English 384 Course Schedule:

Below I have provided a schedule of readings and written assignments. Some of these readings are from the required textbook; in other cases, I have included links to electronic versions of the texts we will read. For each reading, I will provide an introduction. You will be expected to read the assigned texts and to post micro-essay "responses" (critiques, comments and/or discussion questions) to the course WebBoard by 8:00 AM Central U. S. time on the following Monday.

(Click here for instructions on using the Webboard)

 

Subsequent responses to the initial positions can be posted throughout the week. I have retained the position responses from the 2007 version of this course for your examination; you may want to look at some of these responses from earlier students to get an idea of the typical style and conventions of the position response.

Note: Some of the readings and webcasts below are from books or videos that are in copyright. These will be made available to students through a password-protected system of "electronic reserve." Passwords will be sent to students through private email.

Historical Background on Culture and Modernity: June 1
Economic Developments of Modernity (Youtube Version )
Philosophical Paradigms of Modernity
(Youtube Version )
Political Systems of Modernity (Youtube Version )
The Social Subject of Modernity
(Youtube Version )
Social Functions of Art in Modernity
(Youtube Version )
David Harvey, from The Condition of Postmodernity

Powerpoints of Diagrams on History of Modernity

The Concept of Culture: June 2
The Concept of Culture in Modernity
(Youtube Version)
bell hooks, "Cultural Criticism and Transformation, part I"
bell hooks, "Cultural Criticism and Transformation, part II"
bell hooks, "Cultural Criticism and Transformation, part III"
Philip Smith, Cultural Theory, pp. 1-21
Raymond Williams, "Culture" from Keywords

Suggestions for Further Reading:

Simon During, Cultural Studies, pp. 5-44
bell hooks, selections from Outlaw Culture

 

Historical Materialism: June 3
Intro to Historical Materialism (text)

Intro to Historical Materialism (webcast)
(Youtube Version)
From The German Ideology, (Materialist Conception of History)

Base and Superstructure: June 4
Intro to Base and Superstructure (text)

Intro to Base and Superstructure (webcast)
(Youtube Version)
Preface to A Contribution to a Critique of Political Economy
From he German Ideology, (Preface)
From The German Ideology, (Civil Society and History)

Suggestions for Further Reading:
Raymond Williams, from Marxism and Literature, pp. 11-44

The Labor Theory of Value and Labor Power: June 5
Intro to Labor Power and Surplus Value
- - (Youtube Version)
Intro to Labor Power and Surplus Value (text)
From Capital, Vol I, Ch. 6 (Labor-Power)
From Capital, Vol I, Ch. 7 (Surplus Value)


The Commodity Form and Commodity Fetishism: June 8
Intro to the Commodity Form (webcast)
(Youtube Version)
Capital, Vol I, Ch. 1 Sec. 1 (Commodities: Use-Value and Value)
Capital, Vol I, Ch. 1 Sec. 2 (Labor Embodied in Commodities)
Capital, Vol I, Ch. 1 Sec. 4 (Fetishism of Commodities)


Questions for First Reading Response (due by 8 am June 8)

Frankfurt School Critical Theory
Cultural as Ideology: June 9
Intro to the Frankfurt School (webcast)
(Youtube Version)
Read Philip Smith, Cultural Theory, pp. 37-57

Art and Culture in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction: June 10
Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno from Dialectic of Enlightenment

Cultural Hegemony and Ideology
Althusser's Structuralist Marxism: June 11
Intro to Ideology (webcast) (Youtube Version)
Intro to Ideology (text)
From The German Ideology, "Idealism and Materialism"
Louis Althusser, "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses" (from Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays, London: Monthly Review Press, 1971), esp. pp. 127-48; 177-86

Suggestions for Further Reading:
Dave Harris' Reading Guide to Althusser's ISA Essay
Synopsis of "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses"

British Cultural Studies
British Cultural Studies: June 12
British Cultural Studies (webcast) (Youtube Version)
Philip Smith, Cultural Theory, pp. 151-66
Stuart Hall, "Cultural Studies: Two Paradigms"

Stuart Hall: "Representation and the Media"

Questions for Second Reading Response (due by 8 am June 15)

Identity Politics
Critical Race Theory: June 15
Stuart Hall: "Race: the Floating Signifier"

Ted Allen, "Summary of ... The Invention of the White Race," Part I
Ted Allen, "Summary of ... The Invention of the White Race," Part II

Suggestions for Further Reading:

Gregory Meyerson, "Marxism, Psychoanalysis and Labor Competition"
Gregory Meyerson and Jonathan Scott, "An Interview with Theodore W. Allen"

Feminist Theory and Cultural Studies
Humanist and Materialist Feminism : June 16
Virginia Woolf, "A Room of One's Own"

Intro to Materialist Feminism
(webcast) (Youtube Version)
Intro to Materialist Feminism (text)
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex: "Introduction"

Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex: Ch. 1: "Biology"

Psychoanalysis and Feminism: June 17
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex: Ch. 2: "Psychoanalysis"

Psychoanalysis and Feminism: June 18
Laura Mulvey, "Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema "
Philip Smith, Cultural Theory, pp. 202-213

Suggestions for Further Reading:
Simon During, Cultural Studies, pp. 171-189

Marc Fonda's Overview of Freud's Life and Thought (see especially the section sub-headed Feminity, Misogyny, Patriarchy)

Terry Eagleton, "Psychoanalysis"
from Literary Theory
F. Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State

Mary Klages, on Academic Feminism

Gender and Sexuality: June 19
Judith Butler, from Gender Trouble, chapter 1
Judith Butler, from Gender Trouble, chapter 2

Suggestions for Further Reading:
Judith Butler, from Gender Trouble, chapter 3
Judith Butler, from Gender Trouble, chapter 4

 

Questions for Third Reading Response (due by 8 am June 22)

Week Four: Postmodernism, Postmodernity and Globalization

Modernism/Postmodernism: June 22
Intro to Modernism/Postmodernism
Philip Smith, Cultural Theory, pp. 214-32

The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism: June 23
Fredric Jameson, "The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism."

Suggestions for Further Reading:
Synopsis of "Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism"

Postmodernism, Postmodernity and Globalization: June 24
Fredric Jameson, What's Left of Theory?
(Part I)
Simon During, Cultural Studies, pp. 81-105

Globalization and Neoliberalism: June 25
David Harvey, from A Brief History of Neoliberalism

Conclusion: June 26
Simon During, Cultural Studies, pp. tba

Questions for Fourth Reading Response: (due by 8 am June 29)

Graduate Students: Formal Paper Due July 24