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AMST285

Born Rich: Wealth in America
AMST285 SP

Next Offered in 9798 SP

A study of the amassing and dispersal of great wealth in America, primarily in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: industrial money, money money, and other forms of fortune. What we will study is the results of this money, rather than its economic causes: mansion-building, yacht-buying, eccentricity, collecting, fashion, causes, and other forms of expenditure; charity and tax evasion as investments in the future (of the hospital, of the nation, of the fortune.) Misbehavior of the descendents, curmudgeons, myth of founding mothers and fathers, and sudden loss of wealth are also occasional matters for examination. Group projects and presentations, term paper.

MAJOR READINGS

Some readings:
William Faulkner, ABSALOM, ABSALOM!
F. Scott Fitzgerald, THE GREAT GATSBY, "Rich Boy," "Diamond
as Big as the Ritz"
Thomas P. Hughes, AMERICAN GENESIS: A CENTURY OF INVENTION
AND TECHNOLOGICAL ENTHUSIASM
Henry James, THE GOLDEN BOWL
Katy Louchheim, THE GREAT COLLECTORS
William Manchester, THE ROCKEFELLERS: A PORTRAIT IN OILS
Ortega y Gasset, THE REVOLT OF THE MASSES
Edith Wharton, THE AGE OF INNOCENCE
Other readings on Vanderbilts, Morgans, Fords, Astors,
Hearst.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Group projects, and presentations, term paper.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Class time 2:40-4:00 p.m., MW; film showing M 4:30-6:30. Course fee $35.00. Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Discussion Fieldwork Lecture Seminar Group Presentations

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UG Credit: 1.00

Prerequisites: AMST154

Last Updated on MAR-10-1997




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