This course examines mythologies and realities of the American South; the antebellum period, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Civil Rights era, and the New South. It looks at how these historical moments have been written and rewritten, in academic and popular discourses, in response to racial beliefs and ideological needs. It considers the South as a geographical, social, and cultural entity and as an important element within the shaping of an American national mythos. Prerequisites: None. (F;S;SS)