GOALS: This course is in Liberal Education Category III-B - Individual and Society: Historical and Philosophical Foundations. Liberal education courses are intended to add breadth to your education. American Studies 1041 deals with human history and its influence on contemporary life. Specific liberal education objectives are to: (a) encourage you to think critically about issues; (b) provide experience in the analytic methods of study used in American Studies; (c) provide an awareness of historical traditions, social issues, and diverse cultural values; and (d) introduce you to knowledge important for an active and socially responsible citizen. AmS 1041 also meets the cultural diversity requirement because it deals with a cross-cultural comparison of the frontier in Canada and America from the perspective of Europeans and Native Americans of both genders.

This course is designed to acquaint you with the history of the North American frontier as reflected in the music, art, literature and film we will examine this quarter. Some of the common threads in these portrayals of frontier experience are related to the "character" or "nature" of Americans. In addition, the frontier seems to be one of the chief sources of archetypes and stereotypes that inform and infect our culture, and is the ground where European culture met and was reformed by the indigenous cultures of the Americas.

Finally,the course is aimed at helping us discover both the common threads and the differentiating patterns that characterize frontier experiences of European and Native Americans in Canada and the United States. The course also attempts to explore the experiences of both men and women in these groups and of other minority groups where relevant. If we are to treasure the diversity of our cultures, we need to understand the archetypes and stereotypes which blur and obscure the ways in which indigenous and European cultures change each other. As Faragher suggests in "Americans, Mexicans, Metis: A Community Approach to the Comparative Study of North American Frontiers," in W. Cronon, G. Miles, and J. Gitlin (Eds.), Under an open sky: Rethinking America's western past. New York: Norton. (1993, p. 92) , if we wish to "grasp the remarkable complexity and diversity of North American history," we must commit ourselves to developing "the comparative history of North American societies."

The course proceeds by examining primary sources to discover recurring patterns in the presentations of Europeans and ethnic and cultural minorities in literary and popular materials. It uses this technique for exploring the contemporary significance of the stories we tell ourselves about our past and present. Specifically, the course uses materials drawn from Canadian and American film, visual art, music, popular and belles lettristic literature, and historical writing to explore the stereotypes and archetypes emerging on and from the frontier.

GRADING: Your grade in this course will be computed on the basis of points earned by taking quizzes, participating in group projects and turning in your take home essay examination. The requirements for the course derive from the purpose and structure. You are expected to attend class, to read assigned materials, to take notes, make comments and ask questions. You will also be assigned to groups to work preparing more complex postings. Brief informational quizzes on assigned materials and lectures will be a regular possibility, as will postings related to assigned reading and viewing materials. The four quizzes in the course are 15 point true false quizzes, corrected for guess and with the opportunity to write responses to confusing questions. Required postings are scored according to a general rule of thumb which is 15 points for an A posting, 10 points for a B, and 5 points for a C. There is, however, no upper limit for the number of points earned on a posting or on the number of postings that students may enter. Postings are not limited to written work or analytic essay formats. Students may choose the form of their postings. Oral presentations, poetry, musical performance and works of art and web pages are acceptable. Most of these can be posted on our Frontier Discussion Forum. If you wish to make comments for the instructor alone or need help posting materials, send email to tbacig@d.umn.edu or call at 726-6369.

The final take home examination will require that you integrate a variety of course materials into an essay that presents and discusses your views about some dimension of the frontier experience. Thus, your final examination essay can be prepared gradually throughout the term. It is to be based exclusively on course materials (readings, lectures, media presentations, discussion) and should indicate accurate knowledge and comprehensive familiarity with the course. The course is designed to provide you with a great deal of material from which you can select evidence to support your independent conclusions about the following question:

Fredrick Jackson Turner claims that:

... to the frontier the American intellect owes its striking characteristics. That coarseness and strength combined with acuteness and inquisitiveness; that practical inventive turn of mind, quick to find expedients; that masterful grasp of material things, lacking in the artistic but powerful to effect great ends; that restless nervous energy; that dominant individualism, working for good and for evil, and with all that buoyancy and exuberance which comes with freedom ...

The central symbol for Canada -- and this is based on numerous instances of its occurrence in both English and French Canadian literature -- is undoubtedly Survival, la Survivance. ... Like the Frontier ... It is a multifaceted and adaptable idea. For Early explorers and settlers, it meant bare survival in the face of "hostile" elements and/or natives: carving out a place and a way of keeping alive ... hanging on, staying alive. Or central idea is one which generates, not the excitement and sense of adventure which The Frontier holds out, ... but an almost intolerable anxiety. Our stories are likely to be tales not of those who made it but of those who made it back, from the awful experience -- the North, the snow-storm, the sinking ship -- that killed everyone else.

Are these accurate characterizations of Americans and Canadians. Explain how what you've read, seen or heard in this course demonstrates that Americans and Canadians "is or ain't" what they used to be?

In answering this question refer to all four novels, at least five short selections from the readings, and three videos.

"A" CONTRACT - To qualify for an A students must earn 120 quiz/posting points and make at least nine postings.

To earn their "A" students must write a take home examination which brings their point total to 240 points.

"B" CONTRACT - To qualify for a B a student must earn 100 quiz/posting points and and make at least seven postings.

To earn their "B" students must write a take home examination which brings their point totals to 200 points.

"C" CONTRACT - To qualify for a C a student must earn 80 quiz/posting points and and make at least five postings.

To earn their "C" students must write a take home examination which brings their point total to 160 points.

Individuals who have any disability, either permanent or temporary, which might affect their ability to perform in this class are encouraged to inform the instructor at the start of the quarter. Adaptation of methods, materials or testing may be made as required to provide for equitable participation.