Spring Semester
*How do the cultural artifacts of the 1960's afford us insight into the social and political conflicts of that period?
*What sorts of thematic or stylistic innovations were pioneered by artists and writers of this era?
*What relation do the dilemmas and conflicts of the 1960's bear to those of our own era?
*Historical context of the period
*Examination of variety of literary works, political statements, and journalism, as well as a sampling of music and film of the era
*Contemporary analyses of political and cultural significance of the 1960's
*Plan and lead two classes per term
*Peer review
*Metacritical essay required for every writing assignment
*Class presentations debriefed in conference with instructor
*All writing assignments reviewed in conference with instructor
*Todd Gitlin's The 'Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage
*Poems by Allen Ginsberg
*Jack Kerouac's On the Road
*Burrough's Naked Lunch
*Mailer's The White Negro
*King's Letter From Birmingham Jail
*John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address
*The Port Huron Statement
*Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49
*Time O'Brien's Going After Cacciato
*Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
*Joan Didion's Play it as it Lays and Slouching Toward Bethlehem
*Various documents on the civil rights movement, the Vietnam war, feminism and the arts
*Music by Wynonie Harris, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, James Brown, and the Rolling Stones
* Films Rebel Without a Cause, Dr. Strangelove, and Berkeley in the 'Sixties.
*Questions of race, gender, and class foregrounded in course reading, discussion, and analysis