.....Hitchhike across the continent with Jack Kerouac..."Howl" with Allen Ginsberg...smash the control machine with William Burroughs...roar like a lion with Michael McClure...master the Zen simplicity of Gary Snyder...revel at the art of Wallace Berman and Bruce Conner! Literature of the Counterculture is a journey into the minds of some revolutionary thinkers and a study of the Beat Generation. We will critique our society as well as discover ways to be just and compassionate stewards of our own world. In addition to the aforementioned authors, the works of Amiri Baraka, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Lew Welch, Gregory Corso, and others will be read, performed, and discussed in order to gain a better understanding of these subcultures. Further, we will examine the musical form of Bebop jazz pioneered by artists like Charlie "Bird" Parker, Dizzie Gillespe, and Miles Davis. In regard to creative endeavors, we will experiment with spontaneous prose composition, created by Jack Kerouac, and we will study the California Assemblage movement and create our own bizarre but socially relevant sculptures. Lastly, we will view and discuss some groundbreaking experimental films by Beat magicians of the genre. In this class, prepare to be transformed!