AST2930

Study abroad: the American west - from wilderness to urban sprawl

Ian Mylchreest and Craig De Wilde

8 points
* Intensive lectures, tutorials and field trips for 35 hours per week, over 1 month
* Summer semester
* California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado

Objectives Students successfully completing this course will understand the historiography of the American frontier, the transformation of the West from an extractive economy to a rapidly expanding industrial and urban economy. They will also understand the various cultures of the region, and particularly the music that has been created there.

Synopsis This subject will examine the settlement and economic development of the American West over the past two hundred years. It will also examine the various subcultures which history has thrown together in the region: Anglo, Native American, Hispanic and the unique borderlands culture which has been created by the confluence of these groups.

Assessment Written journal including performance review (3000 words): 50%
* Long essay (3000 words): 50%

Recommended reading

Cronon W and others (eds) Under an open sky: Rethinking American's Western past Norton, 1992
De Wilde C Unit study guide: American music and popular culture Monash U, 1995
Herndon M Native American music Norwood, 1980
Limerick P N The legacy of conquest Norton, 1987
Nettl B The study of ethnomusicology: Twenty-nine issues and concepts U Illinois P, 1983
Winn K Exiles in a land of liberty: Mormons in America, 1830-1846 UNCP, 1989
Worster D Rivers of empire: Water, aridity and the growth of the American West Pantheon, 1985