Spring 2015
Dr. Sara Lampert
Sara.Lampert@usd.edu / 204 East Hall
Time and Location: Tues/Thurs 2-3:15 Old Main Room 201
Description
In August 2013, Miley Cyrus shocked fans and critics with
her performance of “We Can’t Stop” at the MTV VMAs. The next morning, news media was abuzz with what amounted to
a national debate about Cyrus’ performance, which seemed to push new boundaries
for both the former child star and the music industry. But did it? What exactly
was new here? To many observers, this seemed yet another chapter in a
longstanding debate over the appropriate expression of female sexuality in
popular culture, while other critics argued that we needed to pay more
attention to the racial politics of Cyrus’ performance of sexuality. When did
popular culture become so consumed with sexuality? Well, if you take the long
view, when wasn’t it?
This course will examine the
complicated historical relationship between American popular culture and
sexuality. We’ll explore how different cultural forms—from the dime novel to
hip hop—navigated and introduced ideas about sexuality and gender at the
intersection of hierarchies of race and class. We’ll consider how popular
culture serves as a flash point struggles over moral and social order and
produced social and cultural change.
Examining these cultural texts and moments can give us a unique window
into the past, while providing us with tools for examining our own culture.
This class is a series of snapshots that hopefully will inspire your own
questions about the past and about popular culture and sexuality today.
Course Structure
This is a discussion-based seminar. Our meetings will be devoted
to analyzing the weekly readings as a class. You are expected to come to class having completed the
assigned reading. You will be
graded on your active participation in class discussion, contributions to the
course blog (see below), participation in Voices of Discovery, and a final
project on a topic of your choice with related assignments (including a pecha
kucha presentation at the Women’s and Gender Studies Conference).
Learning Objectives
- identify
and understand issues in the history and study of sexuality and gender
- identify
and understand issues in the history and study of popular culture
- identify,
analyze, and assess the arguments and ideas in scholarly literature
- analyze
cultural texts in terms of the politics of sexuality and gender
- conduct
independent scholarly research
- communicate
ideas and analysis in in/formal writing
- communicate
ideas and concepts orally in class discussion and formal presentations
Grading Breakdown
Participation 20%
Course Blog 30%
Course Project 50% includes
Text/Source
Analysis 10%
Pecha Kucha 15%
Final Paper 25%
Grading Scale for Formal Assignments
A
93-100 A-
90-92
B+ 87-89 B
83-86 B-
80-82
C+ 77-79 C
73-76 C-
70-72
D+ 67-69 D
60-66 F
59 and below
See below for participation and course blog point system.
Note: Final Grades do not include plus or minus and are determined as
follows:
A 90-100 B
80-89 C
70-79 D
60-69 F
59 and below
Required Texts
- Susanna Rowson, Charlotte Temple, a Tale of Truth
- Robert Allen, Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture
- Susan Douglas, Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media
- Stephenie Meyer, Twilight
Additional articles and sources will be available as PDFs
and on the internet. Required books can be purchased at the USD bookstore or
online.
Explanation of
Course Components
Participation - 20% of final grade - Calculated out of 65 possible points
Your participation counts as 20% of your overall grade and
is a requirement for passing this course. Come to class having completed the
assigned readings and be prepared participate in discussions and activities. I
will calculate participation out of a total possible 65 points – 1 point for attendance and 1 point for meaningful
participation for each class session (see below) and 5 points for participation
in Voices of Discovery. If I suspect that students are not completing
assigned readings, I reserve the right to administer pop quizzes that will
count as a portion of the participation grade.
-- Attendance. You need to be in class to participate in class.
Missing class will adversely affect your grade. Be pro-active and
conscientious. If you know that you will not be able to attend class due to
illness or a personal emergency, let me know before class. If you
must miss class for a university-related event, contact me at least two days
prior to the absence and provide documentation from the sponsoring unit
indicating the dates that you will be absent from class.
-- Participation. This class will be most successful, and you will get
the most out of it, if we work together and engage in honest and thoughtful
sharing of our ideas. Points awarded based on class participation will reflect
not how many times you speak in class, but how you share in developing a
stimulating conversation. I
recognize that people have very different styles of participation and different
levels of comfort with speaking in class, but participating in discussion is a
necessary skill and a requirement for this class. TALK TO ME if you have
concerns about speaking up in class.
In order that we create an optimal learning environment I
ask that you
- arrive
in class on time
- use
laptops only for taking notes
- put
your cellphones away and refrain from texting, surfing the net, or watching cat
videos
And remember: you cannot participate if you do not complete
the class readings. Read the books and articles, take notes on them, and come
to class with something to say!
Participation in the Voices of Discovery program is a requirement of this course. The Voices of Discovery is an intergroup dialogue program
designed to create greater understanding between diverse groups of students
through safe dialogues. The program will feature groups such as white/student
of color group, GLBTIQ/heterosexual group, International/US group, Native
American/non-Native group and a Women’s/ Men’s group. Each group will meet for
two hours per week on campus for five weeks and led by trained facilitators.
Pizza will be served at each meeting. To participate, fill out the application
for the program and you will be informed shortly regarding the group in which
you will participate. You
will receive 1 participation point
for each session attended (total 5) and
are required to write one of your blog posts on the experience.
Course Blog – 30% of final grade – Calculated out of 30
possible points
Over the course of the semester you will be required to post
at least 6 entries on our course blog.
You will be expected to follow the blog and comment on your classmates’
postings. The goal of the blog is to facilitate ongoing dialogue about the
themes and topics of the course, not only to generate ideas and insight into
the required reading, but also to explore topics related to the course
(including the Voices of Discovery program).
Posts on course readings must be up on the blog by 9pm the
evening before class discussion, i.e.
either Mon or Weds evenings. Comments must be posted within 48 hours of the
original post. Add additional
short (1 point) posts at any time. I will calculate points weekly.
Required blog posts should be 300-400 words and will be
graded on a 3 point scale (see below). The 6 required entries (up to 18 points)
are as follows:
- Course Readings – x4 – you must post at least 2 blog entries on readings by week 8
- Voices of Discovery experience – x1 – no deadline
- Final project proposal/brainstorm – x1 – you must post by Weds night week 9
You may earn additional points (1 point each for possible
12) for comments on posts or additional posts related to the course themes.
Comments and additional posts can be short but should still say something
substantive. “Great post “ or “interesting comment about X” or “I saw this
movie that explored sexuality in many ways” will not earn a point. Say
something about it! Have an opinion! Get us thinking!
How does the course blog work? The course blogsite is http://sexpopcult.blogspot.com. I
will add you to the blogsite as a contributor. You will receive an email that
will provide you with instructions about how to set up a Blogger account linked
to your USD email (if you don’t have one already). With this account you will
be able to post to and comment on the blog. When you want to post, login,
select New Post and go for it! Remember to choose a fun but relevant title for
your post. If you want to leave a comment on a post, you will also be asked to
login. If you have problems or questions, email me! You should get email
notifications when your classmates post to the blog and when anyone comments on
your posts.
P.S. When I blog, I write my post in a word processor
program first, save it, then copy it into the Compose window. I do this so
that I have a back-up record of my posts. I recommend you do this as
well!
Note! I will also use the blog to post questions to help you think about the reading. I
don’t expect you to restrict your posts to these questions. They are merely a
jumping-off point, suggestion of ideas and questions related to the texts. I
look forward to the insights and questions that you will raise as well.
Will anyone be able to read this? Yes. It is a public forum. But if that makes you
queasy, don’t worry – when you set up a Blogger account, you can choose a
Display name of your choice – just use your first name. If you do choose to
post under a pseudonym, let me know!
Remember, this blog is your space. If there is something you'd like to share with the
class that relates to the themes of this course, such as a link or an article,
go for it! Do you want to make a note about a movie you saw? A conversation you
had? An insight or a question? Don't hesitate to post it to the blog.
Why do you want us to this? Blogging is fun! Blogging is one of the major ways in which our culture
engages in critical dialogues. It is also a great way to strengthen your
writing and experiment with your voice. People in many different professions
blog, from doctors to politicians to artists and writers. If this is your first
time blogging, this will be an opportunity to get to know basic blogging
software. And of course, I want you to read and converse with each other about
ideas, share links etc.
What makes a good blog post? A good blog post is thoughtful. It is specific. It engages with the
readings/topic. It develops points of analysis and/or makes connections between
ideas and examples. You are strongly encouraged to raise questions for
discussion as well. Posts will earn points as follows:
3 Strong – Reflects in-depth
engagement with the readings/topic. Is focused and specific. Analyzes examples.
Makes connections between ideas. This post has something interesting and
specific to say.
2 Satisfactory – Reflects
engagement with the readings/topic. It is reasonably focused and includes
examples or evidence. Analysis and connections could be developed further.
1 Underdeveloped – Reflects
moderate to passing engagement with the readings/topic. It may be mostly
summary. Analysis is underdeveloped.
0 Insufficient – Post is unfocused
or superficial. Does not demonstrate engagement with readings/topic.
Do you take off for grammar and spelling? I will look past basic typos and grammatical errors,
as long as the post demonstrates that thought and care was put into it. You
should still check over your writing before publishing. It’s respectful to your
readers!
Final Project – 50% of final grade
You will choose a topic of your choice that brings together
the study of sexuality and popular culture. Your final paper can take a form of
your choice, but the default is a historically grounded critical analysis
drawing on primary and secondary sources. I will entertain proposals for
creative or performance-based or digital projects.
The following assignments will help you develop your project
(details to follow):
·
blog post (substantive brainstorm/proposal for your
final project topic) by week 9
·
text/source analysis paper due week 10 – 10%
·
pecha kucha presentation (20 slides x 20 seconds each)
presented at the Women’s and
Gender Studies Conference on April9-10 week 12 – 15%
·
final project (10-12 page paper or alt format) due exam
week– 25%
College of Arts & Sciences Plagiarism Policy
The College of Arts and Sciences considers plagiarism,
cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty inimical to the objectives of
higher education. The College supports the imposition of penalties on students
who engage in academic dishonesty, as defined in the "Conduct"
section of the University of South Dakota Student Handbook. No credit can be
given for a dishonest assignment. A student found to have engaged in any form
of academic dishonesty may, at the discretion of the instructor, be:
·
Given a zero for that assignment.
·
Allowed to rewrite and resubmit the assignment for
credit.
·
Assigned a reduced grade for the course.
·
Dropped from the course.
·
Failed in the course.
Avoiding Plagiarism in Academic Papers
Plagiarism policies are not designed to trick or trap you,
but to ensure that you are living up to the standards of academic integrity
followed by scholars. But I’m not sure about whether I’m using and citing
sources correctly. I don’t want to be guilty of plagiarism!
Þ When
in doubt, ask! Email or come talk to
me if you have a question about using or citing a source.
Þ When
in doubt, cite it! Any and all
source material that you draw upon -- a Wikipedia entry (but please try to
avoid!), article from the New York Times, textbook, lecture
slide, PBS documentary, email from your Mom -- MUST be cited using Chicago
Style Footnoting. A footnote tells your reader that you understand where
your ideas are coming from and gives your reader a road-map if s/he would like
to retrace the steps of your research.
Þ When
in doubt, go back and check your source! Sometimes
you may confuse your own language with the language of a source. Always
double-check your sources. Put a direct quote in quotation marks. You should
cite both a paraphrase and a direct quote.
Þ Plagiarism
policy applies to blogging! Entries should
be in your own words. Direct quotes should appear in quotation marks. I don’t
expect formal citation style, but you should still share the sources you are
using. Use hyperlinks to direct readers to any web sources you use and
parenthetical notations for print sources. At the end of the post put a
complete reference for print materials.
Freedom in Learning and Disability Accommodation policies are at the end of this syllabus.
The University of South Dakota strives to foster a globally
inclusive learning environment where opportunities are provided for diversity
to be recognized and respected. How can
you contribute to that mission? Be engaged, responsive, thoughtful,
and respectful.
Weekly Schedule
**Subject to Revisions
Week 1 Key
Concepts
Jan 13 Introduction
Jan 15 Concepts and Frameworks
Jeffrey Weeks, "The Invention of Sexuality" Sexuality
Lawrence Levine, "The Folklore of Industrial Society" American Historical Review
Week 2 America’s
First Bestseller
Jan 20 The First American Bestseller
Begin reading Susanna Rowson, Charlotte Temple, through Chapter XVIII (pg XLIX-70)
Jan 22 The Appeal of the Seduction Tale
Finish Susanna Rowson, Charlotte Temple, from Chapter XIX-XXXV (pg 70-132)
Week 3 Theater in
America
Jan 27 Presenting Lydia Thompson
Robert Allen, Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American
Culture (1991), Chapters 1-2
Jan 29 The Contested World of Theater
Robert Allen, Horrible Prettiness, Chapters 3-4
Week 4 Burlesque
and Minstrelsy
Feb 3 Understanding Burlesque
Robert Allen, Horrible Prettiness, Chapter 5
Feb 5 Making Sense of Minstrelsy
Eric Lott, Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the
American Working Class, Ch 5 “The Seeming
Counterfeit” and Ch 6 “Genuine Negro Fun”
Week 5 Narratives
of Manhood
Feb 10 Buffalo Bill and the Dime Novel
“Literature for the Million” in Popular Culture and
American History ed. Jim Cullen
Feb 12 Tarzan of the Apes
John Kasson, Houdini, Tarzan, and the Perfect Man, Ch 3 “Still a Wild Beast a Heart”
Week 6 Race and
Film
Feb 17 Birth of a Nation
Leon Litwack, “The Birth of Nation” in Past Imperfect:
History According to the Movies
Reviews of Birth of a Nation
Feb 19 From The Sheik to Black Salome
Fiona Ngo, Imperial Blues, Ch 2 “Queer
Subjectivities”
Week 7 Gay Life in
America
Feb 24 Class Politics and Queer Identity
George Chauncy, Gay New York, Ch 3 “Trade, Wolves, and the Boundaries of Normal Manhood” and Ch 4 “The
forging of Queer Identities”
Feb 26 Making Gay New York
George Chauncy, Gay New York, Ch 5 “Urban Culture”
Week 8 The Bad
Woman
Mar 3 Dance Madness
Shayla Thiel-Stern, From the Dance Hall to Facebook, Ch 1 “The Dance Hall Evil, 1905-1928”
Mar 5 Women and Cinema
*Make sure you have posted at least 2 blog entries on
course readings by Weds night!
Janey Staiger, Bad Women,
Ch TBA
Spring Break
*You should have your topic picked out for your final
project!
Week 9 The Shirley
Temple Problem
Mar 17 Interpretations of Shirley Temple
Ara Osterwil, “Reconstructing Shirley: Pedophilia and
Interracial Romance in Hollywood” Camera Obscura 72:24 (2009)
Kristen Hatch, “Discipline and Pleasure: Shirley Temple and
the Spectacle of Child Loving” Camera Obsura 79:27 (2012)
*Make sure you have posted about your final project idea
by Weds night!
Mar 19 Working with Cultural Texts
Your final project should incorporate some type of (popular)
cultural text(s) along with appropriate historical and scholarly sources. For
our workshop, bring in a cultural text that you will be engaging with in your
final project.
Week 10 Not So
Ozzie and Harriet
Mar 24 Lesbian Pulp and the 1950s
Yvonne Keller, “Lesbian Pulp Novels and U.S. Lesbian
Identity” from American Sexual Histories 2nd
ed.
Mar 26 “Fracured Fairy Tales”
Susan Douglas, Where the Girls Are, Intro and Chs 1-2
*Text Analysis Paper Due
Week 11 The Sexual
Revolution
Mar 31 The Sounds of Revolution
Susan Douglas, Where the Girls Are, Chs 3-5
Apr 2 Revolt!
Susan Douglas, Where the Girls Are, Chs 6-8
Week 12
Apr 7 Pecha Kucha Workshop
Today we’re going to workshop and troubleshoot your
presentations for Thursday
Apr 9 No Class – Women’s and Gender Studies Conference
*Pecha Kucha Presentations Due
Week 13 Race and
Music
Apr 14 Sexual Politics of Rap
Tricia Rose, Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in
Contemporary America, Ch 1 “Voices from the
Margins” and Ch 5 “Bad Sistas”
Apr 16 Sexuality and Pop Music Today
Reading TBA
Bring in an example of a contemporary controversy concerning
sexuality and pop music!
Week 14 Queer
Worlds
Apr 21 Screening of Paris is Burning
No Reading!
Apr 23 Discussion of Paris is Burning
bell hooks, Black
Looks: Race and Representation, “Is Paris
Burning?” and “Madonna”
Week 15 The
Twi-hard Phenomenon
Apr 28 Ah, Bella and Edward
Stephenie Meyer, Twilight, through Chapter 12
Apr 30 Our Las Discussion!
Stephenie Meyer, Twilight, Finish novel
Final Project Due Friday, May 8 by 12:00 Noon
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