THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN WEST

AMER529

Course Code: AMER529
Semester: -
Theory+Practice: 3 + 0
ECTS: 10

Course Type

Elective Course

Course Level

Master's Degree Without Thesis

Year of Study

Semester

ECTS

Name of Lecturer(s)

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, the students;

will be able to discuss how myths relating to the West have shaped American cultural identity,
will be able to analyze the concept of the frontier both geographically and symbolically,
will be able to discuss the contribution made to the myth of the West by women and ethnic minorities.

Mode of Delivery

Face to face

Prerequisites

Recommended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Description

The course explores the myth of the American West, which has played a significant part in the development of frontier traditions in American literature and culture. Besides literary texts, contemporary accounts of the frontier expansion and films on the American West will be studied as cultural documents defining and representing the frontier experience.

Course Contents

WEEK	TOPICS
1^st Week	Introduction: The West in the American Imagination
2^nd Week	Going West: Beginnings of the Frontier Experience
3^rd Week	Going West: "Civilizing" the Wilderness
4^th Week	Life in the West: Women's Experiences
5^th Week	Student Presentations
6^th Week	Student Presentations
7^th Week	The Frontier Closes: End of an Era
8^th Week	The West in Popular Literature: The Emergence of the "Western"
9^th Week	The West in Popular Literature: The Emergence of the "Western"
10^th Week	The West in Popular Culture: Hollywood and "Western" Films
11^th Week	The West in Popular Culture: Hollywood and "Western" Films
12^th Week	Student Presentations
13^th Week	Student Presentations
14^th Week	Review: The Legends of the West and American Identity

Recommended or Required Reading

Aquila, Richard, ed. Wanted Dead or Alive: The American West in Popular Culture. Urbana and Chicago: U of Illinois P, 1996.

Athearn, Robert G. The Mythic West in Twentieth-Century America. Lawrence: UP of Kansas, 1986.

Bredahl, A. Carl, Jr. New Ground: Western American Narrative and the Literary Canon. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1989.

Davis, Robert Murray. Playing Cowboys: Low Culture and High Art in the Western. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 1992.

Mogen, David. Wilderness Visions: The Western Theme in Science Fiction Literature. 2nd ed. Ed. Daryl F. Mallett. San Bernardino, CA: Borgo, 1993.

Mogen, David, Mark Busby, and Paul Bryant, eds. The Frontier Experience and the American Dream: Essays on American Literature. College Station: Texas A&M UP, 1989.

Nash, Gerald D., and Richard W. Etulain, eds. Researching Western History: Topics in the Twentieth Century. Albuquerque: U of New Mexico P., 1997.

Robertson, James Oliver. American Myth, American Reality. New York: Hill and Wang, 1980.

Smith, Henry Nash. Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth. 1950. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1970.

Tompkins, Jane. West of Everything: The Inner Life of Westerns. New York: Oxford UP, 1992.

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

Lecture
Discussion
Presentation

Assessment Methods and Criteria

	Quantity	Percentage (%)
Project	1	30
Attendance	1	10
Presentation of Article	2	20
Total(%)		60
Contribution of In-term Studies to Overall Grade(%)		60
Contribution of Final Examination to Overall Grade(%)		40
Total(%)		100

ECTS Allocated Based on Student Workload

Activities	Quantity	Duration (Hour)	Total Workload (Hour)
Midterm exam
Preparation for Quiz
Individual or group work	14	5	70
Preparation for Final exam	1	10	10
Course hours	14	3	42
Preparation for Midterm exam
Laboratory (including preparation)
Final exam	1	3	3
Homework
Project	1	60	60
Article Presentation	2	25	50
Weekly Articles and Resource Research	14	5	70
Total Work Load			305
Total Work Load / 30 (h)			10.16
ECTS Credit of the Course			10

Language of Instruction

English

Work Placement(s)

Programme Qualifications / Learning Outcomes

	LO1	LO2	LO3
K1	X	X	X
K2		X
K3	X	X	X
K4		X	X
K5	X	X	X
K6	X	X	X
K7
K8		X
K9			X
K10	X	X	X
K11	X	X	X
K12		X	X
K13

	LO1	LO2	LO3
K1	X	X	X
K2		X
K3	X	X	X
K4		X	X
K5	X	X	X
K6	X	X	X
K7
K8		X
K9			X
K10	X	X	X
K11	X	X	X
K12		X	X
K13

	LO1	LO2	LO3
K1	X	X	X
K2		X
K3	X	X	X
K4		X	X
K5	X	X	X
K6	X	X	X
K7
K8		X
K9			X
K10	X	X	X
K11	X	X	X
K12		X	X
K13

	LO1	LO2	LO3
K1	X	X	X
K2		X
K3	X	X	X
K4		X	X
K5	X	X	X
K6	X	X	X
K7
K8		X
K9			X
K10	X	X	X
K11	X	X	X
K12		X	X
K13