Dear First-years,
Come see the amazing founder of the Wesleyan American Studies Department–Richard Slotkin–in action, THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 4:15, POWELL FAMILY CINEMA, fabulous Italian cookies to follow (see the poster below). Professor Slotkin was a member of the English Department, began the American Studies Department (when he was in his mid-twenties), and helped establish the Film Department, and was one of Wesleyan’s most popular and beloved teachers (the first professor to win Wesleyan’s Binswanger Teaching Award twice). He has not only written history, he has made it. Since his early thirties he has been internationally acclaimed as one of the greatest American Studies scholars and he played a foundational role in developing the analysis of empire and race in the field of American Studies. He taught hundreds of students each year in his movie courses on “Westerns” and also on war movies. In December he was interviewed about gun control on Bill Moyers’ PBS show and before that has been interviewed by the major networks on gun culture and movies (for instance, re-reading the Star Wars films as extensions of the “frontier myth”). He retired in 2008 and has not lectured at Wesleyan for undergraduates since then. So this is a really special treat!
Best, Professor Pfister, Chair, American Studies Department