Honors Seminars Spring 2013

For over a century, we have feverishly searched for and consumed oil. This course will study the impact of our seemingly unquenchable thirst for "Texas tea" on American and global cultures. The primary texts in this class will emphasize an interdisciplinary approach to considering how writers and filmmakers represent the ways the automobile and the concomitant oil industry have influenced social issues, the environment, and geopolitical debate since the 19th Century. These texts will include films (e.g., Hud and There Will Be Blood), literature (e.g., Cities of Salt) and examples of journalistic approaches to history, sociology, economics and political science (e.g.. The Prize). In addition to exploring this topic from the perspective of multiple disciplines, this course will also feature a variety of cultural perspectives as well, including literary voices from Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, and cinematic visionaries from France, Australia and Ireland.