AMS 275-01 - Topics in American Culture: American Journey

4 credits (Fall)

What do an Ex-radical Black Panther member (Kesho Scott) and an Ex-International athlete (Will Freeman) have in common and how did a chance luncheon change them? This course will answer that question. It is a sharing of journeys as well as a survey of the power of the American Journey to the American experience and identity. Come join us! Why do we explore what is out there? What is your story, your journey thus far? How have previous road trips shaped you? How do our journeys help us answer the larger questions of meaning and purpose in our lives? This course is an interdisciplinary examination of journey and road trips through deep introspection, self-discovery, and transformation narratives. American journeys and road trips find themselves in history, literature, psychology, film, and popular culture. Through these disciplinary lenses, students will compare and contrast, and critically examine the journeys and road trips of both groups and individuals like J.B. Grinnell, Joseph Campbell, Lewis and Clarke, Daniel Boone, Thoreau, Lindbergh, Heat-Moon, Kerouac, Strayed, Mills, Steinbeck, and the larger journeys of women and slaves in this country’s history. Even the journeys of YOUR professor will be examined. The themes of the course include: Defining the Journey-The Hero’s Journey and Learning about ourselves through our journeys; Tourist Vs Traveller; Individual and Collective Journeys and how they have shaped us; Gender Dynamics and the Road Trip; The Intersection of Risk, Transformation, and National Identity; Self-Development through the Road Trips-How our journeys define us; Building Community through journeys across generations.

Prerequisite: AMS 130 and second-year standing.
Instructor: Scott, W. Freeman