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Academic Year 2004/2005

The Trickster and the Stranger in the Making of American Culture
SOC 399 FA

This course may be repeated for credit.

The seminar invites research and analysis of the role of tricksters, outsiders, and strangers in the making of American Culture, with an emphasis on late 19th through 20th century. Among the subjects considered will be Muhammad Ali, Rosa Parks, Crazy Horse, Gloria Anzaldua, South Asian and Chinese Americans. Students will read both fiction and non-fiction. The idea of an "America" will be taken as a topic for analysis of culture as a cover for exclusion in the name of inclusion. Instances of disruption and transformation of the cultural norm will be considered.

MAJOR READINGS

David Remnick, KING OF THE WORLD (Muhammad Ali)
Douglas Brinkley, ROSA PARKS
Vijay Prasad, THE KARMA OF BROWN FOLK
Gloria Azaldua, INTERVIEWS/ENTREVISTAS
Toni Morrison, SULA
Maxine Hong Kingston, WARRIOR WOMAN
Charles Lemert, MUHAMMAD ALI: TRICKSTER KING IN THE CULTURE OF IRONY

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Short papers, group projects and paper, final long essay.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Students without SOC 151 may be admitted on a permission of instructor basis. Please do not register if you are unwilling to read all the assignments and attend every class.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS SOC    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: SOC151 Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-21-2005

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