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AMST204
Junior Colloquium: Cultural Studies and American Studies
AMST204 SP
Next Offered in 9899 SP
The aim of our colloquium is to place the contributions of
British cultural studies and American Studies in a critical
dialogue with one another. From this critical exchange we
will develop a more rigorous grasp of cultural theory and a
more complex understanding of what is at stake in cultural
criticism and cultural history. Topics include: the concepts
of ideology, hegemony, and contradiction; the theorizing and
historicizing of forms of subjectivity; marxist theories,
feminist theories, antiracism work. A number of exercises
(including field trips) and analyses of texts (literary,
historical) will put our theoretical work into practice.
MAJOR READINGS
Terry Eagleton, "What is Ideology?" and "The
Significance of Theory"
James Kavanagh, "Ideology"
Roland Barthes, MYTHOLOGIES
William Cronon, CHANGES IN THE LAND: INDIANS, COLONISTS, AND
THE ECOLOGY OF NEW ENGLAND
Benjamin Franklin, AUTOBIOGRPAHY
Max Weber, THE PROTESTANT ETHIC AND THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM
Michael Wallace, "Visiting the Past: History Museums in the
United States"
Chris Weedon, FEMINIST PRACTICE AND POSTSTRUCTURALIST THEORY
Spike Lee, DO THE RIGHT THING (film)
Cornel West, "The Dilemma of the Black Intellectual"
Frederick Douglass, NARRATIVE
Lawrence Levine, BLACK CULTURE AND BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS
Leroi Jones, (Amiri Baraka) THE DUTCHMAN and THE SLAVE
Graeme Turner, "British Cultural Studies"
Allan Bloom, THE CLOSING OF THE AMERICAN MIND
Joel Pfister, "THE AMERICANIZATION OF CULTURAL STUDIES"
Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, "Sex as Symbol in Victorian
Purity"
Thomas Laqueur "Orgasm, Generation, and the Politics of
Reproductive Biology"
Barbara Kruger, WE WON'T PLAY NATURE TO YOUR CULTURE
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Three five page papers plus
some exercises. Each student will take a turn at leading
class discussion.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
Only American
Studies majors may take this course.
COURSE FORMAT: Seminar
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level: UG Credit: 1.00
Prerequisites:
AMST151 or AMST152 or AMST155 or AMST156
Last Updated on MAR-03-1998
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Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459