In Fall 2011, the seminar will be taught by Cynthia Young of the Department of English. Admission to the course will be by permission of the instructor or the American Studies Program.

EN 626 American Studies Senior Seminar: Popular Culture, Literature and Life During Wartime. This course investigates the ways in which U.S. life has been shaped by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 9 years. How does a society narrate its own identity, that of the "enemy" and the nature of the threat to the nation? How have U.S. notions of race and nation shifted under the pressure of ongoing, though distant wars? How is an amorphous "war on terror" different from earlier, more easily defined wars with clear "enemies"? What is the nature of victimhood? What are the limits of heroism? How does war act to reveal and/or submerge the dark side of U.S. society? Course materials will include journalistic accounts, writing (including blogs) by military personnel, novels, films, and television.