Countercultural Movements in the USA 4219-SH0047

elective courses

Classroom

Students should possess a basic knowledge of the social, political, economic, and historical contexts of the USA in the 20th century. Students should be willing to contribute meaningfully to group discussions on assigned topics, and seek out, explore, and introduce supplemental examples as appropriate; either individually or in small groups.

Knowledge:
• The basic causes and consequences of major countercultural movements in the USA.
• The major theoretical lenses that explain and/or critique US countercultural movements.
• The impact/legacy of US countercultural movements on/within digital and social media.
• The cultural and ethical implications and considerations for activists today.

Skills:
• Reflect critically on the complex causes and consequences of historical and contemporary countercultural movements in the USA.
• Describe and analyze cultural and countercultural processes and phenomena occurring in the USA through acquired lenses of history, theory, and embodiment.
• Analyze popular media in the USA as both a reflection of, and contributor to, cultural shifts.
• Interpret works of American literature, film, music, and fine art in the context of shifting and clashing cultural norms.
• Individually create and deliver a short presentation – with, without, or through the use of digital media artifacts – on an aspect of a US countercultural movement or movements.
• Write a short essay – OR create a digital artifact accompanied with a written contextualization – in the English language, using grammatically correct and appropriate theoretical, historical, and scholarly terminology.
• Critically reflect upon and/or instigate a self-planned and implemented lifelong learning process of expanding and supplementing acquired knowledge about ethical cultural intervention.

Social and Interpersonal Skills:
• Participate productively in group discussions relating to US countercultural movements.
• Work collaboratively in small groups on projects relating to US countercultural movements.
• Develop an enhanced ability to critically and analytically consume and discuss content conveyed by digital and popular media pertaining to the United States.

• Attendance (10%)
• Discussion participation (10%)
• Contributions to small group work (10%)
• Individual show & tell (presentation and/or digital artifact) (30%)
• Written essay OR digital artifact with written theoretical contextualization (40%)

• 5: 100-88
• 4: 87-73
• 3: 72-57
• 2: 56-0

(Pertinent sections provided digitally):

DeLaure, Marilyn and Moritz Fink (2017). Eds. Culture Jamming: Activism and the Art of Cultural Resistance. New York University Press.

Frank, Thomas (1998) The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture and the Rise of Hip Consumerism. University of Chicago Press.

Heath, Joseph and Andrew Potter (2004).The Rebel Sell: Why the Culture Can't be Jammed. Capstone.

Mitchell, John Cameron (2025) ‘Today’s Young People Need to Learn How to Be Punk’. The New York Times. 11 May: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/11/opinion/gen-z-punk.html

Olson, Mancur (1971) The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Harvard University Press.

Peters-Lazaro, Gabriel and Sangita Shresthova (2020) Practicing Futures: A Civic Imagination Handbook. Peter Lang Verlag: https://www.civicimaginationproject.org/_files/ugd/95c3cf_9a92b0abbb614fbea318cbc8c8cd0385.pdf

Zamalin, Alex (2025) Counterculture: The Story of America from Bohemia to Hip-Hop. Beacon Press.

(Recommended readings, music, videos, podcasts and articles will be available after course will commence.)