Dead or Alive?: The American West in Popular Culture

This course traces the imagined Western frontier as seen in television, film, photographs, museum exhibits, art, tourism, amusement parks, performance, video games, and science fiction. It explores these imagined spaces through the lenses of popular and visual culture, placing the West within the larger social, cultural, economic, and political histories of the US. Both real and imagined, these images defined and consolidated the identities of Westerners and those who wanted to be Westerners. Enrollment limited to 17 first year students and sophomores.