About this Course

Course Title:
HOUSECS 59.01: Deconstructing the History of the American West

Fall 2025, Duke University

Instructor: Jerry Zou (zhihui.zou@duke.edu)
Faculty advisor: Dr. Juliana Barr (juliana.barr@duke.edu)

In U.S. media past and present, the American West has been a symbol of romanticization and individualism. This skewed representation in film, literature, news, and popular culture shadows the American West as a network of complex and multi-lateral interaction among racial, political, economic, industrial, environmental, colonial, and scientific factors. Where was — or is — the West? How much did the Louisiana Purchase actually cost? What was the real motivation when the U.S. and Mexican governments mentioned Native American communities in the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo? What industries hide behind the theater stages of California’s Hollywood? This course reexamines how well-known narratives have been taught and told in classrooms and media to peel back the sugarcoats that have engulfed the intricate past of the American West that still affects our communities today.

This course is supported by the Duke University Department of History and sponsored by the Duke University Human Rights Center House Course Grants (Fall 2024, Spring 2025).

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