Week One Introduction
Feb 23 Introduction of Course Requirements
Introductory Lecture
Feb 25 Lecture and Discussion
American Culture Survey
Week Two Freedom and Responsibility
Reading Assignments:
The Mayflower Compact
The Limits of Freedom, Roger Williams
Declaration of Independence
Four Freedoms, FDR
Rip Van Winkle
Blue Highways, William Least Heat Moon, Parts 1 & 2, pp. 1-88
Democracy in America - Chapters 3, 27 & 28
March 2 A.M. Lecture & Discussion
P.M. Film: A History of Violence, David Cronenberg, 2005
March 4 Discussion of film and reading assignments
> 6 memorable Americans paper due <
Week Three Immigration and Assimilation
Reading Assignments:
My Dead Brother Comes to America, Alexander Godin
Letters from Irish Immigrants
Alien and Sedition Acts
Democracy in America, Chapters 15 & 36
March 9 A.M. Lecture and Discussion
P.M. Film: Frozen River, Courtney Hunt, 2008
Discussion of film and reading assignments
March 11 Discussion of film and reading assignments
Film: The Godfather, Part 2 (excerpt), Francis Ford Coppola, 1974
>Family immigration papers Due<
Week Four Family and Home
Reading Assignments:
Everyday Use, Alice Walker
Separating, John Updike
Democracy in America, Chapter 38
March 16 A.M. Lecture and Discussion of reading assignments
>Short paper on family rituals due<
P.M. Films: Meet Me in St. Louis, Vincente Minelli, 1944
The Little Foxes, William Wyler, 1941
March 18 Discussion of films and reading assignments
Week Five Democracy and Justice
Reading Assignments:
Preamble to U.S. Constitution
The Bill of Rights
Thomas Jefferson's 1st Inaugural Address
John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address
Democracy, E.B. White
A Jury of Her Peers, Susan Glaspell
Blue Highways, William Least Heat Moon, Parts 3, 4, 5 & 6, pp. 91-246
Democracy in America, Chapter 2
March 23 A.M. Lecture & Discussion
P.M. Film: All the President's Men, Alan J. Pakula, 1976
April 2 Lecture & Discussion of film and reading assignments
> Jefferson-Kennedy Paper due <
Spring Break
Week Six Equality and Oppurtunity
Reading Assignments:
Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter 1
How it Feels to Be Colored Me, Zora Neale Hurston
Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln
Incident, Countee Cullen
I, Too, Langston Hughes
I have a Dream, Martin Luther King Jr
Democracy in America, Chapters 26, 39, 41, 42
April 6 A.M Lecture and Discussion of reading assignments
P.M Film: Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee, 1989
April 8 Discussion of film and reading assignments
> Midterm exam essay questions distributed <
Week Seven Ambition and Success
Reading Assignments:
Standard of Living, Dorothy Parker
Richard Cory, Edwin Arlington Robinson
Buffalo Bill's, e.e. cummings
Blue Highways, William Least Heat Moon, Parts 7, 8 & 9, pp 249 - 400
Democracy in America, Chapter 32
April 13 A.M. Lecture & Discussion
> Midterm exam essay questions due <
> In-class portion of midterm exam <
P.M. Film: All About Eve, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950
April 15 Discussion of film and reading assignments
Week Eight Courage and Patriotism
Reading Assignments:
Common Sense, Thomas Paine
The Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln
Editha, William Dean Howells
The Body of an American, John Dos Passos
My Sweet Old Etcetera, e.e. cummings
Democracy in America, Chapters 11 & 49
April 20 A.M. Lecture & Discussion
> Deadline for term project proposals <
P.M. Film: The General, Buster Keaton, 1926
April 22 Discussion of film and reading assignments
> Patriotism paper due <
Week Nine Land and Progress
Reading Assignments:
Neighbor Rosicky, Willa Cather
The Gift Outright, Robert Frost
Frontier Thesis (excerpt), Frederick Jackson Turner
Democracy in America, Chapter 33
April 27 A.M. Lecture & Discussion
P.M. Films: The Grapes of Wrath, John Ford, 1940
April 29 Discussion of film and reading assignments
Week Ten Liberation and Sexuality
Reading Assignments:
May I Feel?, e.e. cummings
I Too Beneath Your Moon, Edna St. Vincent Millay
Letters from the Earth (excerpt), Mark Twain
The Storm, Kate Chopin
Brokeback Mountain, Annie Proulx
May 4 A.M. Lecture & Discussion
P.M Film: Kinsey, Bill Condon, 2004
May 6 Discussion of film and reading assignments
Week Eleven Mobility, Rebellion and Independence
Reading Assignments:
I Sing of Olaf, e.e. cummings
Blue Highways, William Least Heat Moon, Part 10, pp. 403-411
Democracy in America, Chapter 21
May 11 A.M. Lecture & Discussion
P.M. Film: The Lonliness of the Long Distance Runner, Tony Richardson, 1962
May 13 Discussion of film and reading assignments
> Final exam essay questions distributed <
Week Twelve Conclusion
Reading Assignments:
Democracy in America, Chapter 15
May 18 A.M. Lecture & Discussion of Reading Assignment
P.M. Film: Hoop Dreams, Steve James, 1994
May 20 Summation of Theme
> Final exam essay questions due <
> Term Projects due <
> In - class final quiz <
Student Evaluations of Course
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American Idealism in Politics & Art
Tom Roberts
troberts@risd.edu
Yes We Can
Many traditions over the past five centuries have helped shape an enigmatic, evolving concept of what it means to be American. European settlers and their early descendants struggled to put into words and then put into practice a society based on what they considered the noblest principles of their time. Gradually, traditions of non-European settlers were woven into the American fabric. This tapestry of principles remains a touchstone of American ideals. Some ideals have remained unattainable, some have become distorted, some have survived as recognized goals of modern American society.
This course will examine a number of these ideals – democracy, justice, equality, et al. – as embodied in the words of the politicians who shaped and applied them and in the works of the artists who drew on them to create works of enduring cultural value.