Instructor: David Valentine Mon/Wed 4:30-5:50 (8/30/99 - 12/15/99)
Office Hours: by arrangement email: [email protected]
Final Exam: 12/15/99 3:00-5:30pm Room 1008
Course Description
In a nation as large and diverse as the United States, does the idea of "American culture" make any sense? In this course, we will be looking at different ways in which one can understand American culture by looking both at those overarching qualities seen as being American, and differences within the United States that make the idea of American culture seem less secure.
Course Requirements
Your grade will be based on the following:
1. Reading Notes 30%
2. Class Participation 10%
3. Midterm Exam 30%
4. Final Exam 30%
Note on Films
The films shown in class are a part of the course, and should be considered as required texts. Exams and quizzes will cover the issues raised in the films.
Assigned Texts
The books are available for purchase at the university book store. As well as the books, there are a number of articles which are available in the library.
Blee, Kathleen M.
1991 Women of the klan: racism and gender in the 1920s. Berkeley: University of California Press.
DeVita, Philip R. and James D. Armstrong
1993 Distant mirrors: America as a foreign culture. Belmont: Wadsworth.
Lawrence Foster
1984 [1981]Religion and sexuality: the Shakers, the Mormons, and the Oneida Community. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Myerhoff, Barbara
1994 [1979] Number our days: culture and community among elderly Jews in an American ghetto. New York: Meridian.
Nash, June
1989 From tank town to high tech: the clash of communities and industrial cycles. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Newton, Esther
1979 [1972] Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Introduction: Studying American culture
August 30 No Readings
September 1 Miner: Body ritual among the Nacirema (XEROX)
Film: American Tongues
September 6 NO CLASS (Labor Day)
Part 1: America as a Foreign Culture: How do They see Us?
September 8 Distant Mirrors (Introduction, chps. 1, 2)
September 13 Distant Mirrors (chps. 4, 6, 8)
September 15 Distant Mirrors (chps.12, 13, 14) Film: Ishi: the Last Yahi
September 20 NO CLASS (Yom Kippur)
Part 2: Class, Power, and De-industrialization
September 22 Tank Town to High Tech (Preface, chp 1)
September 27 Tank Town to High Tech (chp. 4)
September 29 Tank Town to High Tech (chp. 8) Film: Roger and Me
October 4 Tank Town to High Tech (chp. 11) Reading notes due (1 of 3)
Part 3: Race, Class, and Gender
October 6 Women of the Klan (Chapters 1)
October 11 Women of the Klan (Chapter 2)
October 13 Women of the Klan (Chapter 3) Film: Portrait of a Klansman
October 18 Women of the Klan (Chapter 6) Reading notes due (1 of 3)
October 20 Sachs: How did Jews become white folks? (XEROX)
October 25 Mid Term Review
October 27 MID TERM EXAM
Part 4: Gender and Sexuality
November 1 Mother Camp (preface, appendix, chps 1, 2)
November 3 Mother Camp (chps. 3, 4) Film: Paris is Burning
November 8 Mother Camp (chps 5, 6) Reading notes due (1 of 3)
Part 5: Sexuality, Religion, Community, and Kinship
November 10 Religion and Sexuality Part I (pp.3-21), Part IV (pp.123-180)
November 15 Religion and Sexuality Part V (pp. 181-225) Reading Notes due (1 of 3)
New York Times: Persistance of Polygamy (XEROX) Film: Born Again
Part 6: Kinship, Community, Ethnicity, and Old Age
November 17 Number Our Days (chps. 1, 2)
November 22 Number Our Days (chps. 3)
November 24 NO CLASS (Thanksgiving Recess)
November 29 Number Our Days (chps. 5) Reading notes due (1 of 3)
Film: Number Our Days
Part 7: Rebirth, Liberation, and Transformation
December 1 Fitzgerald: Cities on a Hill (pp. 383 - 414) (XEROX)
December 6 Schneider: The Power of Culture. (XEROX)
December 8 Course Review
December 15 FINAL EXAM (3:00 - 5:30pm)