FRS 001T - Sec. 001 - (2 units) - CRN 83064 - T 4:40-6:30 pm - 263 Olson
The Beats and the San Francisco Scene (1955-1960)

Instructor: Jayne Walker, Department of English, College of Letters and Science

Description: The course will introduce students to the "San Francisco Scene" from 1955, when Allen Ginsberg's reading of "Howl" launched the "Beat" revolution, to 1960. We will consider how and why this unruly undercurrent of dissent in Eisenhower America emerged into the glare of worldwide publicity in San Francisco. Our sources for this exploration of cultural history will include tapes of poetry readings, a film, a novel, literary journals, and magazines and newspapers articles, as well as "Howl" and other poems.

Format: The seminar will meet two hours a week for eight weeks. Activities will include listening to taped readings and watching a film as well as discussing the readings and delivering oral presentations of independent research. Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems and Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums are the required texts. Other readings will be distributed in class. Students will write brief informal responses (normally 15-20 minutes) to the readings for each class and a short research paper (1000-1500 words) on a related topic of their choice, and deliver two oral presentations - one, on the topic of their research paper. Grading: Grades will be based on weekly written responses (25%), final paper (25%), oral presentations (30%), participation in class discussions (20%).

About the Instructor: Jayne Walker has been a lecturer in the Writing Program since 1989, teaching journalism, advanced composition, and a range of other courses. Before then, she was an assistant professor in English and Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley and Cornell. She has written a book, The Making of a Modernist: Gertrude Stein from "Three Lives" to "Tender Buttons" and scholarly articles on SF Renaissance poet Robert Duncan and, with David Reid, on film noir. She and David Reid are writing a book titled "The Last Revolution of the Word: City Lights in San Francisco 1945- 1975."