ENGL 302 - The Wild West, the New West, and the Weird West

FC ARHU CD WINT

4 credits
The U.S. West is a region that contains multitudes. The myth of the frontier looms large in the American imaginary, a romantic veneer overlaid on a complicated set of entangled material realties, including settler colonialism, extractive industry, labor exploitation, fraught border crossings, outdoor recreation tourism, and increasingly volatile environmental conditions. In this course, we will explore both literary and cinematic representations of the West by a diverse array of writers and filmmakers, moving from the mid-19th century to the present. Environmentalism and environmental justice will have a particularly centralized focus as we grapple with this region’s past, present, and future.

Sustainability