Class plan

Week Date Topic, Text

1 23 Feb 24 orientation / introductory class

2 1 Mar 24 Founding myths: Sacvan Bercovitch - The Myth of America (essay)

3 8 Mar 24 Apocalypticism: Martin Procházka - Apocalypticism in American Cultural History (essay)

4 15 Mar 24 Megalopolis: Don DeLillo - Cosmopolis (novel)

5 22 Mar 24 Political correctness: Don DeLillo - In the Ruins of the Future (essay)

6 29 Mar 24 no class (Easter Friday)

7 5 Apr 24 Writing about the Other: Don DeLillo - Falling Man (novel)

8 12 Apr 24 Political correctness: Susan Sontag - The Talk of the Town (essay)

9 19 Apr 24 essay topics due; individual consultations on essay topics

10 26 Apr 24 Fear and Loathing: Giovanna Borradori - A Philosophy in the Time of Terror (interview with Jacques Derrida)

11 3 May 24 American Dream: David Kamp - Rethinking the American Dream (article)

12 10 May 24 Antiamericanism: Josef Joffe - Uberpower: The Rise of Antiamericanism (book chapter; pp. 55-59)

13 17 May 24 Being the Other: Sukhdev Sandhu - Aliens and Others (article)

Martin Amis - The Last Days of Muhammad Atta (short story)

closing session, discussion over students' essays