The Fifties in American Life & Culture
Boyd, T.
AMER 100–01, MWF 2:10-3:00
The dominant image of “the Fifties” from the perspective of the 21st century is of a time when life was predictable, ordered, and straightforward—a tame prelude to the upheaval and social tension of the Sixties that was either stifling or reassuring, depending on your point of view. This course will examine both what life was like in the Fifties and how accurately that life is represented in popular memory today. For the first part of the course, we will look at how America experienced the Fifties—the major political, social, racial, and economic changes, as well as how “normal” American life was depicted in popular culture at the time. For the second part of the course, we will look at how America has remembered the Fifties, with a particular emphasis on how popular culture has shaped our perceptions of life during the postwar years through movies and TV shows.
The South in American Politics & Culture
Boyd, T.
AMER 100–02, MWF 3:10-4:00
This course will study the role that the former Confederate states have played in the shaping of contemporary American politics and culture since World War II. In 1945, the South was viewed as a distinct region within America: far more rural, far poorer and with an apparently entrenched system of racial segregation, the South was looked on by many in the rest of the United States as hopelessly backward. In recent years, however, southern politicians and southern cultural traditions have become ever more influential in national affairs. In this course, we will therefore consider how this transformation came about. Using a combination of political speeches, films, music and literature, we will first examine the main pillars of southern culture as it existed up until the 1950s; secondly we will look at the confrontation between the South's traditional culture and the nation during the postwar years and the civil rights movement; finally we will then look at the question "how southernized has American politics and culture become since the 1970s?" Throughout the course, we will be looking at just what it is that causes political and cultural attitudes to change, an issue that remains of great importance for understanding American society.
Cultural Conflict in 20th Century America
Boyd, T.
AMER 100W–01, MWF 12:10-1:00
The idea that there is an ongoing "culture war" in 21st century American politics is firmly established in media coverage of contemporary political debate. Broadly speaking, the term "culture war" has come to mean a politically polarized discussion over a moral or cultural issue in which observers divide into at least two groups, each accusing the other of seeking to impose "un-American" values on the nation. In 2008, such "culture war" issues would include gay marriage, abortion, gun control, stem cell research and a host of other concerns. In such discussions, questions of economic self-interest, often assumed to be the driving force behind an individual person's political behavior, play either a minor or insignificant role in the debate. As a result, there is also a continuing discussion within American society as to whether these "culture wars" are an important and substantial part of political discourse, or a distraction from what people's "real concerns" ought to be.
This course will consider three major instances from the 20th Century where the politics and rhetoric of "culture war" were particularly evident. By considering how these instances came about, how they were seen by the participants on both sides and how they have been remembered in popular culture, it will be possible to better understand the roots and nature of today's politically charged cultural debates. The three instances in question are the Scopes Trial of 1925, the Kinsey Reports of the 1940s and 1950s and the debate over Gun Control in the 1990s. To understand these three case studies, this course will look at not just historical accounts of each, but also the ways they were viewed by observers at the time as well as how the issues raised in each were subsequently portrayed in film, music and popular culture since then. There will be one paper due on each of the three topics, as well as work with primary sources related to them in the Vanderbilt Library.
American Social History Through Dance
Kevra, S.
AMER 100W–02, MWF 1:10-2:00
Social history examines the lives of everyday people as a means for understanding their history and culture. We may look at material objects, such as cookbooks to understand how a generation fed itself. Or trends in fashion can offer a window into class differences.
In this course, social dance will be our focal point for understanding American identity. Dance trends offer historical moments for understanding issues related to race, gender and class. Adopting a chronological approach, we will set about to answer a range of questions. For instance, how do dance figures in colonial dances bear the mark of the countries from which they originated? And how does their transplantation onto American soil contribute to visible displays of democracy on the dance floor in a move away from the more regimented and symbolic choreography of court dances? How do specific dance crazes reveal responses to political and cultural events and anxieties? What influence has the African American community had on dance in this country?
Our texts in this course will be a combination of historical readings related to dance and others related to broader social issues. We will also look at images of dance, both photographic and moving pictures. Literary works will also help us to understand attitudes towards dance. In addition, to really understand dance, which, after all, is a kinesthetic activity, you have to move, feel the beat, dance the dances. To this end, we will have occasion in and outside of class to try out dances.
Because this is a writing seminar, we will dedicate a number of classes (or portions of classes) looking at how to improve your writing. Topics will range from 1) remedies for wordiness 2) word choice 3) organization 4) getting starting writing a paper 5) how to conduct research 6) punctuation 7) transitions and more. Peer review and on class reflections on writing will figure prominently.
Topics will include:
Food for Thought:
Kevra, S.
AMER 115F–02, MWF 12:10-1:00
“Food,” write the editors of Food and Culture, “touches everything. Food is the foundation of every economy. It is a central pawn in political strategies of states and households. Food marks social differences, boundaries, bonds, and contradictions. Eating is an endlessly evolving enactment of gender, family, and community relationships.” With America as our focus, we will examine food and eating practices, not only with reference to historical works, but in works of literature and film.
The course will begin with an investigation of the role of food in early American history, how it served as a lure to Europeans here, providing them with a kind of New World paradise, one with promises of plenty, with seas teeming with cods and skies clouded with foul. European accounts of the New World also contain nightmarish visions of starvation in a harsh climate, as well as tales of monstrous beasts and even cannibals.
We will also study representations of food in America through film, allowing us to look at regionalism, consumption, body image, and famine with our study of three films, “Fried Green Tomatoes” (1991), “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (1971) and the classic 1940 film adaptation of John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.”
Another portion of the course will focus on food in literature, including Margaret Atwood’s The Edible Woman and Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. These works shed light on important food concerns related to gender and class.
In early November, our class will turn into a symposium in which you will present the fruits of your individual research projects. Past projects have included topics such as the Slow Food Movement, the Organic Food Industry, School Lunches, Food Rationing and Wartimes, Eating Competitions and Nashville Soup Kitchens.
Because this is a writing course, expect to spend a good deal of time working on your writing, which will involve rewriting, peer review and deep self-reflection on your development as a writer.
American Studies Workshop: Black Nashville
Nwankwo, I.
AMER 294–01, TR 9:35-10:50
Description pending.
Undergraduate Seminar: Music, Masculinity, and the Cold War
Lovensheimer, J..
AMER 295–01, TR 1:10-2:25
Based on the examination of musical texts as far-ranging as the songs of Hank Williams, modernist and neo-romantic concert music of the 1950s, and the 1983 musical La Cage aux Folles, this seminar is an investigation of constructs of masculinity in three main streams of American music from approximately 1950 through 1991: popular music, including rock, country, and pop music; art, or “classical,” music; and musical theater. Through assigned readings, in-class presentations, discussions, and a substantial final research paper, we shall investigate both source and secondary materials in our exploration of the changing discourses, constructs, and representations of masculinity in American music during this fascinating, if volatile, period. Every class discussion will be supplemented with in-class video and audio examples. No technical knowledge of music is required.