Representations of Blacks in U.S. Culture Industries
AFAM 313
Spring 2007
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
AMST 313 |
"Representations of Blacks in U.S. Culture Industries" is an interdisciplinary African American Studies course that explores the role of media culture in the construction of society and self. This course serves as an introduction to the analysis of film, television, print/online media, and radio/music industries, as well as the theories of representation and the aesthetics of Black cultural production. In the critique of media representations, we will employ many disciplines, such as history, sociology, anthropology, psychology, feminism, cultural and Hip-Hop studies to explore such issues as race, gender, class, sexuality, and violence. Moreover, the course considers whether the use and critique of U. S. culture industries and their often problematic portrayals of African Americans an serve as a viable mode of social and political activism that challenges old conceptions of representation and raise the cultural awareness of U. S. citizens/residents. Finally, the course attempts to equip students with the critical skills necessary to forge new definitions of Black identity and representation that are not simply created and controlled by the corporate media, but rather those that are produced by diverse people of African descent - and their allies - from all sectors and regions of U. S. society. |
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Essential Capabilities:
None |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS AFAM |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Entman, Robert and Rojecki, Andrew, THE BLACK IMAGE IN THE WHITE MIND: MEDIA AND RACE IN AMERICA
Gray, Herman, WATCHING RACE: TELEVISION AND THE STRUGGLE FOR BLACKNESS
Pough, Gwendolyn, CHECK IT WHILE I WRECK IT: BLACK WOMANHOOD, HIP-HOP CULTURE, AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE
We will also watch clips from a wide variety of film and television shows including: Bamboozled, Birth of a Nation, Color Adjustment, Ethnic Notions, Flavor of Love, Foxy Brown, Girlfriends, Good Times, Hollywood Shuffle, Juice, Noah's Arc, Sanford and Son, Sit it Off, Show Boat, Silence: In search of Black Female Sexuality in America, The Chappelle Show, The Duke is Tops, The Richard Pryor Show, The Wire
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Examinations and Assignments:
Five 3-5 page papers, take-home final, class participation. |
| Instructor(s): Ratcliff,Anthony James Times: ...W... 07:00PM-09:50PM; Location: FISK302; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 19 | | SR major: 6 | JR major: 6 | | |
| Seats Available: -19 | GRAD: 0 | SR non-major: 4 | JR non-major: 3 | SO: 0 | FR: X |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 9 | 1st Ranked: 1 | 2nd Ranked: 2 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 2 | Unranked: 4 |
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