American Culture(s)
Fall 2014 / Universidad de Jaen
Dr. Kurt Harris
Today’s Learning Outcomes:
• To be able to state your purpose in taking this
course
• To understand the goals and expectations of this
module on American culture
• To be able to describe where many impressions
of American culture come from
• To appreciate the Native American experience
• To be able to describe some of the European
settlements in the New World
American Culture(s)
Today’s Agenda
• A Few Questions
• Module Syllabus
• The Native American Experience
• European Settlement
• For the Next Class
American Culture(s)
A Few Questions
• Write a short explanation about your purpose in
taking this class. Why are you investing time in
it? What do you expect to achieve? (Your
answers to these questions will help me create
my lectures.)
American Culture(s)
A Few Questions
• If you could express “American culture” in one
word, what would that word be?
American Culture(s)
A Few Questions
• Where do you get your impressions of American
culture? How is American culture delivered to
you?
American Culture(s)
Module syllabus
• The website:
http://www.americancultures2014.weebly.com
• Why “American Culture(s)”?
• The text
• The assignments
• The lectures
American Culture(s)
The Native American Experience
• What was America like before the arrival of
Europeans?
• What are Native American communities like
today?
American Culture(s)
The Navajo People
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3LMD5cgt0g
American Culture(s)
For the Next Class
• Read through Chapter 10 (page 43).
I will lecture on the following topics:
• The first American “states”
• The American Revolution
• The founding documents
• Westward expansion
American Culture(s)