Offered Fall of 2026 (Semester 1)

This course explores the voices, landscapes, and myths that have shaped the American West. Using novels, short stories, poetry, memoir, and film, students will examine how writers portray frontier identity, rugged individualism, environmental conflict, migration, Indigenous experience, economic struggle, and the evolving idea of the “West.” Students will engage in close reading, analytical writing, and seminar-style discussion to examine how Western literature constructs and challenges the myth of the frontier, analyze the relationship between people and landscape while also exploring issues of displacement, identity, race, and economic survival. Students will analyze works by authors such as Willa Cather, John Steinbeck, Leslie Marmon Silko, Cormac McCarthy, and Sandra Cisneros, considering how geography, history, and culture shape narrative voice and theme. Texts may include selections from My Ántonia, The Grapes of Wrath, Ceremony, and All the Pretty Horses.