FIND OUT MORE: (2019 Course Handout)

At HOME in the REMOTE!!!

ENG 341: Lit. of the American WEST

Spring 2019 — MWF 9 to 9:50 PM (AND ONLINE!)*

Fulfills (SLO) #7 in ESSENTIAL STUDIES

“CSC is the only four-year institution in Nebraska that serves Frontier and Remote (FAR) communities… According to the 2010 census, Chadron and other towns in the College’s service area are classified as FAR level three communities because they are remote from an area of more than 10,000 people. Since only about 1.4% of the U.S. population lives in FAR level three communities, and as one of the few four-year colleges located in a frontier area, CSC has a special component to its regional role.” (CSC Catalog)

This Spring we will emphasize stories, poems and narratives that grapple with the idea of building a HOME in the FAR places of the WEST.  Focusing on both historical and contemporary settings, especially our own immediate region of the High Plains, we will read authors that explore their relationships with this landscape, history and culture. A fundamental question that we will be addressing all semester is how does “place” affect who we are as people, and how we think of “home” within these remote spaces, and the art that speaks to those concerns. We will explore many entertaining, engaging, thought-provoking works from prominent writers of the West. This course will help you learn not only more about the region we live in, but about yourself!

READINGS:

  • Jonis Agee: The Bones of Paradise
  • Willa Cather: My Ántonia
  • Annie Proulx: Close Range: Wyoming Stories
  • Pamela Carter Joern: In Reach
  • Mari Sandoz: Hostiles and Friendlies
  • Ivan Doig: The Bartender’s Tale
  • (additional readings posted online)

 

FOR MORE INFO:

  • Dr.  Matthew Evertson, Professor
  • Department of English & Humanities
  • Chadron State College
  • (308) 432-6462 mevertson@csc.edu

*While primarily an on-campus “face to face” course, for those who cannot make it to campus or who have course conflicts, you can complete the course online. All the classroom sessions will be recorded with our ZOOM meeting tool, and students who are at a distance may have the opportunity to actually join the course in real time, if the technology permits. Students unable to meet on campus complete additional writing exercises to make up for the missed classroom sessions. 

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