FIRST YEAR SEMINAR (FYS 101.62)
ROOTS AND REGIONS: CULTURAL REGIONALISM IN AMERICAN LIFE
BRUCE BIGELOW
Course Description: Students will read fiction and nonfiction for three culture regions of the eastern United States ( the Midwest, the South, and the Northeast) in the Fall Semester (I plan to do Southern California, Texas, and the Pacific Northwest in the Spring semester). One big question is do the students find regionalism important for their identity?
Goals: The goals of the course are to answer a number of big questions: what are the major culture regions of the United States, and how might they be significant to American’s identity? Another question is how does fiction shape one’s image of a region through symbolsl which are associated with the region? Another question is at what geographical scale do Americans define home: the Earth ,the nation, the region, the state, the county, the town, the neighborhood, or literally the home or family? Another question is to what degree do Americans have multiple identities, and what social variables determine this: the nation, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, class, age, political party, sexual orientation, or others? Do any or most of these sources of identity trump regional identity or do they instead buttress it?
Student Learning Objectives: One objective will be to answer the big questions discussed under goals. In the age of globalization, does a sense of self still remain quite local and provincial? Do our students find community at the regional level?
A second objective will be to have students read fiction (poetry, short stories and novels) and nonfiction (mainly geography and history essays) critically. These texts would be the base for class discussion, weekly writes and four formal 3-5 page papers.
A third objective is to have students write clearly. There will be one-two page response papers due for many classes. These brief papers will either be overnight writes or in-class writes.
A fourth objective will be to encourage speaking in class about the texts. Students will be expected to discuss the texts in class.
A fifth objective will be for students to understand the tradition of the liberal arts’ including vigorous debate over important issues through clear and concise writing and speaking. One important theme is respect for cultural diversity.
A sixth objective will be closely related to the last objective: a discussion of and a challenge to prevailing values and norms in American society.
A seventh objective will be the ability to carry out research beyond the assigned text through library research for a paper turned in at the end of the second semester.
Accomodations: Reasonable accommodations are made for students with properly documented disabilities. Give me one week advance notice if an accommodation is required.
Evaluation: Students will be assessed on the quality of their class discussion and their writing for informal and formal papers. There will be no examinations. Attendance is a must: formal and informal writes will not be accepted if you are absent the day they are due.
You will craft four three-five page formal papers,including one paper per region. In addition, a testimony to your identity based on your genealogical sketch combined with ideas from the texts for the course. You may rewrite one of the first two papers to improve the grade on the paper. The four papers will count 15% apiece toward your course grade for a total of 60%. The other 40% of your grade will consist of overnight writes, in-class writes, class discussion, and attendance.
Texts: There are nine texts for the course:
Wilbur Zelinsky, Not Yet a Placeless Land
Sherwood Anderson, Winesburg, Ohio
Dan Wakefield, Going All the Way
John Jakle, My Kind of Midwest
William Faulkner, Go Down Moses
Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood
JD Salinger, Catcher in the Rye
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
Diana Hatcher, Pocket Style Manual
Weekly Schedule:
R, August 25 Zelinsky, chapter 1
T, August 30 Zelinsky, chapter 2
R, September 1 Zelinsky, chapter 5
T, September 6 Zelinsky, chapter 6
R, September 8 Winesburg, pp. 1-55
T, September 13 Winesburg, pp. 56-122
R, September 15 Winesburg, pp. 123-153
T, September 20 Going All The Way, Part I
R, September 22 Going All The Way, Part II
T, September 27 Going All the Way, Part III
R, September 29 My Kind of Midwest, ix-31
T, October 4 My Kind of Midwest, 32-68 and Picture Gallery (PAPER on the MIDWEST)
R, October 6 Scott Swanson lecture on Geneology
T, October 11 Go Down Moses, pp. 33-127
R, October 13 Go Down Moses, pp. 183-243
T, October 18 Go Down Moses, pp. 243-315
R, October 20 Revelation
T, October 25 Wise Blood, pp. 3-125
R, October 27 Wise Blood, pp. 129-189
T, November 1 Wise Blood, pp. 193-236 (PAPER on the SOUTH)
R, November 3 Catcher in the Rye, pp. 1-66
T, November 8 Catcher in the Rye, pp. 66-174
R, November 10 Catcher in the Rye, pp. 174-214
T, November 15 Invisible Man, pp. 3-150
R, November 17 Writing Workshop (Bring Hatcher, Pocket Style Manual)
T, November 29 Invisible Man, pp. 151-250 (REWRITE)
R, December 1 Invisible Man, pp. 251-330
T, December 6 Invisible Man, pp. 331-461
R, December 8 Invisible Man, pp. 462-581 (PAPER on the NORTHEAST)
T, December 13 PAPER on YOUR IDENTITY
Instructor: I am the sole geographer at the university and I am in the History and Anthropology Department. My office is Jordan Hall 340. My office hours are T, 3-4; W, 2-4: R 3-4; and by appointment. My office phone is 940-9473 and my home phone is 731-6573. My email address is bbigelow@butler.edu.