Readings in American Culture: texts and discourses 4219-AL104
This class is intended as a companion course to the lecture “American Culture: Concepts and Methodologies.” We will focus on the analysis of theoretical texts in the field of cultural studies and look at examples of cultural texts (films, songs, short written pieces, art) which may be productively considered with the use of those theoretical tools. The course provides an overview of the key fields within today’s American Studies, such as: gender studies; queer studies; trans studies; disability studies; material feminisms; affect studies; ecology (feminist and dark:); posthumanism; animal studies; critical race studies; Native American and Indigenous studies; Latinx studies; Carribean studies; migration/critical border studies.
Koordynatorzy przedmiotu
Rodzaj przedmiotu
Tryb prowadzenia
Efekty kształcenia
Knowledge: upon completing the course, the student knows,
- key concepts used in today’s American Studies, such as gender, queer, trans, disability, race, class, ethnicity, intersectionality, affect, ecology, post/humanism, and others.
- the intersections between those categories
- cultural and social conditions shaping those categories
- the potential and limitations of each of the fields of study addressed, as well as their political consequences
Skills: the student is able to,
- choose and employ some of the tools made available by the above listed fields in the analysis of cultural texts (literature, film, art, etc.)
- formulate critical arguments on topics related to race, gender, sexuality, class, ability, intersectionality, affect, etc.
- independently select tools offered by the theoretical texts to fashin theor own methodology for the study of their topic(s) of interest
Social competences: students are able to,
- critically assess their own knowledge and the content they consume (including literature, film)
- use the interdisciplinary knowledge they gained in the field of American Studies in order to formulate their own opinions
- engage and use their knowledge in the interest of their social environment, to initiate actions for the public good
Kryteria oceniania
Midterm and final 2 x 30%
Group final projects 30%
Class attendance and participation 10%
Literatura
Some of the authors you may expect to read are: Judith Buter, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Susan Stryker, Cameron Awkward Rich, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Robert McRuer, Sarah Ahmed, Rachel Carson, Timothy Morton, bell hooks, Christina Sharpe, Cary Wolfe, Vine Deloria Jr., Alex E. Chávez, Homi Bhabha, Edouard Glissant.