AMST 217: American Superheroes

The superhero has been a part of American culture since 1938 but has grown more prominent in recent years as the figure has proliferated across media forms including film, television, comics, and even literary fiction. What does the surging popularity of superhero narratives tell us about American society in the 21st century? What can the evolution of the genre tell us about the ways in which American ideas about power, politics, morality, and heroism have changed over the past eighty-five years? This course offers an in-depth, interdisciplinary analysis of diverse representations of superheroes in historical context. Through lecture, class discussion, papers, and presentations, students will gain a greater understanding of how the superhero story reflects and perhaps even shapes American culture.