Christopher C. Burkett

AHG 660 TOPICS IN AMERICAN HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT: WESTERNS

This course is an intensive study of several classic American Westerns, in both print and film. The American

Western reflects something fundamental about both the American mind and the American regime. The Western's

emphasis on courage and self-reliance, for example, arises from that same American character that forms the

basis of self-government. The American Western also raises important questions central to American political life,

among which are the meaning of justice, equality, and liberty. This course will also address the question of how

American politics both influences and is influenced by literature in the Western genre.

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