A special thanks to Steve Lewis for sharing this syllabus with us.
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The Bounty Killer(El Precio De Un Hombre)1967
8 minutes ago
Monday, February 18, 2013
I wish homework was this fun when I was in school
Check out this syllabus from a Literature Class at the University of West Florida. I don't have the title of the course, but it looks to be an overview of Popular Culture in America. Pulps, and posts from yours truly, Michelle Nolan, and Walker Martin are included. I'm happy to see that they are including readings from LOVE STORY, AMAZING STORIES, ASTOUNDING STORIES, SNAPPY STORIES, AND DETECTIVE STORY MAGAZINE, and WILD WEST WEEKLY.
A special thanks to Steve Lewis for sharing this syllabus with us.
A special thanks to Steve Lewis for sharing this syllabus with us.
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6 comments:
If this course was offered in my area, I'd take it but the teacher would probably kick me out of the class for arguing with him about all sorts of pulpish topics.
Once, while in college, I bought a copy of WEIRD TALES to class to illustrate an oral report about the literary influence of E.A. Poe. The professor was not pleased and lowered my grade a half grade. When I asked him why, he said my examples of Poe's influence were sub-literary pulp hacks.
The course description says it's a course in genre fiction. Rather than a literary history course, it seems to want to use genre fiction as grist for "critical thinking" and development of analytical skills. The reading list is pretty ambitious for an "intro" course. Like Walker, I'd be prepared to bolt if the instructor was on some different wave length than mine. Thanks, Laurie, for the link.
Pretty interesting, seems the student with the least knowledge of the field going in would likely have the best outcome, as he/she would be least influenced by experience.
The class is taught by Patrick Belk, a friend of David Earle. I met both at an earlier Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention. Patrick was still working on his PhD in English at that time. Also, I highly recommend David's book on magazine (including pulps)Modernism.
Walker, I have always longed to slap guys like your professor with a 2X4. Egad but I loath a snob. I don't want to mention titles but there quite a few "classics" of literature that have bored me to tears. Hammett or Chandler to name just two have never put me to sleep.
Thanks, Laurie! It seems I'm about a month behind the times here, but I just now came across your posting of the syllabus for my Intro to Lit course this semester. Thanks so much for the free advertising!
Just a couple of things I wanted to point out to your readers and commenters:
1) The course is actually a 2000-level Intro to Literature class, and covers both the 19th and 20th centuries, w/ literature published (mostly) in magazines. So it does include lots of other stuff besides pulps: dime novels, comic books, 5-cent weeklies, radio shows, silent movies, and even modernist little magazines. Just to name a few. Here is a link to the course website:
http://uwf.edu/pbelk/LIT_2100/
Although pulp magazines are what I know best probably, and so they've been made the real center-piece of the semester.
2) My students have really loved it so far. The material is always fun, and I often bring in magazines for "show-and-tell." Next week, we're reading issues of Planet Comics and Space Adventures.
(One of the research topics for the next paper is a history of "robots" from ancient times to the present).
3) Of course, much of this material is weird "old" SF stuff my students have never even heard of or thought existed. So it's been an eye-opener for many of them, which is another neat thing.
Also, at this age (18-20 yrs old, just out of high school), students have not yet formed all the mind-numbing literary prejudices that Martin's college prof expressed in regards to WT.
For them, pulps are just neat, old American "vintage" pop culture. But they do find it weird that a person would want to collect all these old magazines!
4) And finally, I just wanted to assure Martin---whose brief but very wonderful personal essay on collecting Black Mask was included on the reading list a few weeks ago---that there'd be very few arguments, & certainly no snobby comments regarding "sub-literary pulp hacks," from this professor here.
If Martin were in my class, then more often than not, I'd probably ask him to teach the class (i.e., tell us everything he knows about whatever we were reading that day).
Thanks again, Laurie.
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