The Economy of Culture
SOC 225
Fall 2014 not offered
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Why won't Tiffany sell turquoise jewelry when they're famous for putting jewelry in turquoise boxes? How do we make sense of governments that use tax dollars to subsidize certain types of culture that wealthy people disproportionately enjoy? Why is it so hard to figure out how much something costs in an art gallery? What happens when economists stop using gross domestic product (GDP) to evaluate countries and start evaluating them based on happiness? If experts can't tell the difference between cheap wine and expensive wine in blind taste tests, why are expensive wines so expensive, and how did these people become experts anyway? This is a course about the interplay between economy, society, and culture, and these are just a few of the questions we'll discuss. The course introduces an economic approach to the study of culture and asks you to critically interrogate dominant perspectives on the meaning of value and worth. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS SOC |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: SOC151 |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (SOC) |
Major Readings:
Course Reader
Zelizer, Vivian A., THE PURCHASE OF INTIMACY. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007.
Mears, Ashley, PRICING BEAUTY: THE MAKING OF A FASHION MODEL. Berkeley, CA: UC Press, 2011.
Maus, Marcel, THE GIFT. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1925 [2000].
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Examinations and Assignments:
2 short papers
1 long paper
participation on the online class forum |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
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