Gonzo journalism, the nonfiction novel, literary journalism, the "new new journalism." Before "American Studies" was named and developed as an academic field the study of American culture thrived in the able hands of writers, reformers and amateur anthropologists whose works continue to form the basis of the curriculum. This course is an introduction to American culture through the eyes of extraordinary writers who work as public intellectuals, addressing a readership that reaches beyond the university. We will travel to Alaska with John McPhee, to Miami with Joan Didion, to Sing Sing prison with Ted Conover, and to the Hmong community of Northern California with Ann Fadiman, examining at every stop both the cultures in which these acute observers immerse themselves and their interpretive techniques. Works will be drawn from the following list of authors: Jane Addams, Zora Neal Hurston, Truman Capote, Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, Studs Terkel, John Edgar Wideman, Peggy Orenstein, Jon Krakauer, Susan Orlean, and Mitchell Duneier.