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Classes

New Directions in Cultural Studies, Fall 2008

What are the political dimensions of popular culture? How does culture reflect, influence, and embody structures of power? Where does hegemony end and resistance begin? This class will engage the interdisciplinary field of Cultural Studies, which attempts to understand the relationship between culture and politics. We’ll be reading both founding theoretical texts and cutting-edge scholarship. We’ll address a range of media, from film and television to music, computer games and romance novels. We’ll look at multiple, intersecting structures of power, including class, nation, gender, and race.

Readings
Class readings will include books, a coursepack of articles, and news items distributed via the class email list.

The course books (other than the romance novel you select) are available at the GSU bookstores. Here are the books you’ll need:

Graeme Turner, British Cultural Studies: An Introduction
Francois Cusset, French Theory
Michael Omi and Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States
Janice Radway, Reading the Romance
Ariel Levy, Female Chauvinist Pigs
Mark Bousquet, How the University Works
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Multitude
David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous
Bruno Latour, We Have Never Been Modern
Stephanie Kaza, ed., Hooked: Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire,
and the Urge to Consume

The coursepack is sold by Bestway Copy Center, 18 Decatur Street SE (on the first floor of One Park Place South).

Email Group

All students will be signed up to the class email list. I will regularly forward media news and cultural criticism to the list. You’re encouraged to forward other interesting information, post your reactions to recent movies, respond to other postings, or continue any other ongoing discussions from class.

Schedule

8/18 The Politics of Culture
In-class screening: Barbie Nation

8/25 Culture and Power
Graeme Turner, British Cultural Studies: An Introduction: Introduction, Part 1 Karl Marx, excerpts from The German Ideology
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ch01a.htm;
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ch01b.htm
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment
as Mass Deception”
http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/SWA/Some_writings_of_Adorno.shtml
Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”
http://bid.berkeley.edu/bidclass/readings/benjamin.html

9/1 Labor Day - no class
Outside screening: watch The Century of Self Parts 1-4
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=century+of+self

9/8 Hegemony and Resistance
Turner, Part II
Louis Althusser, “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses”
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/althusser/1970/ideology.htm
Atonio Gramsci, “Hegemony, Intellectuals and the State” (CP)
Stuart Hall, “Encoding/Decoding” (CP)

9/15 Cynicism and Utopia
Slavoj Zizek, excerpt from The Sublime Object of Ideology (CP)
Fredric Jameson, “Reification and Utopia in Mass Culture,” (CP)
Douglas Kellner, “Ernst Bloch, Utopia and Ideology Critique”
http://www.uta.edu/english/dab/illuminations/kell1.html
Richard Dyer, “Entertainment and Utopia” (CP)
Ted Friedman, “Introduction,” Electric Dreams
http://www.tedfriedman.com/electricdreams/2005/02/introduction.php

9/22 French Theory
Francois Cusset, French Theory

9/29 Critical Race Theory
Michael Omi & Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States

10/6 Feminist Ethnography
Janice Radway, Reading the Romance
Outside assignment: go to a bookstore, buy a romance novel, and read it.

10/13 Postfeminism
Ariel Levy, Female Chauvinist Pigs

10/20 Academia
Mark Bousquet, How the University Works

10/27 Globalization and Empire
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Multitude

11/3 Environmentalism and Animism
David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous
Ted Friedman, “The Politics of Magic” (handout)

11/10 Science and Modernity
Bruno Latour, We Have Never Been Modern

11/17 Alternative Approaches to Consumerism
Stephanie Kaza, ed., Hooked: Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire,
and the Urge to Consume

11/24 Research Presentations 1
No reading

12/1 Research Presentations 2/Party
No reading
Party at Ted’s house

Assignments

I. Lead two discussions of books – 15% of final grade for each book
You will sign up to lead, with a group, discussions of two books. To prepare for the discussion of the reading, in addition to reading the week’s assignment, research these questions to put the reading in a broader context:

What is the author’s background? What discipline is the author trained in? What else has s/he written? In which journals has s/he published?

What was the reception of the book? How was book reviewed? What criticisms have been made of the author’s work? How has the author responded? Whom has the author influenced?

Then, meet with your group to prepare for a class discussion. Don’t bother summarizing the work. Rather, concentrate on how the work relates to the key questions we’ll be asking all semester. In addition to the research topics, other subjects for discussion should include:

Methodology: What research methods does the author use? (Possibilities include textual analysis, ethnography, historical research, quantitative social science, etc.) How does the author approach and justify this methodology? What are the advantages and limitations of this methodology?

Theoretical debates: In what theoretical debates does the work intervene? Where does the author stand? Whom does the author criticize? How does this work move the debate forward?

Example of Analysis: Pick one media example that’s either directly addressed by the author, or that can be illuminated by applying the author’s ideas. Show a representative sample from the text (any clip should be no more than 5 minutes). Discuss how the author would (or does) interpret the example. What are the strengths and limitations of this interpretation? What alternate interpretations are possible?

Outline the key topics of discussion in a short (1-2 page) handout for the class. There’s no need to include more detail, or to prepare a PowerPoint presentation – the focus should be on presenting material orally and facilitating a good class discussion.

Note: you don’t need to organize your discussion in the order listed above. It may help to present the example up front, to ground your discussion of methodology and theory. It’s often also a good icebreaker to begin discussion by going around the room, asking everybody to answer a specific question related to their response to the book.

II. Lead discussion of one key theorist – 10% of final grade
You will also sign up to lead discussion of one key theorist. This will be a shorter 30-minute discussion. You should research the author’s writing and biography beyond the assigned readings, then begin the discussion with a brief (5 minute) biographical introduction. Then, introduce a contemporary media example and lead a discussion of how the theorist’s ideas might be applied to the example. Hand out a short 1-page summary of the writer’s key works and concepts. The choice of theorists includes: Adorno, Benjamin, Althusser, Gramsci, Hall, Zizek, and Jameson.

III. Journal presentation – 10% of final grade
Sign up to give a presentation on an academic journal which publishes work in cultural studies and related disciplines. The following is an incomplete list of potential journals:
Advertising & Society Review
American Studies
Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities
Camera Obscura
Cineaction
Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies
Configurations
Continuum
Critical Inqauiry
Critical Studies in Media Communication
Cultural Critique
Cultural Studies
Cultural Studies/Critical Methodologies
Culture, Theory & Critique
differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies
European Journal of Cultural Studies
Feminist Media Studies
Flow
Game Studies
Global Media Journal
International Journal of Cultural Studies
Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies
Journal of Communication Inquiry
Journal of Consumer Culture
Journal of Popular Culture
Journal of Sport & Social Issues
Journal of Visual Culture
Jump Cut
M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture
Media, Text and Society
New Left Review
New Media & Society
Nine: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture
October
Politics and Culture
Popular Communication
Popular Music
Popular Music and Society
Postmodern Culture
Public Culture
Review of Education/Pedagogy/Cultural Studies
Science as Culture
Science Fiction Studies
Signs
Social Text
South Asian Popular Culture
Television and New Media
Topia: A Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies
The Velvet Light Trap


Browse through the last several years of the journal, reading enough articles to give you a sense of the journal’s disciplinary focus, methodological assumptions, and theoretical framework. Which scholars are regularly cited? What knowledge is taken for granted? What kind of specialized language is employed? Pay particular attention to debates within the journal, such as essays which provoke responses. Pick one standout article to discuss in more detail. Also research the journal’s submission policies and rejection rate. Give a 15 minute presentation addressing these questions. Summarize your research on a one-page handout for the class.

IV. Final Project – 50% of final grade
Option 1: Write a 15-20 page paper on a subject relating to the politics of popular culture. You should write this paper with an eye towards eventually presenting it at a conference, expanding it and publishing it. In addition, if you already have a thesis or dissertation topic in mind, consider how this paper might form the basis for a chapter of the larger work.

Option 2: Produce a creative work which engages some of the ideas of the class. The project can be a short film, a screenplay, or a new media work. Along with the project, include a 5-page paper relating your work to ideas from the class.

For either option, the deadlines are the same:
A one-page prospectus is due October 12. I will schedule individual meetings with you to discuss the prospectus.
You will give a short (10 minute) presentation of your research project on either November 24 or December 1.
The final project is due December 8.

V. Attendance Adjustment
As Woody Allen put it, “80 percent of success is showing up.” It’s less than that in this formula, but the bottom line is that you can’t contribute to the class if you’re not there. You’re allowed one unexcused absence for the semester. After that, each unexcused absence subtracts one point from your grade total. Excused absences include medical and family emergencies. You will be expected to schedule any employment responsibilities around this class, or accept the consequences of missed classes for your grade. If you do need to miss a class, please contact me ahead of time, and make arrangements to catch up on missed material.

Policies

Academic Honesty
The university’s policy on academic honesty is published in On Campus: The Undergraduate Co-Curricular Affairs Handbook, available online at http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwcam. The policy prohibits plagiarism, cheating on examinations, unauthorized collaboration, falsification, and multiple submissions. Violation of the policy will result in failing the class, in addition to possible disciplinary sanctions.

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.

Posted by tedf at August 23, 2008 11:54 PM

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