Instructor: Jerold Last, UC Toxic Substances Research & Teaching Program, College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences
Description: This course will examine Twentieth Century California's social and economic environment as seen through the eyes of the authors of some of the most successful mystery stories (series) that have chosen California for their setting. Students will be expected to have read selected novels or short stories from this genre (or seen the movie versions) prior to each class. The readings will serve as the basis for a discussion of the broader society in which the stories are set. We will examine almost an entire century, from Dashiell Hammett's San Francisco of the 1920s and Marcia Muller’s and John Lescroart’s contemporary view of The City through Raymond Chandler's, the husband and wife Kellerman team, and William Mosley's 20th Century Los Angeles. We will also visit Ross MacDonald's Santa Barbara. Sue Grafton’s Santa Barbara and Karen Kijewski's contemporary Sacramento are available alternatives. Students will be encouraged to develop and defend their opinions, distinguish between factual background and fictional license, and to interpret the significance of the emergence of the modern, far more flawed and less noble, often feminine, private detective as protagonist. A substantial written journal component, based upon the assigned readings, will be required, and extensive use of e-mail as a communication medium for written reports will be stressed. Comparison (and contrast) of movie and book versions of Hammett, Chandler, MacDonald, and Mosley is also encouraged. This class should encourage students to enhance their skills in critical thinking, in creative writing, and in learning to defend their point of view in an informal oral discussion setting. The basic reading assignments, though extensive, should be fun, and non-technical enough that all participants start as equals. The topic is a lifelong interest of the instructor's, and a pleasure he enjoys sharing with the students. The extensive, but relatively informal, written work will help prepare the students for subsequent classes with more formal writing assignments.
Format: The seminar will meet for two hours each week. Students will be expected to have done weekly reading assignments prior to each class, to actively participate in class discussions in a small group format, to critique the presentations of classmates, and to maintain a weekly e-mail journal that summarizes their own individual interpretation of the reading. The class as a whole will have read a wide variety of books by each author, so discussions will range over an assortment of novels and short stories. We will experiment with different styles of supervision and guidance of discussions being made the responsibility of small subgroups of the class, to facilitate getting to know each other by the end of the course. To assist those who wish to keep costs down, several different books by each of these authors will be on 3-day reserve at Shield’s Library, so most of the reading assignments can be done using just the campus library as a source. Alternatively, Borders Books has inexpensive paperback editions of books by most of the contemporary authors unless their books are out of print, and the Yolo County Public Library (14th and B Street) also has copies of many of these books in hardcover. Substitution of other series from the author list is OK, or you can try Amazon.com to find books that are out of print (Plan Ahead!). Grading: Students will be graded based upon their participation in class (1/3), their timely submission of journals (1/3), and journal quality (both content and writing style [spelling, grammar]) (1/3).
About the Instructor: Dr. Last is a Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine in the Medical School’s Department of Internal Medicine. His research interests are in lung disease (pulmonary fibrosis and asthma) and in the potential long-term health effects of exposure to air pollution. He has been active in developing programs in environmental toxicology in South America, and directs a Fogarty International Center at UC Davis. Reading mystery novels is a life-long hobby for him, and totally unrelated to his professional career. He and his wife Elaine have lived in Davis since 1976, breed and show German Shorthaired Pointers, and have two sons who had their undergraduate training at UC San Diego (but also took classes at UC Davis prior to college) and graduate training at UC Berkeley and UC Davis.