The course is organized thematically, and follows the paradigm set by early representatives of American studies, such as R.W.B. Lewis, Perry Miller, and Leo Marx. The reading list introduces a selection of readings in American fiction, non-fiction, and social commentary on selected 15 topics. Each topic will include readings from two or three separate period in American history. Some of the texts will be visual ones, films, art, computer games.
In each section there is a task: a test, a short essay, a survey form. To get credit, you have to do three tasks of your choice, and pass the final test. The tasks you can do when you are ready. The final will be open for one attempt in January and one retake in February.
Recommended reading is pretty varied and specialized, but the general works are relatively few:
Lewis, R. W. B. The American Adam; Innocence, Tragedy, and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1955.
Marx, Leo. The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America. New York: Oxford UP, 1964.
Miller, Perry. Errand into the Wilderness. Cambridge: Belknap of Harvard UP, 1956.
Smith, Henry Nash. Virgin Land; the American West as Symbol and Myth. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1950.
- Nauczyciel: Paweł Stachura