schedule

Please note: You are responsible for completing the readings and assignments on the dates indicated. I will update our schedule, elaborating on the weekly reading reflection assignments, so please use the on-line version of the schedule.

1.) Bracket key passages about the Culture Industry in Adorno and key passages in Michael Parenti; note what "synergy," convergence," and the Big 9 corporations are in the Crothers reading.

2.) How do some of these ideas about the Culture industry apply to Sue Collins's idea about reality t.v?

3.) Browse the Columbia Journalism Review website, scanning down who owns what. Figure out some aspect of ownership about the pop culture artifact you are writing about. for your first Connection Paper.

readings due:Popular Culture & High Culture by Herbert Gans (Chapter 2); “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” by Walter Benjamin (e-reserve) & small selection from “How Real is This?” by Michael Eric Dyson (handout)

MIDTERM EXAM

mentor session: discussion/writing

requirements overview UNST 254A UNST 254C	Please note: You are responsible for completing the readings and assignments on the dates indicated. I will update our schedule, elaborating on the weekly reading reflection assignments, so please use the on-line version of the schedule.
Week One F 10/2 introductions childhood, pop culture as education, reading ideology	readings in-class: readings due: “Animating Youth: the Disnification of Children's Culture” by Henry Giroux (excerpt, in class) view Little Mermaid clip mentor session: Introductions
Week Two F 10/9 the culture industry who owns what?	readings due: "Culture Industry Reconsidered" by Theodor Adorno (e-reserve); small section of “Making the Most out of 15 minutes: Reality TV’s Dispensable Celebrity” by Sue Collins (handout); Small selection from Globalization & American Popular Culture by Lane Crothers (handout), "The Politics of Culture" by Michael Parenti (handout) Browse Columbia Journalism Review website “Who Owns What” (online) other assignments due: First Pop Culture Ledger & Connection Paper due discuss Participation Plus assignment (& Second Connection Paper) more links for in-class work: "Shopping by Robert Fitterman Excerpt from The Persuaders media survey reading reflection: 1.) Bracket key passages about the Culture Industry in Adorno and key passages in Michael Parenti; note what "synergy," convergence," and the Big 9 corporations are in the Crothers reading. 2.) How do some of these ideas about the Culture industry apply to Sue Collins's idea about reality t.v? 3.) Browse the Columbia Journalism Review website, scanning down who owns what. Figure out some aspect of ownership about the pop culture artifact you are writing about. for your first Connection Paper. mentor session: discussion/writing
Week Three F 10/16 media, high culture, critiques of pop culture	readings due: excerpt from Rich Media, Poor Democracy by Robert McChesney (e-reserve); browse prank issue of the New York Post by the Yes Men (online); Popular Culture & High Culture by Herbert Gans (introduction and Chapter 1) reading reflection: Chart out for yourself as you read: what does McChesney describe as "professional biases" of journalism? What does Herbert Gans describe as four critiques of popular culture, and how might you summarize his response to each of the critiques. Please plan on drawing from your notes in class. As you scan through the New York Post by the Yes Men note specific thoughts about the content, particularly whether you can imagine one of the articles in any media outlets (and which ones), and, if any of the content is surprising, what that reveals about our expectations of news media. Participation Plus Email me during the week if you plan to bring in a pop culture artifact that connects to one of these readings (and plan, also, on turning in a second connection paper. Some possibilities: an example from the news media that exemplifies (or undermines) a point that McChesney makes. in-class resources: survey 254A survey 254C mentor session: discussion/writing, organize small groups for final presentations
Week Four F 10/23 technology, authenticity, reproduction, high culture/pop culture	readings due:Popular Culture & High Culture by Herbert Gans (Chapter 2); “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” by Walter Benjamin (e-reserve) & small selection from “How Real is This?” by Michael Eric Dyson (handout) reading reflection: Chart out the "taste publics" or "cultures" that Herbert Gans outlines. Be sure to incorporate his "updates." How might you continue to update his analysis? Participation Plus Bring in artifacts that illustrate any of Gans's "taste publics" or bring in "original" or "authentic" technologies (look at the way Dyson discusses the role of the tape in discussion with Benjamin's ideas). in-class links: Sherman Alexie interview, Yes Men segment mentor session: discussion/writing, prepare for small group presentations (work on selecting topics)
Week Five F 10/30 the image, the real, and the hyperreal, advertising, the atomized individual	readings due: “The Precession of Simulacra” by Jean Baudrillard (read first section, 389-390; and "Hyperreal and the Imaginary," 393-394) (e-reserve) ; “Hunger as Ideology” by Susan Bordo (read 139-148, and then skim to the end); The Ego Boom by Steve Maich & Lianne George (9-118) other assignments due: Small groups should email preliminary topics by this date reading reflection: Look at first three paragraphs of page 143 of Bordo. Describe Borges’s fable. How does Jean Baudrillard invert that? How does the Cher example illuminate these ideas? How does this apply to the first paragraph (about students accusing her “of some kind of paranoia about the significance of these representations as carriers and reproducers of culture”? (143) What is the 'hyperreal'? in-class links: Killing Us Softly III American Girl website Dell Computers Pandora customized bobbleheads More customized bobbleheads & wedding cake toppers miaddidas threadless Participation Plus mentor session: discussion/writing, midterm review
Week Six F 11/6	MIDTERM EXAM mentor session: discussion/writing
Week Seven F 11/13 gender construction, atomized individuality	readings due:The Ego Boom (119-231); "White Weddings" (e-reserve); Miss Landmine beauty pageant ; other beauty pageants (online); Excerpt from Richard Gott on Venezuela & beauty pageants (e-reserves) reading reflection: Consider how the Gott reading and the Miss Landmine readings address beauty. How do you respond to the idea of the Miss Landmine beauty pageant? Summarize the points Maich & George make in the second half of the Ego Boom, and respond with your own examples. Why do you think that the title of the chapter from White Wedding is "Romancing the Clone? How does this show a construction of heteronormativity? in-class links: Sinead's Hand advertisement mentor session: discussion/writing, prepare for small group presentations by Thursday, Nov. 19, please email me your final paper topic.
Week Eight F 11/20 free trade & popular culture	readings due: “Globalization, Fragmentation, and American Popular Culture,” Globalization and American Popular Culture by Lane Crothers (e-reserve) (read through page 168 and then focus on the country you chose) Reading reflection: Jot notes about how the country you signed up for is resisting "American" pop culture. In class handouts: “McDonald’s Versus Slow Food” by Carlo Petrini (handout); “Jose Bové—the Man Who Dismantled McDonalds” (handout) (please note: I did not give these to you to read before class) other assignments due: Pop Culture Ledger & Connection Paper due Participation Plus Group Presentations mentor session: discussion/writing, prepare for small group presentations
Week Nine F 11/27	No Class
Week Ten Dec. 4	Group Presentations mentor session: peer feedback on essay draft
Final Exam Please turn in the Final Essay by Wedneday, December 9, at noon. I will be in Cramer Hall 117 from 9 AM until noon on Wed., Dec. 9, to collect them, but you are welcome to email to me by that deadline (please don't consider it "turned in" unless you receive a confirmation email from me) or turn your essay into my mailbox in Cramer 117.	Final Essay Due