EGL 240 - (218) American Literature and Culture: 1960-Present

Course Units: 1

(Not offered in 2015-16) Offered once every four years. This course will survey American poetry, fiction, nonfiction (including essays and New Journalism), at least one film (probably The Graduate), and perhaps one play of the Postmodern era. Emphasis will be placed on social movements that redefined the American cultural landscape, including Civil Rights, Gay Rights, and Women’s Rights. The traumatic impact of historical events- such as assassinations in the sixties, the War in Vietnam, and 9/11-will also be discussed. Nonfiction writers will include Betty Friedan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Joan Didion, Hunter Thompson, and possibly Ryan Smithson. Poets might include Robert Lowell, Gwendolyn Brooks, Allen Ginsberg, Anne Sexton, Adrienne Rich, Sylvia Plath, Billy Collins, Simon Ortiz, Rita Dove, Li-Young Lee and others. Fiction writers might include Kurt Vonnegut, Toni Morrison, Raymond Carver, Alice Walker, James Baldwin, Amy Tan, Tim O’Brien, Sherman Alexie, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Alfredo Véa. Music, television shows and technology of the period will also be discussed. Common Curriculum CC: HUL