HOLLYWOOD AND THE WILD WEST Spring 2015 – HIST 4261.002 M 6:30-9:20 PM – Life Sciences Complex A419

Prof. Michael Wise University of North Texas

Roy Rogers filming in Lone Pine, California, 1938

This class provides a rigorous introduction to the critical study of western films from an historical perspective, studying how the genre’s art and performance have helped create and subvert popular understandings of western history, folklore, and place. Westerns produced in Hollywood and elsewhere have comprised a rich archive of narratives about the meaning and significance of American history over the last century. The genre’s consistent popularity, both in the United States and across the globe, attests to its flexibility in interpreting complex historical relationships between the environment, freedom, race, class, gender, violence, and social inequality. The popular imagination of the American West as “wild” place often opens vivid possibilities for western films to depict nonhuman entities such as animals, the weather, or the earth itself as significant actors in historical changes, a characteristic of the genre that can powerfully naturalize and disturb viewers’ cultural and political expectations.

Required Course Texts: Philip Deloria, Indians in Unexpected Places (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 2004).

James Welch, Winter in the Blood (New York: Penguin, 2006 [1974]).

History 4261-002 (Spring 2015) Page 1 Grading Criteria: Comparative Review Essay 1 30% Comparative Review Essay 2 30% Final Comparative Review Essay 40% 100% Blackboard: Lecture notes, reading assignments, and electronic course materials will be available as PDF files on the Blackboard Learn website.

Course Policies: Attendance and Behavior Students are expected to attend all sessions and to complete reading assignments before class. Electronic devices may be used for note-taking purposes only. Cell phones must be powered off or silenced. I will start class promptly at 6:30 PM. Late students are permitted to enter the classroom provided they do so with minimal disruption to their peers.

Comparative Review Essays The first two comparative review essays ask students to evaluate a selection of films in order to identify, compare, and critique how they deploy and develop particular narratives of western history. The final comparative review essay asks students to review Winter in the Blood alongside Nebraska and one other film of their choice. Each essay should be between 6 to 10 double-spaced pages in length.

University Policy Statements: Disability Statement Any student with special circumstances covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act should register with the Office of Disability Accommodation (ODA), Suite 322, University Union Building (phone 940-565-4323). Students who have registered with ODA should also make an appointment to discuss disabilities accommodation requests with the instructor of this course during the first week of class. Reasonable adjustments will be made to accommodate the special needs of students with disabilities where such adjustments are necessary to provide equality of educational access.

Academic Integrity Academic integrity is defined in the UNT Policy on Student Standards for Academic Integrity. Any suspected case of Academic dishonesty will be handled in accordance with the University Policy and procedures. Possible academic penalties range from a verbal or written admonition to a grade of “F” in the course. Further sanctions may apply to incidents involving major violations. The official policy and procedure are located online at: http://vpaa.unt.edu/academic- integrity.htm.

History 4261-002 (Spring 2015) Page 2 PART ONE: Classic Westerns January 26 Course Introduction Film: Cecil B. DeMille, The Squaw Man (1914).

February 2 Film: John Ford, The Searchers (1956). Read: Phil Deloria, Indians in Unexpected Places, 3-108.

PART TWO: Historical Depiction, Revision, Reduction February 9 Film: Kelly Reichardt, Meek’s Cutoff (2011). Read: Deloria, choose one remaining chapter and read conclusion. *A.O. Scott, “Out on the Frontier, Bringing All that Baggage With Them,” New York Times, April 7, 2011. *James Field Diary, 1845, excerpts. February 16 Film: Sergio Leone, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). Read: TBD

February 23 Film: Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained (2012). Read: TBD

March 2 Film: Jim Jarmusch, Dead Man (1995). Read: TBD

March 9 Film: Samuel Peckinpah, The Wild Bunch (1969). PAPER 1 DUE **March 16 – NO CLASS – Spring Break** March 23 Film: Dennis Hopper, Easy Rider (1969).

March 30 Film: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain (2005).

April 6 Film: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men (2007).

PART THREE: Contemporary Westerns April 13 Film: Frank Perry, Rancho Deluxe (1975).

History 4261-002 (Spring 2015) Page 3 April 20 Film: John Sayles, Lone Star (1996).

April 27 Film: Alexander Payne, Nebraska (2013). PAPER 2 DUE

May 4 Film: Alex Smith and Andrew Smith, Winter in the Blood (2013). Read: James Welch, Winter in the Blood, all.

History 4261-002 (Spring 2015) Page 4