Firefly in Academia

POSTED BY: Cheesypoof
UPDATED: Saturday, November 19, 2005 05:15
VIEWED: 10340
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CHEESYPOOF

Tuesday, November 15, 2005 11:30 PM

So hey, I'm a browncoat freshman at Duke University (Big chapel, killer ACC basketball team, www.duke.edu , etc.). Anyway, all the freshmen have to take one course, this "Academic Writing" thing. It's an course hwere you sign up for a certain section that has a certain theme, things like "THe Problem with Textbooks" or "Coral Reefs." I signed up for my courses next semester, and I ended up in one called "Rewriting the West." I think you'll all be interested in the last sentence of the synopsis, but to give a little background I'll post the whole thing.

Cowboys, outlaws, harlots and horses-- the Western is one of the most familiar American genres. In “Rewriting the West,” we will examine the interplay of history and myth in fictional representations of the West as we consider how 20th century Westerns rewrite both history and the Western genre, itself. Reading critical scholarship on the West, we’ll also think about how academic writers make sense of this process as they themselves rewrite the significance of the West in American literature and culture. Throughout the semester students will write response papers and essays that extend, and possibly rewrite, this scholarly conversation about Westerns. We will begin our work by defining the terms: What is a Western? What is the relationship between fictional and historical Wests? We will then consider how 20th century western writers and filmmakers work within and against the Western, rewriting the genre, the myths, and the West, itself. At the beginning of the 21st century, the Western isn’t nearly the cultural presence it once was, so for the final phase of the course we’ll consider contemporary efforts to rewrite the West for modern audiences in sometimes unexpected ways (for example, HBO’s gritty Deadwood and Joss Whedon’s sci-fi western, Firefly).

I hope we're actually watching Firefly. That'd be pretty shiny.

LAX01

Tuesday, November 15, 2005 11:40 PM

arg............University of Maryland (your arch-rival, where I go :shakes head:) would never offer a course like that...this school is worthless...100% worthless....that sounds like a great class...enjoy it

R1Z

Thursday, November 17, 2005 4:02 AM

Hope you cover the 1/2 hour black-and-white tv segments that ran in the late 50s and 60s. (Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, et al.) It's how many of us formed our views of the American West.

Also where we learned that good guys wear white hats and bad guys wear black hats. Invaluable info for later life.

To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks. --Robt. Heinlein

REGINAROADIE

Thursday, November 17, 2005 6:15 AM

One flick you should ask your prof about is Sergio Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. It's basically considered to be the textbook definition of the Western. The entire genre boiled down into a 3 hour or so magnum opus.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"YES!!!I'm a man posessed by many demons....Polite demons that would open the door for a lady carrying too many parcels...BUT DEMONS NONETHELESS!!!! Yes. I have walked along the path of evil many times, it's a twisting, curving path that..actually leads to a charming plot garden, BUT BEYOND THAT EVIL!!!"

BELACGOD

Thursday, November 17, 2005 6:28 AM

I once wrote a paper on post-WWII westerns. Shane, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Red River, The Searchers, High Noon. Paper was on how representations of manhood were different in them than in pre-WWII westerns. I'd love to take a whole class on the topic.

Actually, come to think of it, I could probably fit the BDM nicely into that analysis, with Mal in the part of Dunson/Ethan Edwards/Tom Doniphon/Shane, and Simon as Matthew Garth/Michael/Ransom Stoddard/Joe Starret.

Ahh, for the days of undergrad...

SERENITYBOY

Thursday, November 17, 2005 9:58 AM

yea. i'm technically a film school and we would never get that class either. Academy of Art University my ass! but i did turn a lot of film students onto Joss Whedon when Serenity came out and they have all since picked up Firefly on DVD! yay! new browncoats indeed!

of course i would also settle for those buffy classes i hear tell about but oh well . . . . .

"She's tore up plenty, but she'll fly true."

SITTINGDUCK

Thursday, November 17, 2005 2:02 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by lax01:
arg............University of Maryland (your arch-rival, where I go :shakes head:) would never offer a course like that...this school is worthless...100% worthless....that sounds like a great class...enjoy it

While Maryland has a good basketball team, isn't UNC traditionally Duke's arch-rival?

The rabbit is cuddly. Kids like little cuddly sidekicks. I mean... The rabbit... It's a time-tested... Okay, the rabbit bites.

LFO

Thursday, November 17, 2005 3:23 PM

Briscoe County, Jr.!!!!!!!!!!

VANCOUVER

Thursday, November 17, 2005 4:35 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Belacgod:
I once wrote a paper on post-WWII westerns. Shane, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Red River, The Searchers, High Noon. Paper was on how representations of manhood were different in them than in pre-WWII westerns. I'd love to take a whole class on the topic.

Actually, come to think of it, I could probably fit the BDM nicely into that analysis, with Mal in the part of Dunson/Ethan Edwards/Tom Doniphon/Shane, and Simon as Matthew Garth/Michael/Ransom Stoddard/Joe Starret.

Ahh, for the days of undergrad...

And don't forget Brokeback Mountain, soon to be released. (Can't wait...most anticipated movie of the year, over here. Gasp! Browncoat blasphemy. But I'll take Heath Ledger any way I can get 'im.)

Vancouver

CYBERSNARK

Thursday, November 17, 2005 4:42 PM

Heh. Looks like there'll soon be another classroom-ful of Browncoats. . .

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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