PROFESSOR
Humanities, University of California, Santa Cruz,
2010 – present
American Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz,
1992 – 2010
Literature and American Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz,
1982-92
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
Literature, University of California, Santa Cruz,
1975-82
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
Literature, University of California, Santa Cruz,
1970-75
Department of English, Harvard University,
1969-70
INSTRUCTOR
Department of English, Harvard University,
1967-69
Harvard University,
1967-68
Resident Tutor, Leverett House and History and Literature,
1964-66
SELECTED COURSES
AMST 100 KEY CONCEPTS IN AMERICAN STUDIES
Provides majors with an in-depth introduction to American studies and the major at UCSC. Introduces key American studies concepts and highlights the emphases of this major. Careful attention paid to critical reading skills and analytical writing. Required of all American studies majors. Prerequisite(s): satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing and Composition requirements. Enrollment restricted to American studies majors.
AMST 107A US POPULAR CULTURE: 1800-1918
A survey of major popular cultural forms and texts in the pre-WWI era including Minstrelsy, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, P.T. Barnum, Ramona, The Wizard of Oz, and Birth of a Nation, with attention to historical context and theory.
AMST 111A THE WEST IN AMERICAN CULTURE
Features texts with Western settings and with representative casts of Western characters. The often contradictory patterns that emerge from this regional literature and the qualities that attach to its familiar hero are explored.
AMST 141 THE GREAT BOOK OF AMERICA
The course will feature texts that were conceived as, or have been widely received as, expressions of themes and values that are especially or essentially American. Moby Dick, Walden, Leaves of Grass, and Huckleberry Finn are such books.
AMST 141 MELVILLE
Lectures on a selection of Melville’s major writings, including Moby Dick, Pierre, The Confidence Man, Billy Budd, and selected short works. Students are required to complete two critical essays.
AMST 145 MARK TWAIN AND AMERICAN CULTURE
A survey of Mark Twain’s major writings with special attention to biography and historical content. The writer’s status as a leading cultural spokesperson is also explored. Satisfies literature major requirement. Students cannot receive credit for this course and American Literature 120B.
AMST 146A US HISTORY AND LITERATURE
Seminar on American historical fiction, including works by Hawthorne, Twain, Faulkner, Cather, Stegner, Doctorow, and Morrison, and with some attention to relevant theoretical texts. Students are required to submit two critical essays.
AMST 205 THEORIZING AMERICAN CULTURE
A selective examination of theoretical and methodological issues central to American studies, of the history of attempts to consider the U.S. as manifesting a cultural system, and of contemporary critiques that problematize the focusing of cultural analysis on a nation-state. Enrollment restricted to graduate students.