French Studies 290L - Americans in Paris

"We'll always have Paris," a famous line from the 1942 classic film Casablanca, captures the special relationship between Americans and the city of light throughout the course of the 20th century. In this interdisciplinary course, students will explore the influence of Paris on American writers, artists, musicians, scientists, and other cultural figures. We begin in the 1920s with the first generation of American expatriate artists who made their home in Paris, a group that includes writers Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edith Wharton, and Gertrude Stein; iconic dancers Isadora Duncan and Josephine Baker; photographer Man Ray; and musicians George Gershwin and Sidney Bechet. Our focus then shifts to the post-war generation of African American writers such as Richard Wright and James Baldwin; to the culinary influence of Paris on star chef personalities such as Julia Child, and to important scientific collaborations such as the simultaneous discovery of the HIV virus by French and American scientists. Finally, we will read and evaluate popular contemporary works by Americans in Paris, including the celebrated New Yorker columnist Adam Gopnik (author of From Paris to the Moon) and Pamela Druckerman (author of Bringing up Bebe). How did Paris---and the broader experience of exile---impact these American's national, ethnic, sexual, and artistic identities? Course requirements include active class participation, an oral presentation, two essays, a midterm, and a final.