Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
FIRST YEAR SEMINAR: THE AMERICAN DREAM
Tuesdays at 1 p.m. starting 20 August 2002 Library Room 113
Instructor: Charles Brock & visitors; 1 credit; 6 graded essays and project due Nov 19
1. Aug 21. Introduction – definitions, agreements, conflicts. Rockefeller & Carnegie. You!
Group Projects – What aspects of the American Dream does TV or Hollywood promote?
2. Aug 27. The American Mosaic. Read Preface & Chapters 1 & 2 of Americans – a collision of
histories. Why were the settlers hostile to other groups of Europeans after they arrived?
3. Sept. 3. The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Read, mark, and inwardly digest for discussion.
4. Sept 10. The American Creed. Chapters 3 & 4, Americans. Write 1-page essay discussing: What did
Jefferson mean that „all men are created equal‟? Is this realistic? Due at 10
5. Sept 17. American ethnic cleansing. with Chris Rizzo & Dr. Jeffrey Nelson. Read ch. 8 of
Americans and write one page essay: Why did the government remove the Cherokees from their land?
Should we atone for this? If so, how might we? Due at 10
6. Sept 24. Immigrant & Refugee Hopes & Fears in Erie – w/ Michael Murnock [Int.Institute]
7. Oct. 1. E Pluribus Unum? Chs 9-11, Americans. 2 pages on Discuss Abraham Lincoln and Malcolm
X that separation is best for the races in America. Compare ML King Jr. Due at 10
8. Oct 7. Race Matters in Erie – with Asia and Gary Horton [UrbanErieCommunityDevCorp]
9. Oct 22. The American Secular Holidays and Civil Religion. Find hidden agendas of two secular
holidays in 2-page essay [Thanksgiving, Labor Day, Independence Day, ML King Day, Columbus
Day, Memorial Day, Presidents‟ Day]. Due at 10
10. Oct 29. Women – Are women losing out in the Dream? with Prof. Dawn Blasko
11. Nov 5. Poverty in America & the American Dream for the World – 2 pages on Does the American
Dream justify 1% of Americans having 40% of US wealth and Americans as 4% of the world‟s
population consuming 40% of its resources? What moral force does America now have with the rest
of the world? Should the Dream be exported? Due at 10.
12. Nov 12. Family Nightmares – read or see Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. Write a 5 minute
funeral address for Willy Loman. Due at 10
13. Nov 19. The Projects – be prepared to argue your conclusions
14. Nov 26. – The American Dream since 9/11/01
15. Dec 3. – Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the American Dream
Textbook: Americans – a collision of histories; Edward Countryman, 1996, [available in bookstore]
Note: Essays are to be typed and double-spaced no larger than 12-point. Footnote sources. Essays due at
10 a.m. on the day of the class in my letterbox Dept of H&SS or send e-mails by 8 a.m. to cjb16@psu.edu
Readings from bibliography noted in essays and class contributions gain extra credit.
Bibliography Suggestions – bold type especially recommended
1. Diversity in America, Vincent N Parrillo, Pine Forge Press, Calif., 1996,ISBN 0-8039-9049-9
2. Conjuring Culture, Theophus H Smith, OUP, ISBN 0-19-506740-1
3. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck,1939
4. Death of a Salesman & The Crucible, Arthur Miller [in bookstore]
5. The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy - chapter 3; Christopher Lasch, Norton,
1995
6. The American Dream, Edward Albee, 1960 – library
7. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
8. A Man in Full, Tom Wolfe, 1999
9. Poor Richard‟s Principle-Recovering the American Dream through the moral dimension of work,
business, & money – Robert Wuthnow, Princeton, 1996 ISBN 0-691-02892-3
10. Pop Dreams – Music, Movies, and the Media in the 1960’s; Archie Loss, 1999, library
11. American Dreams: Lost & Found, Studs Terkel, 1980, ISBN 0-345-32993-7
12. The Future of the Race, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Cornel West, Knoph NY, 1996,
13. Facing up to the American Dream, Judith Hochschild, Princeton, 1995, ISBN 0-691-02920-2
14. Malcolm X Speaks, ed. Breitman, Grove Weidefeld NY, 1965, ISBN 0-8021-3213-8
15. A Testament of Hope – the Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., ed. JM
Washington, Harper, 1986, ISBN 0-06-064691-8
16. The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca, Anthony FC Wallace, Vintage Books, NY, 1972
17. Red Power: The American Indian‟s Fight for Freedom, Alvin Josephy Jr., NY, 1972
18. Achieving our Country, Richard Rorty, Harvard, 1998, ISBN 0-674-00311-X
19. Made in America – self-styled success from Horatio Alger to Oprah Winfrey, J L Decker – library
20. Ain’t I a Woman? bell hooks – library
21. The American Dream and the Popular Novel, Elizabeth Long, 1985 – library
22. American Dreams, American Nightmares, ed. David Madden, 1971 – library
23. The American Dream from Reconstruction to Reagan, E. Wright, 1996 – library
24. Born in the USA – the Myth of America in Popular Music – T E Scheurer, U of Miss.1991
25. Postethnic America, David A Hollinger, 1995 – library
26. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream; H Thompson
27. The Real American Dream, Andrew Delbanco, Harvard, 1999 - library
28. The Success Ethic, Education, and the American Dream, DeVitis & Rich, 1996 - library
29. The Western – Parables of the American Dream; Jeffrey Wallman, Texas Tech, 1999
30. American Dream, American Nightmare – Fiction since 1960, Kathryn Hume, Illinois, 2002
COURSE AIMS
The aim of the course is to ask what is the American Dream; where did it come from; how has it helped
and hurt people individually, nationally and internationally. Objectives include improving abilities to
read, write, discuss, ask questions, and think. Instructor will be glad to give individual help to improve
reading and writing skills if requested.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Students are expected at all classes. Attendance will be taken. E-mail excuse for absence before class.
Classes will be interactive and students will be expected to have read the material assigned.
FINAL GRADE
7 essays A - 90%+
Class discussion counts for 10% of final mark B - 80%+
No exam C - 70%+
D - 60%+
Instructor: Charles Brock, Carriage House South Room 4 cjb16@psu.edu 898-6399 or 456-3721
Institute: http://www.pserie.psu.edu/hss/amdream/amerindx.htm
11/10/11
CLASS I
VARIOUS CONCEPTS OF THE AMERICAN DREAM
Begin by asking each student to write out what you think the American Dream is. Write up some on
board. Then add below if not already covered.
Ever-expanding wealth & possessions
Individual success – Horatio Alger
An article in the Economist Feb 14, 1987 claimed that “Money is not all that important to Americans,
according to the [Wall Street] Journal‟s poll, but „being a good parent‟, and having a happy marriage
is. Only 28% of women feel the American Dream is very much alive, compared with 37% of the men.
Drugs are seen as the biggest threat to the Dream, closely followed by crime.
But The Wall Street Journal has described itself as “the daily diary of the American Dream”
The Center for a New American Dream – „sustainable consumption‟
SAVE OUR GUNS - “This country is built on God, Guts, and Guns”
Cotton Mather – „[God] delivered us for a purpose‟ i.e. to save the world
ML King JR‟s justice & equality
Better democracy and capitalism
Messianic democracy and capitalism
The American Adam – „western pilgrim‟ Farmer – pastoral – frontier - land
The Yeoman – competence, independence, and morality
An aesthetic education [John Adams 1]
Penn, Franklin, Carnegie, and Behrend
James Truslow Adams:
[The American Dream is] that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for
everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the
European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and
mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of a social order in
which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately
capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth
or position. [The Epic of America, 1931]
1
From Pepetone, Gregory, A fresh look at the authentic American dream, American Music Teacher, v45 n4 Feb
1996 p 10-13 notes that John Adams wrote, “I must study politics and war that my sons may have the liberty to
study mathematics and philosophy. My sons must study mathematics and geography, natural history, naval
architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture in order to give their children the right to study painting,
poetry, music, and architecture.” Written to his wife Abigail in 1787. “Here was an undisputed spokesperson for the
authentic American Dream – [which is] not material gains, or even political rights, but an aesthetic education!”