FALL 2008 EXPO 1213/1223 – Course Listings
1213 meets the GenEd Core I Second Semester Composition requirement.
1223 meets the GenEd Core IV Lower Division Western Civ. & Culture requirement.
EXPO 1213/1223 may be taken as an alternative to ENGL 1213, which also satisfies the Comp 2 requirement. Every class of EXPO 1213/1223 features:
Ø a guided investigation of a special topic (see course listing below)
Ø a seminar-sized class of no more than 16 students
Ø an emphasis on individual instruction with plenty of feedback, including four 20-30 minute conferences with the lecturer
Ø a lecturer/course designer who is a seasoned teacher with an advanced degree
Ø a sustained focus on the construction of academic essays (i.e., fully developed arguments)
Ø a commitment to the craft of writing as a process that involves revision
Ø an open, interactive classroom atmosphere
Myth and Hero (Liz Locke) Section 001: MWF 12:30-1:20; Section 002: MWF 2:30-3:20
What kinds of stories do myths tell? Are myths lies, truths, or something in between? Whose stories are they? Why do they matter? In this course, we will learn to think critically and write clearly about facts and fictions, good and evil, masculinity and femininity, and other important cultural categories, first by examining various scholarly definitions of “myth.” We’ll apply our new understandings to a familiar figure, “the hero.” Is the American cowboy hero related to the heroes of ancient Greek myth? Does his presence still resonate in the uniquely American superheroes of contemporary popular imagination--from Superman to V (for Vendetta)? Why are superheroes (almost) always White and male? Students are invited to interpret selected novels, films, and comic books as primary sources for thinking about the paradoxical nature of heroism, virtue, freedom, nationalism, gender, and race in our postmodern, post-9/11 world.
Course texts include Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven, excerpts from William Doty on myth, Owen Wister’s The Virginian, Richard Slotkin’s The Fatal Environment, Robert Jewett’s and John Shelton Lawrence’s Captain America and the Crusade against Evil, and Trina Robbins’ Great Women Superheroes.
Media Shifts (Kathryn Steele) Section 003: MW 1:30-2:45; Section 004: MW 3:00-4:15
Is the image replacing the printed word? What might be lost if we digitize the world’s libraries? Will anyone read books in ten years? New media transform the ways we communicate and the ways we produce knowledge. In former times, printed books changed lives and generated cultural conflicts; today we ask about the role played by the media such as movies, blogs, and even video games in our personal and public lives. This course will explore why some people view new media with a sense of doom, while others enthusiastically embrace and exploit it.
Course texts will include essays by Susan Sontag, Benjamin Barber, George Saunders, David Sedaris, and Sven Birkerts (from The Gutenberg Elegies); movies such as The Control Room and Bowling for Columbine; and readings in media theory by Walter Ong and Henry Jenkins, and Mitchell Stephens.
Food and Power (Helen Robertson) Section 005: TR 9:00-10:15; Section 006: TR 10:30-11:45
Eating, a basic necessity and pleasure, has become a complex activity. What to eat is a question that reaches far beyond a drive-through window. This course explores the power relationships among consumers, producers, industry, and the government concerning the food we eat. We will see how these relationships affect our health, culture, environment, and rural economies. Beginning with a discussion about the dilemma of choice in what we eat, we then investigate fast food and ethics in food consumption. Our final unit explores eating disorders, obesity, and cultural ideas about the body.
Course texts include Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation, Eve Ensler’s The Good Body, and numerous articles including Michael Pollan’s “Power Steer,” Jack London’s “Love of Life,” Claire Hope Cummins’ “Trespass,” and David Ehrenfeld’s “The Cow Tipping Point.” Films may include Supersize Me, Deconstructing Supper, Fast Food Women, and The Global Banquet.
Fashion and Identity (Catherine Mintler) Section 007: MWF 9:30-10:20; Section 008: MWF 11:30-12:20
Do clothes make the man, as Polonius advises his son, Laertes, in Hamlet? What were the sumptuary laws? When and where did the department store originate? Why was shoplifting originally considered a nineteenth century female malady? Is fashion feminine? What is commodity fetishism? Did sweatshops ever exist in the United States? We will examine media and sartorial objects (i.e., mannequins and clothing) to illuminate misconceptions, clichés, stereotypes, and commonly held beliefs about fashion’s relationship to, influence on and shaping of modernity.
Course texts include Emile Zola’s The Ladies Paradise, excerpts from Brett Easton Ellis’s American Psycho, as well as collection of articles, advertisements, fiction and poetry available in a course packet or via library reserve.
Family Ties (Bridget Love) Section 009: TR 12:00-1:15
In a vast and tumultuous world, home can feel like a haven of safety and belonging. Exploring the bonds that connect family and community, this course considers the power of home and hometowns as points of attachment for people in a rapidly moving world. What holds families and communities together, and what happens when they come apart? Our investigations will take us from small town Oklahoma to urban Tokyo and refugee camps in East Africa. We will consider how global trends like climate change and ethnic conflict shape family and community relationships. We will contemplate changing definitions of family and community in the US as we look at gay and lesbian families, utopian communes, and cyber communities. In an election year when home and hometown serve as political rallying points, this course examines the families and communities we are born into and those we create.
Global Tourism (Bridget Love) Section 010: TR 1:30-2:45
Tourism is the largest and most rapidly growing global industry today. Millions travel around the world as tourists seeking adventure and relaxation. Millions more depend on tourists for their livelihood. In this course, we will consider the complex relationship between local hosts and visiting guests as we move through a variety of tourist scenarios – from beach vacations in Hawaii to bus tours through Europe and treks in Nepal. As we grapple with the far-reaching implications of travel abroad, we will alternate between looking broadly at global tourist trends and zooming in on the local experiences of host communities and intrepid travelers.
Course texts include travel journals (Isabella Bird’s Unbeaten Tracks in Japan), essays (Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place), and films (Cannibal Tours). We will also examine travel advertisements, travel columns, maps, and contemporary news articles.
Modern Monsters (Jennifer Shaiman) Section 011: MWF 8:30-9:20
This course investigates the birth of the modern monster in the Western world. Beginning with a few old-school monsters from Homer’s Odyssey and the brothers Grimm, it explores the Industrial Revolution, Nazi Germany, and cinematic representations of the monstrous in seeking to answer the question: How are the monsters of the modern age different from their ancestors, and what do they reveal about the times in which we live?
Course texts include Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” Elie Wiesel’s Night, Primo Levy’s The Gray Zone, Richard Preston’s The Demon in the Freezer, selections from Freud and Nietzsche, and the film Dawn of the Dead.
Political Satire(Eric Bosse) Section 012: MWF 10:30-11:20; Section 013: MWF 12:30-1:20
According to the columnist Molly Ivins, “Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful. “ Writers, cartoonists, and filmmakers often employ satire when they intend to provoke or prevent change by ridiculing the powers that be. And occasionally those powers strike back. In this course we will examine the traditional and contemporary roles of satire in cultural and political discourse. Has satire proven an effective weapon? Can satire change the hearts and minds of its audiences? Where do we draw the lines between funny and offensive, between satire and irony, between satire and reality? Should certain topics be “out of bounds” for satirists?
Course texts include Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal, Mark Twain’s To The Person Sitting in Darkness, George Saunders’ The Red Box, Ron Currie Jr.’s God is Dead, Aaron McGruder’s Boondocks, and articles in the Onion.
Irish Troubles and Triumphs (George Cusack) Section 014: TR 10:30-11:45; Section 015: TR 1:30-2:45
Ireland is one of the great success stories of the modern age: It began the 20th century as a colonized territory under the thumb of the British empire, and ended the century as one of the most powerful economies in Europe and one of the most influential cultures in the world. This course will trace the rocky road of Irish history over the past 100 years. We’ll examine Ireland’s stunning political and cultural achievements during that time, and the “troubles” that came along with them: revolution, poverty, religious turmoil, and civil war. Along the way, we’ll explore the roots of the Irish character in Celtic mythology, the positive and negative roles of community in Irish life, and the ways today’s Ireland markets itself to outsiders.
Course texts include selections from Irish, drama, fiction, poetry, and film. Possible authors include James Joyce, W. B. Yeats, Augusta Gregory, Seamus Heaney, Eavan Boland, and Brendan Behan. For more information about this course, visit http://www.drcusack.com.
Reading Television (David Samper) Sect. 016: MWF 9:30-10:20; Sect. 017: MWF 11:30-12:20
George Gerbner, a television scholar, argues that “for the first time in human history, most of the stories about people, life, and values are told not by parents, schools, churches, or others in the community that have something to tell, but by a group of distant conglomerates that have something to sell.” What stories do television texts tell, and how do these stories affect our society and our culture? The purpose of this class is to change our position as mere consumers of television and to make us into critics of the mediation that TV brings into our lives. Our task is not to denounce television, but to understand the ways it works on us, as well as what it reveals about who we are.
Course texts include Neal Gabler’s Life the Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality, Stuart Hall’s “Encoding and Decoding,” Paul A. Cantor’s Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization, and Anthony Giddens’ The Transformation of Intimacy.
Violence and the Sacred (Robert Scafe) Section 018: TR 12:00-1:45; Section 019: TR 3:00-4:15
Beginning with Biblical human sacrifice and extending to the contemporary phenomenon of suicide bombing, this course examines how human communities have used symbolic violence to forge a common identity and to establish boundaries between themselves and others. Why do cultures create "scapegoats" in times of crisis? Why do religions of peace produce prophets of terror? Why do secular states cloak their wars in sacred language? We will address these questions by reading first-hand accounts and literary interpretations of violent episodes such as the medieval crusades, ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, and Jihadist terrorism.
Course readings include Peter Maas’ Love Thy Neighbor: A Story of War, Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness, the legend of Romulus and Remus in Livy’s History of Rome, the accounts of Cain & Abel and Abraham & Isaac from the Book of Genesis, selections from R. I. Moore’s Formation of a Persecuting Society, and selected films including Hotel Rwanda and Apocalypse Now.
Mind of the South (Marc David) Section 020: MWF 11:30 – 12:20; Section 021: MWF 1:30-2:20
No other region of the country has inspired the same degree of loyalty, attraction, curiosity, derision, and fear as the American South. Beginning with the regional devotion to place and tradition, this course explores how some of the cultural commitments that rendered southerners so distinctive and intriguing were made—and occasionally unmade—over time. What were the philosophical and scientific arguments that buttressed lynching, and how were they overcome? How did the culture of rednecks and “white trash” emerge, and what does our fascination with it reveal about them—and us? In asking these and other questions as we sample the inspired writing that is a hallmark of the region, we will also delve into Southern landmarks, music, speech, and performance culture.
Course texts include various autobiographies, the Agrarian protest of 1930 and after, commentaries on lynching, Civil Rights documents, Southern poetry, and the fiction of Welty, Wright, Faulkner, O’Connor, and Walker.
Legacies of the ,60s (Ron Haas) Section 022: MWF 10:30-11:20; Section 023: MWF 1:30-2:20
In the 1960s, a great storm of social change swept across America, giving rise to a host of new social movements, such as civil rights, women’s liberation, and homosexual liberation, that continue to shape American politics and society today. In this course, we will trace the legacies of the 60s up to the present. Although some of our reading will come from secondary sources, our primary focus will be the key statements of the period—Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, and Abbie Hoffman’s Woodstock Nation, for example. In the final part of the course, we will situate the American 60s within an international context and consider the evolution since the late 1990s of the “anti-globalization” and “alter-globalization” movements. Which legacies of the 60s are now worth reviving and which should be left behind?
Course texts include a packet of primary texts from the 60s, and Terry Anderson’s The Movement and the 60s..
Immigrant America (David Long) Section 024: TR 1:30-2:45
A study of the importance of immigrants in the history and practice of civic life in the United States, this course is both richly historical and aimed at current debates. In contexts ranging from nativist debates in the 1920s to the aftermath of 9/11 right up to the present moment, this class weighs the criteria of membership in a democracy and the responsibility of citizens in the U.S. toward those who come from outside its borders. We will explore what can be learned about a political community from its response to newcomers, and we will reflect on the challenges that U. S. immigrants have faced.
Course texts include Abraham Cahan’s novella Yekl, Charlie Chaplin’s film The Immigrant, the Constitution of the United States, Michael Walzer’s essay “What Does It Mean To Be an American?,” Daniel Tichenor’s Dividing Lines, T.C. Boyle’s satirical novel Tortilla Curtain, Ruben Martinez’s Crossing Over, John Sayles’ film Lone Star, the Immigration Acts of 1917 and 1924, and photographs that document migrant life in Oklahoma.
Oil Water & Blood (Sam Temple) Section 025: MWF 12:30-1:20
This course introduces students to the problem of environmental conflict and its profound impact on our past, present, and more than likely, future. The scope of the course ranges far and wide but is focused upon the histories, cultures, and politics of two natural resources essential to the modern era, oil and water. Our exploration spans the troubled conquest of water in the American West and the bitter nationalist conflicts over its use in the Middle East. We examine the geopolitics of oil and the bloody wars fought over it in Africa and the Persian Gulf. We look at questions of political power and resource use in debates over dams and development in India, explore the centrality of oil to the dueling ideals of democracy and empire in America. Finally we examine the looming problems of environmental crisis and consider the role of the modern consumer as both accomplice and agent of change.
Course materials range from contemporary scholarship and journalistic essays to memoirs, fiction and film. Readings will include excerpts from works such as Michael Klare, Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict, Ike Okonta, Where Vultures Feast: Shell, Human Rights, and Oil in the Niger Delta, Fred Pierce, When the Rivers Run Dry: Water--The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-first Century, Gary Paul Nabhan, The Desert smells like rain: A naturalist in Papago Indian country, Edward Abbey, The Monkey Wrench Gang, Upton Sinclair’s Oil! and Arundati Roy’s The Cost of Living. Film viewings may include There will be blood, Roman Polanski’s Chinatown and the documentaries Drowned Out and Oil on Ice.