Popular Culture and Social Justice: Introduction to American Studies
AMST 174
Spring 2016
| Section:
01
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| Course Cluster: Animal Studies, Disability Studies, Queer Studies |
This course explores the interlocking histories of popular culture and social justice in the 20th- and 21st-century United States, with particular focus from mid-century to the current moment. By focusing on the ways in which social justice movements and ideologies have utilized and been informed by trends in art, film, television, music, and commercialism, we will interrogate critical concepts in the field of American studies, such as citizenship, belonging, difference, and equality. Topics covered will include feminism/s, antilynching, civil rights, labor and unionization, pro-choice, anarchism, socialism and communism, disability rights, queer liberation, leftism and countercultures, anti-Zionism, environmentalism, and animal rights.
Questions addressed will include, How has popular culture both advanced and hindered the progress of social justice movements? How has the idea of "social justice" changed over time? Which groups are included? What aims are articulated? How has the media portrayed and influenced social and political problems, and how has the rise of new media (from radio to television to the Internet and beyond) created new spaces for debating power and inequality? |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS AMST |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (AMST)(EDST) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Less than 50% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Karen Dubinsky, Babies without Borders: Adoption and Migration Across the Americas
Ian Haney Lopez, Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class
Jasbir Puar, Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times
Kim Tallbear, Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science
J. M. Coetzee, The Lives of Animals
Other selected articles on moodle
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Examinations and Assignments:
Moodle posts
In-class midterm
Take-home final
In-class presentation |
| Instructor(s): Glick,Megan H. Times: ..T.R.. 09:00AM-10:20AM; Location: FISK210; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 30 | | SR major: X | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: -2 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: X | JR non-major: 3 | SO: 10 | FR: 12 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 19 | 1st Ranked: 4 | 2nd Ranked: 4 | 3rd Ranked: 6 | 4th Ranked: 1 | Unranked: 4 |
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