Media and Cultural StudiesDr. Ted FriedmanOffice: 738 One Park Place South Office Hours: Mondays 2-6 and by appointment Email: tedf@gsu.edu; Phone: (404) 463-9522 Home Page: http://www.tedfriedman.com Course DescriptionWhat 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 current applied scholarship. We'll address a range of media, from film and television to music, computer games, architecture, graffiti art and romance novels. We'll look at multiple, intersecting structures of power, including class, gender, and race. ReadingsClass readings will include books, a coursepack of articles, and news items distributed via the class email list. Here are the books you'll need:
Outside Screenings and ActivitiesSome videos will be screened during class. In addition, several films will be assigned as outside screenings, and should be viewed before class the week they are scheduled. Most films will be on reserve on DVD or video at the Library Media Center. They are also readily available at local video stores for home rental. Recommended alternatives to Blockbuster are Movies Worth Seeing (1409 N Highland; 404-892-1802) and Videodrome (617 N Highland; 404-885-1117). There will also be two outside activities: purchasing a romance novel and visiting The World of Coca-Cola. Online Discussion GroupAll students will be automatically signed up to the online class discussion group, hosted by Yahoo Groups. I will regularly forward media industry news, cultural criticism, and other useful material to the list. You're encouraged to forward other interesting information, respond to postings, or continue any other ongoing discussions from class.
Schedule8/22 IntroductionIn-class screening: Barbie Nation 8/29 From Marx to the Frankfurt SchoolGraeme Turner, British Cultural Studies, Introduction and Part I Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels, excerpts Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception" Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" Marshall Berman, "All That Is Solid Melts Into Air" In-class screening: Music videos 9/5 Birmingham and BeyondTurner, Part II Louis Althusser, "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses" Atonio Gramsci, "Hegemony, Intellectuals and the State" Stuart Hall, "Encoding/Decoding" and "Cultural Studies: Two Paradigms" John Fiske, "British Cultural Studies and Television" Richard Dyer, "Entertainment and Utopia" In-class screening: Sitcom TBA 9/12 Ideological Analysisin PracticeRobert Ray, A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, 1930-1980 Ted Friedman, "Cast Away and the Contradictions of Product Placement" Outside screenings: Casablanca and Cast Away 9/19 Feminist TheoryToril Moi, Sexual/Textual Politics Christine Gledhill, "Pleasurable Negotiations" Outside screening: Recent film chosen by class vote 9/26 Audience EthnographyJanice Radway, Reading the Romance Outside assignment: go to a bookstore and buy a romance novel to read for class 10/3 Subcultural StudiesHenry Jenkins, Textual Poachers and "Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture" (The essay is not in the coursepack – it's online at http://web.mit.edu/21fms/www/faculty/henry3/starwars.html) In-class screening: Sonic Outlaws, Star Wars fan films Prospectus due 10/10 Critical Race TheoryMichael Omi; Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States Stuart Hall, "What Is This 'Black' in Black Popular Culture?" In-class screening: Sitcom chosen by class vote 10/17 PostmodernityDavid Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, pp. 141-360 Fredric Jameson, "Postmodernism, Or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism" Donna Haraway, "Manifesto for Cyborgs" Outside screenings: Blade Runner and The Matrix 10/24 Aesthetics and Cultural CapitalSimon Frith, Performing Rites Pierre Bourdieu, "The Aristocracy of Culture" and "Structures, Habitus, Power: Basis for a Theory of Symbolic Power" Malcolm Gladwell, "The Coolhunt" 10/31 Queer TheoryAlexander Doty, Making Things Perfectly Queer Outside screening: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes In-class screening: Paris is Burning 11/7 Violence and FantasyGerard Jones, Killing Monsters Ted Friedman, "Civilization and Its Discontents" Outside screening: PC videogame demo chosen by class vote 11/14 SpaceAndrew Ross, The Celebration Chronicles Ted Friedman, "The World of The World of Coca-Cola" David Brooks, "Patio Man and the Sprawl People" Outside screening: The Truman Show Outside site visit: The World of Coca-Cola (it's just down the block, next to Underground Atlanta) 11/21 NCA Conference – Class Cancelled11/28 Thanksgiving – No Class12/5 Globalization and ActivismNaomi Klein, No Logo Outside screening: Fight Club Paper due AssignmentsStudy Group PresentationDuring the second week of class, you will sign up to give a 20-30 minute group presentation on one week's book. Groups will have 2-3 members each. Read your week's book in advance, and do supplementary research to put the book in a broader context. Then, meet with your group to discuss the reading, plan your presentation and to prepare an outline to hand out to the class. (Bring 30 copies.) After the presentation, your group will lead the class discussion of the text. The presentation should address the
following issues:
Research PresentationIn the second half of semester, you will present a 15-20 minute summary of your research paper and answer questions from the class. Research PaperYou will write a 15-20 page paper on a subject relating to cultural studies. 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. A one-page prospectus is due October 3. I will schedule individual meetings with you to discuss the prospectus. I will look at drafts of the final paper submitted on or before Tuesday, November 26. You're welcome to submit multiple drafts for feedback. The final paper is due in class on Thursday, December 5.
PoliciesAcademic HonestyThe 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. WithdrawalsStudents withdrawing on or before October 11 will receive a W provided they are passing the course. Students who withdraw after October 11 will not be eligible for a W except in cases of hardship. If you withdraw after October 11, you will be assigned a WF, except in those cases in which (1) hardship status is determined by the office of the dean of students because of emergency, employment, or health reasons, and (2) you are passing the course. IncompletesIncompletes 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 SyllabusThis syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.
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