FYS 67 The American South
Residents and observers of the Southern United States have long maintained that the region is unique, possessed of a distinctive culture and identity that differs from the wider U.S. society. As the only region of the country to secede from the union and the stronghold of slavery into the middle of the 19th Century, the South has certainly been posed in opposition to the dominant professed values of American democracy. At the same time, racism, poverty, political corruption, and high degrees of religiosity are not exclusively Southern propositions, and the Southern U.S. has been subject to many of the same pressures of late capitalism and individualization as have the other states in the union. Consequently, in this course, we will ask – and attempt to answer – the question “How distinctive is the South”? In doing so, we will survey a broad sampling of both classical and contemporary sociological research and theorizing on the U.S. South. We will also explore the culture of the South – its food, music, art, religious practices, and politics.
Prerequisite
Open only to first year frosh