First-Year Writing Seminar (101-8-22)
Topic
Pilgrims, Cowboys, Astronauts: Frontiers in Americ
Instructors
Rio Mckade Bergh
Meeting Info
University Hall 412: Mon, Wed 3:30PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
The United States has always thought of itself in relation to the frontier. From early colonial contact to the Cold War space race, writers have seized on "the frontier" as an essentially American place. Before the existence of the United States, pilgrims imagined taming the "wilderness" to create a "garden," a new Eden in a new world. Across the 19th century, the iconic figure of the American cowboy emerged—a rugged, masculine individualist obeying his own moral code, not the letter of the law. In the 1960s, space figured as a "final frontier," prompting book, film, and television production. In a bizarre mashup of tropes, Jeff Bezos wore a cowboy hat on his flight into space on Blue Origin. Together, we will investigate representations of the "frontier" across its many forms in American cultural production.
Readings will feature excerpts from Edgar Allan Poe's Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (1838) and Willa Cather's O Pioneers! (1913). Film and television include the science fiction drama of alien contact, Arrival (2016), and selections from the futuristic space Western Cowboy Bebop (1998 and 2021). As a group, we will supplement these materials based on class interest—I will provide descriptions of additional possible texts. Along the way, we will ask: What is the appeal of the "frontier"? How do frontiers stretch how people think of themselves? Why imagine a place beyond the rule of law? What is our relationship to artificial intelligence as an emerging frontier? Throughout our exploration of the theme of the frontier, we will write short papers, building into a draft and revision of a formal essay. In doing so, we will aim to meet the learning goals of Weinberg College for the first-year seminar: to learn how to pose interesting questions; to research and gather evidence; to organize that evidence into a convincing argument; and to develop an engaging voice and style.
Class Attributes
WCAS Writing Seminar
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Weinberg First Year Seminars are only available to first-year students.