Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice

Instructor: Carrie Anne Platt E-mail: cplatt [AT] usc [DOT] edu

Office:

ASC G6 (Garden Level of West Wing)

Office Hours: Tuesdays, 3 to 5 p.m., & by appt.

COURSE DESCRIPTION This course provides a general introduction to cultural studies, emphasizing the history, theoretical foundations, and disciplinary boundaries of both the British and American traditions. It will also examine the impact of what Stuart Hall refers to as several key interruptions in the intellectual development of cultural studies: the adoption and adaptation of Marxism and the Marxist conception of ideology; the challenge of feminist approaches to questions of gender and sexuality; and the struggle to put issues of race on to the critical agenda. Finally, it engages the tension between the theoretical and political projects of cultural studies through a combination of service learning and critical analysis. COURSE TEXTS Morley, D., & Kuan-Hsing, C. (Eds.). (1996). Stuart Hall: Critical dialogues in cultural studies. New York: Routledge. (ISBN: 0415088046) Bennett, B. (1995). An essay on culture: Symbolic structure and social structure. Berkeley, CA: U of California P. (ISBN: 0520200179) [Recommended] Additional readings, to be distributed via Blackboard (https://blackboard.usc.edu/) COURSE REQUIREMENTS Response Papers (5) Midterm Exam Final Project Class Presentation Participation GRADING SCALE A AB+ B 93 100 90 92 87 89 83 86 BC+ C C80 82 77 79 73 76 70 72 D+ D DF 67 69 63 66 60 62 0 59

15% 20% 40% 10% 15%

ADA COMPLIANCE STATEMENT Any student requesting academic accommodation based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to your instructor as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m. 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. 1

COURSE POLICIES Response Papers. You will be writing 5 short response papers over the course of the semester. For each response paper, you should select a reading that you find particularly interesting or relevant to your experience. In the first half of the paper, you will be asked to comment on and critique the reading (asking yourself what the piece does well and what questions remained unanswered). In the second half of the paper, you should apply the insights youve gained from reading and reflecting on the piece by analyzing a cultural artifact or social practice that you encounter outside of the classroom. Offer a brief description, and then discuss how this reading has enhanced or changed your perspective on the phenomena identified. Your response paper grades will be based on your level of engagement with / understanding of the readings, and the completeness of your discussion and analysis. Aim for 2-3 pages per response. Due dates are specified in the course schedule. Final Project. The final project for this course is designed to acquaint you with the political project of cultural studies, while testing the real-world relevance of intellectual labor. Each student will be given the opportunity to assist with and participate in an event sponsored by a local interest group (social, political, environmental, etc.) The written portion of the final project will ask you to engage with cultural studies scholarship, specifically to investigate the relevance of such writings for those working to enact change in the world outside academia. You will be asked to share your experience via a brief presentation in the last week of class. Participation. You should be prepared to discuss both the course readings and current events in class each week. It should go without saying, but you are expected to answer questions if called upon in class. You are allowed two passes per semester. Remember that participation is worth 15% of your final course grade. Attendance. You are allowed 3 absences, no questions asked. After that, each absence may reduce your final course grade by as much as 1 letter grade. Accruing more than 6 absences risks failure in the class. Arriving late or leaving class early counts as 1/2 of an absence. I dont differentiate between excused and unexcused absences, so its a good idea to save your 3 absences for illnesses, out-of-town events, or family emergencies. Assignments/Exam. Due dates are final, and all assignments are due before class begins. If you are absent the day a written assignment is due, you will receive a 10% deduction in assignment grade for each day that the assignment is not turned in. A makeup exam will only be given in the event of a documented family or medical emergency on exam day; all others receive an automatic F. You must complete all course requirements to pass. Grades. Questions about grades should be addressed in a timely manner. There is a 24-hour wait period after receiving a grade, but then you should address concerns within the next 10 days. After this time period, all grades are considered final. Grade challenges must be submitted in writing. Challenging a grade is equivalent to requesting a re-grade. The revised grade may be higher or lower than the original grade. Academic Integrity. All assignments must be the original work of the student and not used for any other course. Violation of this policy is an Academic Integrity violation.

>> The Annenberg School for Communication is committed to upholding the Universitys Academic Integrity Code as detailed in the SCampus guide. It is the policy of the School of Communication to report all violations of the code. Any serious violations or pattern of violations of the Academic Integrity Code will result in the students expulsion from the Communication major or minor. The University presumes that you are familiar with its standards and policies. Should you be found to have committed a violation, ignorance of these standards and policies will not be accepted as an excuse. For further clarification, please refer to University Student Conduct Code and Appendix A in SCampus. << 2

COURSE SCHEDULE Week 1 What is Cultural Studies? January 9 January 11 Introduction to the Course Handout: Contacts for Final Project Cultural Studies and its Theoretical Legacies, from Stuart Hall (pgs. 262-275) Pop Goes the Academy: Cult Studies Fights the Power Berube (1992)

Week 2 The British Tradition and its Translations January 16 January 18 Culture is Ordinary Williams (1958) Excerpts from Doing Cultural Studies du Gay, Hall, Jane, Mackay, & Negus (1997) The Americanization of Cultural Studies Pfister (1991) On the Impossibility of a Global Cultural Studies, from Stuart Hall (pgs. 361-391)

Week 3 Structure, Agency, and the Sociology of Culture January 23 January 25 A Theory of Structure: Duality, Agency, and Transformation Sewell (1992) Structure, Agency, and the Sticky Problem of Culture Hays (1994) Ideological Work in Empirical Studies of Culture, from An Essay on Culture (pgs. 75-113) Response Paper 1 Due

Week 4 Culture / Discourse / Power January 30 February 1 Excerpts from Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste Bourdieu (1987) Concerted Cultivation and the Accomplishment of Natural Growth Lareau (2003) Two Lectures Foucault (1976) Method [from The History of Sexuality] Foucault (1978)

Week 5 Marxism and the Study of Culture February 6 February 8 German Ideology, Critique of Political Economy, & Capital Excerpts Marx & Engels Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses Althusser (1971) Hegemony, Intellectuals and the State Gramsci (1992) The Problem of Ideology: Marxism without Guarantees, from Stuart Hall (pgs. 25-46)

Week 6 The Production of Culture February 13 February 15 The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Benjamin (1969) The Political Economy of Popular Music Storey (1996) Excerpts from Manufacturing Consent Herman & Chomsky (2002) The Business and Politics of Gay Marketing Sender (2004) Response Paper 2 Due

Week 7 The Reception of Culture February 20 February 22 Encoding/Decoding Hall (1980) Television Audience Research: A Critical History Morley (1992) Banality in Cultural Studies Morris (1990) The Act of Reading the Romance Radway (1984)

Week 8 Gender, Feminism, and Sexual Politics February 27 Stories of Feminism in the 1970s at the CCCS, in Stuart Hall (pgs. 276-287) Introduction: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body Bordo (1993) Beauty (Re)Discovers the Male Body Bordo (1999) Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality Rubin (1989) What Is Reproductive Politics? Sollinger (2005)

March 1

Week 9 Midterm March 6 March 8 Week 10 Spring Break Week 11 Family Values and the Rhetoric of Cultural Politics March 20 March 22 The Way We Were: Defining the Family Crisis Coontz (1992) The Rhetoric of <Family Values> Cloud (1998) Forever is a Long Time: Romancing the Real in Gay Kinship Ideologies Weston (1998) Introduction to Motherhood in Black and White Feldstein (2000) 4 Midterm Review Response Paper 3 Due Midterm Exam

Week 12 Race, Class, and Popular Culture March 27 March 29 New Ethnicities, from Stuart Hall (pgs. 441-449) The Face of America and the State of Emergency Berlant (1996) Money and Morality Hays (2003) Excerpts from Enlightened Racism Jhally & Lewis (1992) Response Paper 4 Due

Week 13 Contesting Culture / Consuming Culture April 3 April 5 Intro to Learning to Labor: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs Willis (1977) From Culture to Hegemony [from Subculture: The Meaning of Style] Hebdige (1979) Is Consumption Good for Thinking? Canclini (2001) Introduction to Nation of Rebels Heath & Potter (2004)

Week 14 Techno-Culture April 10 A Cyborg Manifesto Haraway (1991) Daily Life in Cyberspace Rheingold (2000) The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, & Coolness Levy (2006) Virtuality and its Discontents Turkle (1995) A Rape in Cyberspace Dibbell (1993)

April 12

Week 15 Politics Inside and Outside of the Classroom April 17 April 19 Excerpts from The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics Horowitz (2006) Excerpts from Whats Liberal About the Liberal Arts? Berube (2006) Bite Size Theory: Popularizing Academic Criticism Berube (1993) The Formation of a Diasporic Intellectual: An Interview with Stuart Hall (pgs. 484-503) Response Paper 5 Due

Week 16 Reports from the Front: On the Relevance of Cultural Studies outside the Academy April 24 April 26 Final project presentations Final project presentations

Your final Project is due Tuesday, May 8, by 11 a.m. 5