Courses

The American novel. In alternate years the course may focus on 19th or 20th century American novels.

Topics announced in advance.

A study of classic and popular American novels from the 18th to the 21st century. Course may include the work of Hawthorne, Twain, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, DeLillo, Pynchon and key novels such as Melville’s Moby Dick, Ellison’s Invisible Man and Silko’s Ceremony.

Intensive study of the American novel with regard to genre, history, theme, or major author.

Intensive study of the American novel with regard to genre, history, them, or major authors.

Representative novels of 20th and 21st century American writers; emphasis on varied literary movements and on thematic and formal innovations as reflections of/responses to social transformations in American society since 1900.

This course examines the origins and development of the American presidency as an institution throughout American history from the eighteenth century to the present. The class introduces students to the persons who have become president from George Washington onwards and examines their leadership efforts, effectiveness, constraints, and overall legacies. The class also seeks to understand presidents’ defining foreign and domestic policy achievements and failures.

The American Presidency and the primary relationships and responsibilities of the office, dealing with the public, decision making, influencing Congress, and implementing policy.

This course examines, in depth, both the presidency of the United States and the individuals who have held it.

The course entails an historical analysis of presidential elections from 1789 to the present day. In addition, students examine and engage in reasonable speculations about the upcoming elections.