Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Syllabus for Cultural Studies (SS.330) Spring 2014, Pratt Institute

Cultural Studies  
SS 330.01 & .02
Department of Social Science & Cultural Studies
Pratt Institute Spring 2014

Meetings & Rooms:
Section I: Engineering 311 
Tuesday 2:00-4:50pm
Section II: Engineering 311 
Wednesday 2:00-4:50pm



B. Ricardo Brown, Ph.D.
Professor of Social Science and Cultural Studies
Office: Dekalb 419 Hours: 12:30-2pm Tues/Weds Phone: 1.718.636.3533
Email: BBROW993@Pratt.edu

SS-330 Cultural Studies
This course explores the relations of cultural artifacts in the contemporary world to their various social contexts. Culture is understood as the material expressions and images that people create and the social environment that shapes the way diverse groups of people experience their world and interact with one another. The course focuses on the critical analysis of these various forms of media, design, mass communications, arts, and popular culture.

Detailed Course Description & Objectives
The present era is often characterized as an age of global integration and a truly world economy as well as an era of social and environmental crises. In the midst of these changes we can often hear “culture” invoked as both a positive expression of this globalism and sometimes as something that opposes it. The full meaning of culture remains a topic of fierce debate and so “culture” is used as a political weapon, a claim of privilege, a rallying point for identity, a reservoir of resistance, or refers to various artifacts and practices that must be either preserved (good culture) or eliminated (degenerate culture).

Cultural Studies emerged from the attempts to understand these complex social and political uses of “culture” in such debates as those over “high & low” art, the value of the artifacts of popular culture (cinema, television, music, etc.), the deployments of knowledge and authority in the social relations of everyday life. We will examine how Cultural Studies offered a critical understanding of what Max Horkheimer termed “life as it is lived.” Attention will be paid to the fate of Cultural Studies as it became accepted and absorbed by various academic disciplines. In the final sessions, special attention will be given to the reception of Cultural Studies in the United States.

This course is designed to give you a foundation in Cultural Studies. It will show you how Cultural Studies emerged and its subsequent variations and lines of descent. You are not expected to already know this, nor are you expected to already be familiar with the texts we will use and issues that will be raised. You are expected to engage the course materials seriously. You will finish the course with an introduction to different ways of understanding the history of the present day and the social relations of everyday life.

OUTLINE OF THE COURSE OF STUDY

Session I: Introduction to the Course


Session II: Cultural Studies as a Cultural Artifact
On the Question “What is Cultural Studies?”
Simon During. 1999. “Introduction” to The Cultural Studies Reader. Second Edition. New York: Routledge.
 
Peruse and review:
Raymond Williams. 1983. “Culture” and “Society” from Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Revised edition. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 87-93 and pp. 291-295.

Richard Johnson. 1987 (1996). “What is Cultural Studies Anyway?” in What is Cultural Studies? A Reader. Edited by John Storey. New York: Arnold, pp. 1-30. 

Comment Due By Sunday, 7am.
What, if anything, has changed about your answer to the question “What is Cultural Studies?” and what do you hope to learn from the study of a field like Cultural Studies?


Session III: Dialectic of Enlightenment I
Immanuel Kant. “What is Enlightenment?”

Peruse and review:
Raymond Williams. Civilization, 57-60; History, 146-148; Humanity, 148-151; Individual 161- 165; Western, 333-334. from Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society.

The Dialectic of Enlightenment I: Bach, Kant, Theresiana, Frederick, Sade, Horkheimer

Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno. “Juliette or Enlightenment and Morality” from Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments, pp. 81-119.

Debate between Michel Foucault and Noam Chomsky (1971)


Session IV:Dialectic of Enlightenment II: The Culture industry
Theodor Adorno. 1975. “Culture Industry Reconsidered.” New German Critique, 6, Fall, pp. 12-19.

In Our Time --- The Frankfurt School (BBC Radio4 podcast)

Peruse and review:
Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno. Dialectic of Enlightenment, “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception,” 129-167.


Session V: Fetishism and Popular Culture
Umberto Eco. “Casablanca” in Travels in Hyper-Reality pgs. 197-212.

Fetishism and Popular Culture


Comment II. Due Sunday 7am.
Keeping in mind that the Frankfurt School’s concept of a Culture Industry is not just a matter of corporate domination, but also the commodification of leisure (i.e., it is a commodity to be consumed) and the constant repetition of styles and fads, does the Culture Industry still exist?


Session VI: Cultural Studies and Understanding the Popular
Angela McRobbie. 1996 (1999). “The Place of Walter Benjamin in Cultural Studies” in Simon During, ed. The Cultural Studies Reader. Second Edition. New York: Routledge, pp. 77-96.

Stuart Hall in During. “Encoding, decoding” in Simon During, ed. The Cultural Studies Reader. Second Edition. New York: Routledge, pp. 507-517. 


Session VII: The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies and “The Birmingham School”
Michael Green. 1985 (1996). “The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies” in John Storey, ed. What is Cultural Studies? A Reader. New York: Arnold, pp. 49-60.

Peruse and review:
Stanley Aronowitz. “British Cultural Studies” in Roll Over Beethoven: the Return of Cultural Strife. Hanover: Wesleyan University Press, pp. 109-130.

The Origins of Cultural Studies in the U.K.


Session VIII: The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies and “The Birmingham School”
Raymond Williams. 1989. [Three essays from] The Politics of Modernism. New York: Verso. [Required]
 
 “What is Modernism?” pp. 31-37.
 Metropolitan Perceptions and the Emergence of Modernism” pp. 37- 48.
  “The Politics of the Avant-Garde” pp. 49-64.


Comment III. Due Sunday 7am.
Raymond Williams is very critical of the concept of “postmodern” in its many uses. Describe what you believe are three arguments supporting his view. Briefly put forward any alternative view that you might hold.


Session IX: Intellectuals, Power and Commitment, Identity, Authenticity, Multiculturalism
bell hooks. “A Revolution in Values: the Promise of Multicultural Change,” in Simon During, ed. The Cultural Studies Reader. Second Edition. New York: Routledge, pp. 233- 240.

Cornel West. “The New Cultural Politics of Difference,” in Simon During, ed. The Cultural Studies Reader. Second Edition. New York: Routledge, pp. 203-220.

Audre Lorde. 1984. “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House.” in Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde. Freedom, CA: The Crossing Press, pp.110-113. 


Session X: Intellectuals, Power and Commitment, Identity, Authenticity, Multiculturalism
John d’Emillio. “Capitalism and Gay Identity.” from Powers of Desire: The Politics of Sexuality. Ann Snitow, Christine Stansell & Sharan Thompson, eds. 1983. New York: Monthly Review Press.

Borges, Jorge Luis. “The Argentine Writer and Tradition” in Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Essays.

Stuart Hall. “What is this ‘Black’ in Black Popular Culture?” Social Justice, Vol. 20, nos 1-2. pp. 104-114.

In Our Time --- Borges (BBC Radio4 podcast)


Session XI: Cultural Studies in Societies of Control I
Kafka and the Crisis of the Society of Discipline

Franz Kafka. The Penal Colony.

Peruse and review:
The Dialectic of Enlightenment I: Bach, Kant, Theresiana, Frederick, Sade, Horkheimer

Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno. “Juliette or Enlightenment and Morality” from Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments, pp. 81-119.


Session XII: Cultural Studies in Societies of Control II
Kafka and the Crisis of the Society of Discipline

Franz Kafka. The Penal Colony.

Peruse and review:
The Dialectic of Enlightenment I: Bach, Kant, Theresiana, Frederick, Sade, Horkheimer

Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno. “Juliette or Enlightenment and Morality” from Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments, pp. 81-119.


Session XIII: Cultural Studies in Societies of Control III
Herbert Marcuse. One Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society, Introduction and Chapter 1, http://www.marcuse.org/herbert/pubs/64onedim/odmcontents.html

Gilles Deleuze. “Postscript on the Societies of Control”


Comment IV. Due Sunday 7am.
Should an intellectual/ artist/writer etc. be social/y/politically committed in their work or should they stand at a distance from their commitments. Is the latter just another form of commitment?

Session XIV:
Herbert Marcuse. One Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society, Introduction and Chapter 1, http://www.marcuse.org/herbert/pubs/64onedim/odmcontents.html

Peruse and review:
Lefebvre, Henri. 1968. “Terror and Everyday Life” from Everyday Life in the Modern World. New York: Harper Torchbooks, pp.143-193. 
 
Ivan Zatz-Diaz. 2005. "The Weight of Nightmares: Small screens, social space and representation in contemporary capitalism" from Situations: Project of the Radical Imagination, Vol 1, No 1 (2005). http://ojs.gc.cuny.edu/index.php/situations/article/view/3


XIV. Cultural Studies and Its Theoretical Legacies
Raymond Williams. 1989. “The Future of Cultural Studies” in The Politics of Modernism. New York: Verso, pp. 151-162.

Stuart Hall. “Cultural Studies and its Theoretical Legacies” in Simon During, ed. The Cultural Studies Reader. Second Edition. New York: Routledge, pp. 97-112.


Session XV: Review. Final Essay.
Comment V.
What do you see as the achievements and legacies of Cultural Studies? How do you respond to the question “What is the Future of Cultural Studies?”

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Course Requirements and Grading

Short Essay Questions
There are five short essay questions. Each is directly related to the readings just completed. Short essays should be 2-4 pages (800-950 words).

While the quality of your weekly comments is most important, it is also important that all the work is performed as the semester progresses.

Self-Evaluation
At the end of the course you may submit a 1-2 page essay describing your evaluation of your performance and your assessment of what you believe to be a fair final grade.

Absences and Lateness
Persistent absences or lateness will result in a reduction of your final grade consistent with the policies of the university and of the department of Social Science & Cultural Studies.

An incomplete will be granted only in accordance with the established policy of the university. An incomplete is “available only if the student has been in regular attendance, has satisfied all but the final requirements of the course, and has furnished satisfactory proof that the work was not completed because of illness or other circumstances beyond control” (Pratt Institute Bulletin). If you do not turn in your final work on time, and you do not have an approved incomplete, you will fail the course.

Grades
80% - Short Essay Questions
10% - Class participation (e.g., being prepared for class, having the week’s reading in class, questioning the professor’s interpretation of the material, comments and questions about the course readings, etc)

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Readings
Required Text
ONE TEXT MUST BE PURCHASED:

Raymond Williams. 1989 (2007). The Politics of Modernism: Against the New Conformists. New York: Verso. ISBN-10: 1-84467-580-7
ISBN-13: 978-1-84467-580-7

Most of the readings will be available through the LMS site for the course (at my.pratt.edu) or via the links provided in the syllabus. The exception is the required text by Raymond Williams.

*BRING YOUR OWN COPY OF THE READINGS TO CLASS EACH SESSION.*
*See Course and Grading requirements*

Suggested sources for purchasing the required text:
Book Culture (Broadway and 114th Street) http://www.bookculture.com/
St. Marks Bookshop http://www.stmarksbookshop.com
The Strand www.strandbooks.com (the huge second-hand store on 12th Street & Broadway).
The Advanced Book Exchange http://www.abebooks.com
Powell’s Books http://powells.com


Academic Integrity
Pratt Institute considers Academic Integrity highly important. Instances of cheating, plagiarism, and wrongful use of intellectual property will not be tolerated.
• Faculty members will report each incident to the registrar for inclusion in students’ files.
·More than one report to the registrar during a student’s program of study at Pratt will result in a hearing before the Academic Integrity Board, at which time appropriate sanctions will be decided. These may include dismissal from the Institute.
·The nature and severity of the infraction will be determined by faculty members who can: ask students to repeat an assignment, fail students on the assignment, fail students in the course and/or refer the incident to the Academic Integrity Board.

For more details about these procedures please see the Pratt Student Handbook, the Pratt Bulletins, and the pamphlet entitled Judicial Procedures at Pratt.

Cheating
If students use dishonest methods to fulfill course requirements, they are cheating. Examples of this include, but are not limited to:
• Obtaining or offering copies of exams or information about the content of exams in advance.
• Bringing notes in any form to a closed book exam.
• Looking at another student’s paper during an exam.
• Receiving or communicating any information from or to another student during an exam.

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a bit more complicated, but the rules of documentation and citation are very specific and are tailored to different academic disciplines. Types of plagiarism include:
• Including any material from any source other than you in a paper or project without proper attribution. This includes material from the Internet, books, papers, or projects by other students, and from any other source.
• Using your own work to fulfill requirements for more than one course.
• The extensive use of the ideas of others in your work without proper attribution.
• Turning in work done by another person or a fellow student as one’s own.

Please remember that all work must be the student’s own. If it is not, the source should be cited and documented appropriately. If there are aspects of this statement that are not understood, ask faculty members for help.

Community Standards”
Students must adhere to all Institute-wide policies listed in the Bulletin under “Community Standards” and which include policies on attendance, academic integrity, plagiarism, computer, and network use.

Accommodation of Disabilities
Not a problem, you should talk or write to me after one of the first classes. However, I am required to state that students who require special accommodations for disabilities must obtain clearance from the Office of Disability Services at the beginning of the semester. You should contact Mai McDonald, Disability Services Coordinator, in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, Main Building, Lower Level: 718-636-3711.


*****

In addition to the readings for the course, it is highly recommended that you obtain these texts, especially if you are majoring in Critical & Visual Studies or completing the Minor in Cultural Studies:


Andrew Arato and Eike Gebhardt, eds. 1982. The Essential Frankfurt School Reader. New York: Continuum.

Stanley Aronowitz. 1993. Roll over Beethoven: The Return of Cultural Strife. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN: 0819562629.

Jorge Luis Borges. 1989. Ficciones. Anthony Kerrigan (Editor), Anthony Bonner (Translator). Grove Press; ISBN: 0802130305. 
 

Simon During, ed. 1999. The Cultural Studies Reader. 2nd edition. Routledge; ISBN: 0415137543.

Murray Edelman. 1998. Constructing the Political Spectacle. University Of Chicago Press. ISBN-10: 0226183998.

Michel Foucault. 1973. The Order of Things: A History of the Human Sciences. New York: Vintage. ASIN: B000HZIHD0.

Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno edited by Gunzelin Schmid Noerr, translated by Edmund Jephcott. 2002. Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments. Stanford University Press. ISBN: 0804736332. DO NOT ORDER THE OLDER TRANSLATION PUBLISHED BY CONTINUUM EXCEPT FOR REFERENCE.

Cary Nelson and Lawrence Grossberg, eds. 1988. Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture. University of Illinois Press. ISBN-10: 0252014014; ISBN-13: 978-0252014017.

John Storey, ed. 1997. What is Cultural Studies? A Reader. New York: Arnold/St. Martin's Press. 1997. ISBN-10: 0340652403; ISBN-13: 978-0340652404.

John Storey. 2003. Cultural Studies and the Study of Popular Culture: Theories and Methods.
University of Georgia Press, Second edition. ISBN-10: 082032566X; ISBN-13: 978-0820325668.

Raymond Williams. Materialism and Culture. New York: Verso. ISBN-10: 1844670600
ISBN-13: 978-1844670604.

Raymond Williams. (1976) 1985. Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Revised edition. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN-10: 0195204697; ISBN-13: 978-0195204698.
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Documentaries, Films, and Music which will be referred to during the Course

Stuart Hall Representation and the Media (lecture)
Debate between Noam Chomsky and Michel Foucault on Human Nature (video)
bell hooks Cultural Criticism & Transformation (interview/discussion)
Casablanca
The Trial (Orson Wells version)
Metropolis
Brazil
Dr. Strangelove
Degenerate Art Exhibit documentary.
Michael Wood Hitler’s Search for the Holy Grail documentary.
Marcuse's Hippopotamus documentary.
Committee for a Free Congress History of Political Correctness documentary.
The Train

Arnold Schoenberg
Pierrot lunaire
Alban Berg
Violin Concerto
Anton Webern conducts Alban Berg's Violin Concerto ("To the Memory of an Angel"), with Louis Krasner, who commissioned the work as a tribute to Manon Gropius, the recently deceased daughter of Alma Mahler and Walter Gropius.
or
Theodor Adorno
String Quartets
    Sechs kurze Orchesterstücke, VI
Anton Webern
Five Movements for String Quartet
Variations for Piano (performed by Glenn Gould)
Quartet for violin, clarinet, tenor sax and piano
Arr. of Bach's Musical Offering
Video of a performance:
John Cage
Music for Marcel Duchamp
As Slow as Possible
Music for Piano
Charles Ives
Songs
Conlon Nancarrow
Studies for Player Piano
Steve Reich
Octet
Six Marimbas
New York Counter Point
Music for 18 Musicians
Dagmar Krause
Songs of Kurt Weill (see also her Tank Battles: Songs of Hans Eisler)
Deutsche Miserere
Zu Potsdam "Unter den Eichen"
In Potsdam "Unter den Eichen"
Carla Bley
Musique Machanique
Sidney Bechet
High Society
Louis Armstrong & King Oliver
Canal Street Blues
Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker
Bebop
The Ornette Coleman Double Quartet
Free Jazz
John Coltrane
A Love Supreme
Thelonious Monk & John Coltrane
Off Minor
Fred Frith
Prints
Legs (from the documentary Step Across the Border)
Robert Fripp
Frippertronics Improvisation
Robert Fripp String Quintet Live
League of Gentlemen - Dislocated
Astor Piazzolla musical settings of some poems of Jorge Luis Borges
Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night
El Tango
see also Borges & Piazzolla