In this course, we will examine the dramatic circumstances that gave rise to the Beat Generation in the 1940s. Together, we will examine three famous Beat works:Howl andOther Poems by Allen Ginsberg,On theRoad by Jack Kerouac, and Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs. We will focus on his torical events involving Beat writers, important passages of Beat literature, and the literary movement that spawned the1960s counter culture.
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YOUR INSTRUCTOR: Kurt Hemmer
Kurt Hemmer is the editor of theEncyclopedia of BeatLiteratureand a professor at Harper College. Hemmer has produced award-winning documentaries on Beat poets with filmmakerTom Knoff and published extensively on Beat writers. He organized the Jack Kerouac Centenary Conference and serves as president of the Beat Studies Association. He is currently working on a biography of Beat poet Gregory Corso.