9-22.
- Gary Simmons, "Smoke & Mirrors in Citizen Kane," Screen Education Issue 31 (2008): 138-144.
- Sarah Street, "Film in Context: Citizen Kane," History Today (March 1996): 48-52.
- Aaron Taylor, "Twilight of the Idols: Performance, Melodramatic Villainy, and Sunset Boulevard," Journal of Film and Video 59.2 (Summer 2007): 13-31.
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- Reading Popular Music
- Extra Credit Event: The Portuguese Influence in American Popular Music
Singer/songwriter Jean Rohe, artist in residency at CSI, and her five-piece ensemble will present a
performance/workshop entitled "The Portuguese Influence in American Popular Music." A reception will
follow this free event, which is open to the public. This is a PG CLUE event.
April 23, 2009, 2:30 PM – 3:45 PM, Springer Concert hall, Center for the Arts, CSI/CUNY
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- Reading American Foodways (Pho)
- YUMMY CLASS MEETING for 29 April 2009: Meet at 6:30 pm at Pho Mac, 1407 Richmond Ave (beside the Staten Island Hotel), 718-982-9292.
Yes, Pho Mac has bravely agreed to host us in the upstairs portion of their restaurant. Remember that a) they know that we are from CSI and b) they have both my home AND cell phone numbers -- so please behave accordingly (which means BE EVEN MORE POLITE THAN NORMAL)!
VARIOUS IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
- 1) It will cost about $10/person for a bowl of pho and an order of spring (crunchy and hot) or summer (chewy and cold) rolls. IF YOU WANT SPRING OR SUMMER ROLLS, we need to warn them about how many we will order -- so email me ASAP to let me know if you want them.
2) There is very limited parking in front of the restaurant. I recommend that you park in the corner of the King Kullen lot just off Richmond, and walk down Richmond past the Hotel to get to the restaurant. You can also park on the frontage road that curves around towards the campus. (Google map for Pho Mac)
3) If anyone is going to have trouble getting from campus to the restaurant, just let me know via email; I can drive people from the campus to the restaurant.
4) This should be fun! Also, feel free to bring along adventuresome others -- just let me know so that I can include them in my total of people coming.
5) Finally, if you don't trust me, then read the (linked) reviews in Zagat, New York Magazine, The Village Voice, yelp, or Chow!
6) Cám ơn, Pho Mac!
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- : Come Celebrate Pete Seeger's 90th Birthday!
- Noon, Monday 4 May 2009, on the Great Lawn -- rain or shine. Bring an instrument, your voice, or even just a tin can and a stick to bang on it. Join us in singing some of Pete's greatest American hits -- lyrics provided!
- Inspired by Jean Rohe's visit to HST/AMS 335!
Come disturb the muskrats!
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- Reading Drama
- Eugene O'Neill, The Emperor Jones (performed 1920; published 1921)
- Images of Charles Gilpin and Paul Robeson as "Emperor Brutus Jones"
- Eugene O'Neill, The Nobel Prize in Literature 1936, Autobiography [Note: This is the autobiography that O’Neill submitted when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1936] (archived at nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1936/oneill-autobio.html)
- Travis Bogard, "Amateur's End: The Emperor Jones," from Contour in Time: The Plays of Eugene O’Neill (New York: Oxford University Press, 1972, Revised Edition, 1988) (archived at www.eoneill.com/library/contour/amateursend/jones.htm).
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- Study Guide for Second Midterm
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URL: http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/335/335.html
Last updated: Thursday 14 May 2009.