HNRS 121-003,
READING CULTURAL SIGNS
Mark Jacobs
Fall 2005
Robinson B309
703/993-1434; mjacobs@gmu.edu
Office Hours: Tues. and Thurs. 3:00-4:00, and by appt.
Course Description
You are about to engage on one of life's great
adventures, serious study in the company of your peers. As individuals--but even more so, as fellow
citizens--you will have the opportunity to reflect in an informed and dialogic
manner on the paired questions:
"What is a good life?" "What is a good community and
society?" It is especially
important in today's world to understand what culture is, and how it works, in
wrestling with these questions.
This course contrasts celebrity and civic engagement
as cultural forms. It complements the
work you will be doing in HNRS 110 in several respects, since it turns out that
standards of good research are the same standards required for responsible
civic discourse. We will be analyzing a
variety of cultural objects, refracted through a variety of media. In doing so, we will also be exploring the
obstacles and possibilities for identifying shared concerns and enlightening
ourselves by appreciating the divergent intellectual and moral positions of
others.
Course Requirements and
Grading
HNRS 121 is a writing-intensive course, in partial
fulfillment of the university composition requirement. Each successive text we read will prepare
you to write a brief (2-3 page) paper, based on analysis of primary
evidence. The papers will themselves
help prepare you to engage in small "peer group discussions" and
whole-class discussions about an expanding range of issues. You will also be required to participate in a
series of web-based class discussions, using WebCT. The final paper will be a bit longer--3-5
pages--and will ask you to reflect on the limits and possibilities of civic
dialogue in an age of celebrity.
To earn a "C" or "C+" on a paper,
you must produce prose that is technically
correct--without errors of syntax, grammar, diction, punctuation, or
spelling. To earn a "B-",
"B", or "B+", you must also present a properly organized argument:
chains of claims and subclaims must be cogent, and you must support
appropriately qualified claims with warranted reasons supported by relevant
reliable evidence. To earn an
"A-" or an "A," you must also properly frame your argument, by crafting an introduction and
conclusion that not only state your most general claims, but also communicate
the dialogic significance of your research problem. You communicate that by demonstrating the
costs of ignorance and disrupting some of your reader's assumptions.
Because this is a course about discussion, it is
imperative that you attend all classes.
I will administer brief in-class writing exercises about the assigned
texts as an additional basis for small-group and whole-class discussion; I will grade some of these writing exercises
as spot quizzes, and they will enter into your grade for class
participation. (By the nature of a spot
quiz, I will not allow any make-ups.)
Attendance is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for good
participation. I will judge your
participation by the conscientiousness of your preparation and the seriousness
of your attention to others, as well as by the thoughtfulness of your own
comments.
Participation will count for 35% of your final
grade. Each of the first three papers
will count 10%, the final paper will count 20%, and the quality of your
participation in the WebCT discussion boards will count the remaining 15%. In order to receive a passing grade in the course,
you must complete all assignments.
All work is subject to the Honor
Code (see the University Catalog), and students in the Honors Program are
expected to be role models in practicing the Honor Code for the rest of the
university.
Required
Texts
Clifford
Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures
Barry
Schwartz, Abraham Lincoln and the Forge of National Memory
Joshua
Gamson, Claims to Fame
Course Schedule (Please be prepared for
in-class writing exercises on days in which readings are assigned.)
8/30. Introduction
I.
THEORY AND METHOD
9/1. Thick Description. Read Geertz, ch. 1.
9/6. Religion.
Read ch. 4.
9/8. Ideology.
Read ch. 8.
9/13. NO CLASS (Professor at scholarly conference)
9/15. The Balinese Cockfight. Read ch. 15.
9/20. The Research Problem and Its
Significance. Read Booth et al., pp.
xi-xiii,26-31,37-74, 222-40.
9/22. Claims, Evidence, and Warrants. Read pp. 111-81, 208-21.
9/27. First paper (3 pp.) due at the beginning of
class. Provide a thick description of an instance of deep play in contemporary
American culture—for example, the Presidential campaign, the Swift Boat
Veterans’ political ads, the 9/11 Commission, the Abu Ghraib
investigation, the Kobe trial, a reality
TV show, the Super Bowl, etc. In what
senses is it symbolic, religious, or ideological? Of what is it
both a “model of” and a “model for”?
What does it mean? What is its social ground? In what
senses is it a U.S. version of the Balinese cockfight? The class will be devoted to peer group discussion.
9/29. Before class, join the discussion on the
WebCT discussion board for our section.
The class will be devoted to discussion of your papers. (9/30:
Last day to drop without Dean’s permission)
10/4. NO CLASS (Rosh Hashannah)
II. CIVIC CULTURE
10/11. MAKE-UP CLASS. Paradoxes about Collective
Memory. Read Schwartz, Introduction and
ch. 1.
10/13. NO CLASS (Yom Kippur)
10/18. Limits of Promoting Reputation. Read ch. 2.
10/20. The Progressive Lincoln. Read ch. 3.
10/25. Man of the People? Read ch. 4.
10/27. The Variegated Lincoln and National
Unity. Read chs. 5 and 6.
11/1. Refining the Research Problem and
Sub-problems. Read. ch. 7 and
Conclusion.
11/3. Second paper (3 pp.) due at the beginning of
class. Analyze as cultural objects icons
of Lincoln produced during different historical periods. On WebCT, you will find a set of internet
links useful for helping you select Lincoln icons. The class will be devoted to peer group discussion.
11/8. Before class, join the discussion on the
WebCT discussion board for our section.
The class will be devoted to discussion of your papers.
III. CELEBRITY CULTURE
11/10. The Celebrity Text. Read Josh Gamson, Intro., Part One.
11/15. The Production of Celebrity. Read chs. 3,4.
11/17. The Consumption of Celebrity. Read chs. 5,6.
11/22. Political Celebrity and the Problem of
Authenticity. Read chs. 7,8, Conclusion.
Also: Select a particular celebrity currently in
the public eye. Browse the web to
identify sites of discussion boards and chat rooms, concerning that
celebrity. Be prepared to share those
websites in class. What do you find puzzling about those web discussions and
chats?
11/24. NO CLASS--Thanksgiving holiday.
11/29. Third paper (3 pp.) due at the beginning of
class. Analyze as a cultural object a
conversation on a discussion board, chat room, etc. about some celebrity. What is the civic significance of this conversation? The class will be devoted to peer group
discussion.
12/1. Before class, join the discussion on the
WebCT discussion board for our section.
The class will be devoted to discussion of your papers.
12/6. Final paper (3-5 pp.) due at the beginning of
class. Reflect on the blurring of civic culture and celebrity
culture in (post-)modern society. Using
the methods of cultural analysis developed in this course, analyze instances of
civic issues turning into issues of celebrity, and of celebrities becoming the
focus of civic dialogue. How does the
blurring of civic and celebrity culture create limits and possibilities for
deliberating civic issues? The class
will be devoted to peer group discussion.
12/8. Before class, join the discussion on the
WebCT discussion board for our section.
The class will be devoted to discussion of your papers.