From the Beats to the Hippies: An Evolution
LIT11-10-Mon2
David Moskowitz
This course will take place virtually on Zoom. Participation requires a device (ideally a computer or tablet, rather than a cell phone) with a camera and microphone in good working order and basic familiarity with using Zoom and accessing email.
March 10 - May 19
(No Class April 14)
This course is designed for those sharing a fascination with the Beat Movement. For the SGL, this movement evokes the following images – a guitar-playing 3rd grade teacher in 1957-8 who frequently came to class dressed in all black and the TV character Maynard G. Krebs from Dobie Gillis. When one delves into the defining literature for this period two novels are always included so we will study these for two and one week respectively: On the Road and Naked Lunch. Burroughs appears as a character in Kerouac’s novel as does Allen Ginsberg, and a class will be devoted to the latter’s two most famous works (Howl & Kaddish) while another class will study the poems of five well-known Beat poets. Two weeks will be spent on various essays which will help us understand what this time was like and what writers were trying to convey, including Norman Mailer’s thought-provoking “White Negro”, a term he coined in 1957 to define/explain “Hipsters”, and the latter term evolved into “Hippies”. The course will conclude by examining Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test as he follows Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters. This book was described by The New York Times as “not simply the best book on the hippies, it is the essential book.” The characters in this book include some of the characters encountered in Kerouac’s classic, thereby taking us full circle.
More facilitated discussion than lecture.
Need to obtain the three books below; the other material will be distributed by the SGL.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac, Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
Probably 2-3 hours per week on average but it will vary per session.
David Moskowitz holds a B.S. degree from the Wharton School of the Univ. of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Harvard. His legal career was spent predominantly as a general counsel, including 11 years as Brandeis’ initial general counsel. This is his 14th BOLLI-led course (29th time leading). David has led both fiction-based and non-fiction-based courses and this course has some of each. David led this course this past term. He encourages dynamic, vibrant class discussions and at times will play devil’s advocate to stimulate discussion. Be prepared to think.