FYS: America in the Rear View Mirror: How Car Culture Shaped a Country

3 Credits.

Join us for a road trip through American history, from the horseless carriage to the latest EVs. In this First-Year Seminar, we'll explore the evolving automotive industry, car culture in film, novels, and music, auto racing, the great American highway, labor relations, environmental issues, and more. You'll be writing an 'autobiography' of a car driven by someone in your family, visit a classic car museum in Hershey, PA, and build a Visible V-8 engine, just like the one in my own 1964 Buick Riviera. We'll screen some classic car films--'Grand Prix', 'Bullit', 'Gone in 60 Seconds', 'American Graffiti''--and unpack some class car tunes like 'Little Deuce Coupe', 'Route 66' and 'Hot Rod Lincoln'. Should be a fun ride!