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Course Description

Summary

This course will survey the rich history of Americans' fascination and engagement with the city of Paris and France. Beginning with Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, we will look at succeeding generations of travelers and expatriates: 19th-century tourists who came to complete their cultural education, painters who discovered new techniques and inspiration in artistic circles, African-Americans who found freedoms unheard of in segregated American society, and the expatriate writers of the early 20th century. We will also consider the experiences of American solidiers in the First and Second World Wars and their deep and lasting impact on American society. Finally, we will examine the pleasure seekers' search for sexual freedom, culinary sophistication, and the beauty of fashion. This course is an interdisciplinary cultural history: we will study letters (Jefferson), novels (Mark Twain, Stein, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Baldwin), memoirs (Julia Child), travel guides, songs, the visual arts, film, and television (Sex and the City).