7:15P-9:10P  T  (15) 3 cr
Topic: American Youth Culture in the 1950s

This course will focus on literary, cinematic, journalistic, and scholarly treatments of
American youth culture in a crucial decade of this century, the 1950s.  We will use a number of
books and articles for background information, including David Halberstam's THE FIFTIES, and
we will read some fiction, non-fiction, and poetry of the time, including Jack Kerouac's ON THE
ROAD, Allen Ginsberg's HOWL, Norman Mailer's THE NEGRO AS WHITE HIPSTER, Philip
Roth's GOODBYE COLUMBUS, and J.D. Salinger's CATCHER IN THE RYE.  In addition, we
will view a number of films on the various sub-topics in the course: THE WILD ONE, REBEL
WITHOUT A CAUSE, and EAST OF EDEN on teen rebellion; DEAD POETS SOCIETY,
WHERE THE BOYS ARE, and QUIZ SHOW on education; ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK,
HELP!, and LONELY BOY on music; SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS and THE SEVEN YEAR
ITCH on sexual repression; INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, MANCHURIAN
CANDIDATE, and DR. STRANGELOVE on politics and the Cold War; and episodes of the TV
shows, LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, FATHER KNOWS BEST, and THE ADVENTURES OF
OZZIE & HARRIET on growing up in suburbia.

Our on-going thematic concerns will be: what is the definition and perception of American
youth culture that began in the 1950s and continues to the present day; how were young people
portrayed in literary and visual works of the time and how accurate were these portrayals; and
what are some of the cultural, economic, social, and political reasons for these portrayals?  In
addition, we will inquire into the impact that the Beat Generation writers had on youth culture,
and how the youth culture of 1950s connected to the social and political rebellion of the 1960s.
Students in the course will be expected to do: a class presentation; a number of short papers;
and ONE of the following major projects: (a) a 17-20 page critical research paper on any topic in
or connected to the course; OR (b) a 20-25 page creative project, e.g. a short story or a film script
or a personal essay on any topic connected to the course.; OR  a take-home final exam equal in
difficulty to (A) and (B).

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE AN ENGLISH OR FILM MAJOR TO TAKE THIS CLASS.