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Schedule

All dates, times, and assignments are subject to change. Check this page before every class to make sure that you have the most current information.

Text in green is hyperlinked to that online reading or information about that assignment. You must complete all reading and film assignments before the class for which they are assigned, and you must submit all projects at the beginning of class on the days indicated. 

Section I: Commodity Culture & Representation

Week 1    Media Interviews & Cultural Criticism

Tuesday, January 13

  Introduction to the course and review of syllabus
Assignments: 1. In-class group project: media interviews
  2. In-class Writing assignment # 1

Thursday, January 15

View before class: 1. Stuart Hall, Representation and the Media (Sut Jhally, 2002; 55 min.) (Transcript and Study Guide) Okay to skip 32:06-40:31
View before class: 2. Excerpt 17:00-31:09 from bell hooks, Cultural Criticism and Transformation (Sut Jhally, 2002; 60 min.) (Transcript and Study Guide)
Assignments: 1. Quiz
  2. Media interviews: presentations (1 minute max each) & individual written summaries (1 page) due Thursday
Format all written papers according to these Guidelines for PC's or Guidelines for Macs
Reading: Begin reading Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore, The Medium is the Massage, 1967

 

Week 2   Media, Messages, and Spectacles

Tuesday, January 20-Thursday, January 22

Readings: 1. Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore, The Medium is the Massage, 1967
  2. Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle, 1967 #1-18 and #42
3. Listen to The Guardian podcast to help understand Debord, especially from 5:45-12:45
Assignment: Quiz

 

Week 3    The Culture of Fear - Exam 1

Tuesday, January 27

Reading: Barry Glassner, Introduction, Ch. 2, and Conclusion & Endnotes from The Culture of Fear
View before class: Bowling for Columbine or rent from Amazon video (Michael Moore, 2002; 125 min.) (study guide)
  Discussion of The Culture of Fear and Bowling for Columbine
  Group project assigned: Fear Clippings
Assignment: Quiz

Thursday, January 29

Assignment: Group project and presentation: Bring your Fear Clipping from a newspaper/magazine
View before class: Textual Analysis Paper instructions video and read through online updates posted in Textual Analysis Paper instructions
Paper: Preview Textual Analysis Paper documentary choices

EXAM 1

EXAM 1: Available on GeorgiaView from Thursday, 3:30pm-Friday, 3:30pm. Covers everything from Section 1
(40 minutes, True-False, Multiple Choice, & Short-Essay questions)

 

Section II: Culture, Ideology, & Hegemony

Week 4  Marxist Ideology

Tuesday, February 3

Reading: 1. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "The Ruling Class and the Ruling Ideas," from The German Ideology (1845)
  2. Louis Althusser, excerpts from "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses," from Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays (1971): read "The State" (137), "Ideological State Apparatuses" (141-158), and "Ideology Interpellates Individuals as Subjects" (170-176)
  3. Optional: Antonio Gramsci, "(ii) The Concept of Ideology, (iii) Cultural Themes," from The Prison Notebooks (1920s)
Assignment: Quiz
Teaching Intern Review: Online WebEx Review Sessions via video chat Tuesdays at 9pm (Meeting number: 648 814 682 and Password: Review) (Meeting number: 648 814 682 and Password: Review)

Thursday, February 5

View before class: Office Space or via Amazon (Mike Judge, 1999; 90 min.) (study guide)
  Discussion of Althusser, Marxist ideology, and Office Space
Assignment: Quiz
Paper: Sign up for your Textual Analysis Paper documentary in class today
Writing Workshop partners will be assigned and posted on the class roll

 

Week 5  Marxist Ideology & Ways of Seeing

Tuesday, February 10

Reading: John Berger, Ways of Seeing, Ch. 1-3 and 7 (1972) (study guide)
View before class: Killing Us Softly 3 (Jean Kilbourne/Sut Jhally, 2000; 30 min.) (study guide)
Assignments: 1. Bring to class one advertisement cut out of a magazine to turn in
  2. Quiz
Teaching Intern Review: Online WebEx Review Sessions via video chat Tuesdays at 9pm (Meeting number: 648 814 682 and Password: Review)

Thursday, February 12

Assignments: In-class group project: magazine ad deconstruction
  Out-of-class group project "Badvertisement" assigned

 

Week 6    Ways of Seeing Advertising and Commodity Culture / Workshop I

Tuesday, February 17

View before class: Fight Club or rent from Amazon video (David Fincher, 1999; 139 min.) (study guide)
Reading: John Berger, Ways of Seeing, Ch. 1-3 and 7 (1972) (study guide)
  Discussion of Berger, advertising, commodity culture, and Fight Club
Bring your Berger book Ways of Seeing to class
Assignment: Quiz
PAPER: Workshop 1 Worksheet for Textual Analysis Paper due during class via printed copy. Bring to campus 2 hard copies: 1 hard copy for the TA and 1 hard copy for your Writing Workshop partner.
Teaching Intern Review: Online WebEx Review Sessions via video chat Tuesdays at 9pm (Meeting number: 648 814 682 and Password: Review)

Thursday, February 19

Assignment: Group "Badvertisement" project due & presented to class
PAPER: Writing Workshop I (Mandatory; absence/tardiness counts double)

EXAM 2

EXAM 2: Available on GeorgiaView Thursday, 3:30pm-Friday, 3:30pm
(50 minutes, True-False, Multiple Choice, & Short-Essay questions)

 

Section III:  The Politics of Identity

Week 7   Constructing Normalcy: Gender and Disability

Tuesday, February 24

Reading: 1. Lennard Davis, "Constructing Normalcy" (1995)
  2. Marilyn Frye, "Oppression" (1983)
Assignment: Quiz
Teaching Intern Review: Online WebEx Review Sessions via video chat Tuesdays at 9pm (Meeting number: 648 814 682 and Password: Review)

Thursday, February 26

Readings: Rosemarie Garland Thomson, "Disability, Identity, and Representation: An Introduction" from Extraordinary Bodies (1997)
Optional: Two selections from The Fat Studies Reader (2009): Laura Fraser, "The Inner Corset" (11-14) and Marilynn Wann, "Fat Studies: An Invitation to Revolution" (Forward pp. ix-xviii)
Assignment: Quiz and In-class writing exercise

 

Week 8    Constructing Race, Ethnicity, and Post-Coloniality

Tuesday, March 3

Reading: bell hooks, "Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance" from Black Looks (1991)
Assignment: Quiz
  Guest Presentation by Teaching Intern Stephanie
Teaching Intern Review: Online WebEx Review Sessions via video chat Tuesdays at 9pm (Meeting number: 648 814 682 and Password: Review)

Thursday, March 5

View before class: Edward Said On Orientalism (Sut Jhally, 1998; 40 min.)
Reading: Edward Said, Introduction to Orientalism (1979): read pages 1-15, 20-22, and 26-28
Assignment: Quiz

 

Week 9   Spring Break

Tuesday, March 10 - Thursday, March 12

No Classes for Spring Break

 

Week 10   Constructing Sexuality and Class

Tuesday, March 17

Readings: Adrienne Rich, "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence" from Blood, Bread and Poetry (1980)
  In-class "Compulsory Heterosexuality" exercise
Assignment: Quiz
Teaching Intern Review: Online WebEx Review Sessions via video chat Tuesdays at 9pm (Meeting number: 648 814 682 and Password: Review)

Thursday, March 19

Reading: Gregory Mantsios, "Media Magic: Making Class Invisible" (2012)
Assignment: Quiz

PAPER: Full text (6-7 pages) of Textual Analysis Paper due Thursday before class via D2L Dropbox and email Word attachment copied to Writing Workshop partner, TAs, & Dr. B.  Print and bring to campus 1 hard copy for the TA and 1 hard copy for your partne

 

Week 11   The Politics of Identity: Analysis of The Lion King

Tuesday, March 24

View before class: Disney's The Lion King (also available via Amazon) (Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, 1994; 90 min.) (study guide)
Assignment: Discussion Preparation: Review your notes on The Lion King based on the study guide questions on gender, class, sexuality, race, post-coloniality, disability, and ISAs in The Lion King. Then type up a bulleted list of your observations on how each of these identity categories that we have studied in this section of the course functions in the film (giving examples from the film). Bring your list to class to turn in.  
Teaching Intern Review: Online WebEx Review Sessions via video chat Tuesdays at 9pm (Meeting number: 648 814 682 and Password: Review)

Thursday, March 26

PAPER: Textual Analysis Paper Writing Workshop II (Mandatory; absence/tardiness counts double)
Bring your written comments on your partner's paper & save your partner's comments

 

Week 12    The Politics of Identity: Analysis of Color Adjustment / Workshop II

Tuesday, March 31

In-class screening: Color Adjustment (Marlon Riggs, 1989; 90 min.) (study guide)
PAPER: Textual Analysis Paper due. Bring 1 printed & stapled copy + all comments written by TAs, workshop partner, & Dr. B (paperclip all together). Submit via D2L Dropbox as well.
Teaching Intern Review: Online WebEx Review Sessions via video chat Tuesdays at 9pm (Meeting number: 648 814 682 and Password: Review)

Thursday, April 2

In-class screening: Color Adjustment (Marlon Riggs, 1989; 90 min.) (study guide) and discussion

 

Section IV: Postmodernism and Representation

Week 13    Modernism vs. Postmodernism / Identity Performance

Tuesday, April 7

Reading: 1. Mary Klages, "Postmodernism"
  2. Judith Butler, excerpt from Gender Trouble, focus especially on pages 117-123 and 126-127
Assignment: Quiz
Teaching Intern Review: Online WebEx Review Sessions via video chat Tuesdays at 9pm (Meeting number: 648 814 682 and Password: Review)

Thursday, April 9

Reading: 1. Sherry Turkle, "Tinysex and Gender Trouble," excerpts from Life on the Screen (pages 210-223 only)
re-read: 2. Judith Butler, excerpt from Gender Trouble, focus especially on pages 117-123 and 126-127
  BRING YOUR LAPTOP TO CLASS: Sign up for and test chatroom identity
Assignment: Quiz

 

Week 14    Chatroom Identity Experiment

Tuesday,April 14

  BRING YOUR LAPTOP for Online chatroom identity experiment
Teaching Intern Review: Online WebEx Review Sessions via video chat Tuesdays at 9pm (Meeting number: 648 814 682 and Password: Review)

Thursday, April 16

  Discussion of online chat identity experiment
Assignment: Chatroom Identity Experiment response paper due
PAPER: Your revised Textual Analysis Paper is due on hard copy in class & via D2L Dropbox and email:
  Print and bring to campus 1 hard copy for the TA and 1 hard copy for your partner. DOUBLE CHECK THE ROLL TO SEE IF YOUR PARTNER HAS CHANGED SINCE THE LAST WORKSHOP.
Attach to the TA copy the last draft of their edits AND the copy with comments by Dr.B (paperclip all together).
  Email your Writing Workshop partner, TAs, & Dr. B with a Word attachment as well.

 

Week 15    Workshop III

Tuesday, April 21

PAPER: Textual Analysis Paper Writing Workshop III (Mandatory)
Assignment: Email your "3 substantial comments" on your partner's paper to Dr. B & TAs (NOT your partner) by Tuesday at 9am
  Bring to class 1 printed copy of your typed up comments for your partner; save your partner's comments on your paper to turn in with your final paper.
  Bring your edited printout of your partner's paper for your partner
Assignment: Bring to class an advertisement about technology/computers cut out of a magazine to turn in
Teaching Intern Review: Online WebEx Review Sessions via video chat Tuesdays at 9pm (Meeting number: 648 814 682 and Password: Review)
  Course Evaluations this week online

Thursday, April 23

PAPER: Textual Analysis Paper optional additional workshop with TAs

 

Week 16    Papers and Review

Tuesday, April 28

Assignment: In-class group project: Digital Culture Ads Deconstruction
PAPER: Revised Textual Analysis Paper + first submission with Dr. B's comments and Workshop 3 revisions with TA and partner's comments due (paperclip all these hard copies together). Submit via Dropbox and email Dr. B your paper as a Word attachment as well.
Teaching Intern Review: Online WebEx Review Sessions via video chat Tuesdays at 9pm (Meeting number: 648 814 682 and Password: Review)

Thursday, April 30

  Final Exam Review: bring your questions
Assignment: In-class writing assignment #2
Course Evaluations online end
BRING YOUR LAPTOP OR SMARTPHONE TO CLASS ON THURSDAY
Class potluck: Bring food to share with the class!

Final Exam: Thursday, May 7, 12:30-2:30pm in MUS 215
Bring 2 pens and 2 pencils.