Suburban Dreams and Red Scares: America in the 1950s - Einzelansicht

1950s’ America was affluent, racist, consumerist, homophobic, conformist, and full of new media (television) and new modes of living (suburbia; shopping malls). In this seminar we will explore some key literary and cultural texts from this era, including the televised opening of Disneyland (1955) and Allen Ginsberg’s poem “A Supermarket in California” (1956). One of the highlights of the semester will be a discussion with Janet Wolf, who grew up in the 1950s in Levittown, PA, one of America’s first mass-produced suburb. 

This seminar will allow students to improve their Information Literacy, Analysis, and Oral/Written Communication competences.