Course Outline as/huma 2650 0A

“Be Who You Are!”: Issues of Identity in Contemporary Culture

This course examines identity as a central concept in contemporary culture examining debates around the formation, function and meaning of identity in relation to films, novels, art, music and television.

This course examines the emergence of identity as a central concept in contemporary culture. While many people think of identity as personal, related to an essential self that is the manifestation of our own intent, recent thinking argues that we are products of our culture and that our identities have sources in the social world. This course examines some of the contemporary debates around identity, briefly investigates their philosophical and historical origins, and explores how these ideas appear in films, novels, photography, painting, music, music videos and television. Looking primarily, but not exclusively, at the Canadian context, we explore how and why particular identities emerge when and where they do, what they mean, how they function and interact, and how (in some cases) they are challenged and resisted. Drawing on the work of contemporary thinkers and artists, we critically examine such topics as the role of narrative and tradition in self-formation; group affiliation and identity; embodied identities; inter-generational and cross-cultural conflict; the role of the artist/intellectual as both critic and producer of identities in culture; and multiple and/or changing identities.
Foundations:

This Foundations course will introduce a wide range of theoretical perspectives, drawing on literature, film and art theory, cultural studies and diversity studies to explore modern and postmodern approaches to issues of identity, social formation and culture. This course is particularly interested in the mutual influences between cultures and across borders. We will apply these perspectives to the analysis and critique of cultural artifacts including literature, works of art, music, video, film, and television.

This course is part of the Faculty of Arts Foundations Program and as such, emphasizes the development of critical thinking, reading, essay writing, library research and Internet research skills. Instructors will carefully assess papers from the point of view of writing as well as content. Students are strongly encouraged to book appointments with the Centre for Academic Writing (S329 Ross Bldg.) for assistance with specific aspects of their writing. As well, the Centre provides ongoing group workshops on a variety of essay-writing and research skills at no cost during the year.

Academic Honesty:

Regarding policies, regulations and penalties on academic honesty please

1. A course kit, which will be available for purchase at the York University Book Store.

2. A number of readings available on-line as outlined below.

3. Two novels:

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis 2: The story of a return. New York: Pantheon Books, 2004.

Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Toronto: Anchor Canada, 2004.

Selected films will be shown in class and are understood as required viewing. I may add or delete.

Directed by Sut Jhally, Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation, c2002.

Northampton, MA : Media Education Foundation, 2006.

Book Analysis, due Nov. 18^th, 4-5 pages: 15%

Mid-term exam, last lecture: 10%

Cultural analysis, due Feb. 17^th, 4-5 pages: 15%

Major essay, due Mar. 22^nd, 6-7 pages: 20%

Participation (includes presentation): 15%

Final Exam: 25%
Plagiarism is an offense taken very seriously by this university.

Students agree that by taking this course all required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. The terms that apply to the University's use of the Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com web site. If you have concerns about submitting your work, please speak to your tutorial leader, and be prepared to demonstrate the originality of your work by submitting drafts and notes.

All assignments are due in lecture. They must be presented according to university standards, using MLA style referencing. If they are not presented as follows they will not be accepted. We recommend you invest in a good formal essay-writing guide. All assignments must be:

• 
  typed on one side of the sheet only,
  
• 
  font size 11-12, Times New Roman or other standard font,
  
• 
  one inch margins,
  
• 
  number pages in the top right-hand corner, not including the cover page
  
• 
  double-spaced,
  
• 
  include a bibliography,
  
• 
  stapled in the top left hand corner. Do not use booklets or other bindings! Your TA has enough paper to carry as it is!
  

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  the title of your paper,
  
• 
  your name and student number,
  
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  course name and number,
  
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  the name of your tutorial leader,
  
• 
  the number of your tutorial
  

All course assignments are due in tutorial during the week assigned. Instructors will apply a lateness penalty of one full grade per week for up to three weeks. After that, the work will not be given a mark. You must still do it to pass the course. If you have a legitimate reason not to hand your work in on time, individual tutorial leaders may waive this rule at their discretion. Talk to your TA if you have a problem or anticipate a problem getting your work in on time.

4-5 pages

due November 15^th, 2012

Choose one of the two novels and write a careful “thinking” piece about it. In this piece you will discuss the author’s purpose in writing the book, think about how various identities are represented in the book, and discuss what you think the author is saying about those identities. You may use outside references, if you do, be sure to cite them correctly, but it is not necessary.

4-5 pages

due February 17^th, 2012

You will analysis a cultural artefact or series (film, television show (at least 4 shows), art exhibit, music videos (at least four from the same artist) or if you have a burning interest in something, discuss it with your tutorial leader. Your paper will discuss the underlying ideas about identity that shape the work itself, discussing the cultural context of its production as well as its audience.

6-7 pages

due March 24^th, 2012

Papers will be 6-7 pages long, not including cover page or bibliography. Proper notation using standard MLA style must be used. Reference all sources. Usual university rules about plagiarism apply. You should be preparing for this essay by taking some of the workshops offered by the Centre for Academic Writing or the Writing Centre at your college.

You will be required to present on one of the readings. This presentation should be comprehensive and professional. Power point presentations are welcome and can contribute to the professionalism of your presentation, but beware! Lack of content cannot be disguised by technological expertise. To that end, you must discuss your presentation with your tutorial leader at least a week or so in advance. Bring your completed presentation to this meeting, including your outline and cultural artefact. Be prepared to redo it, based on the discussion with your TA. Trust me, you will feel much more confident about your material when you go through this process.

Whether you are presenting on a novel, a collection of readings or a theory piece, your presentation will:

a) introduce the author(s) and contextualize the work. Why is the author writing this piece? What is the intellectual context or his or her ideas? What is he or she responding to?

b) summarise and explain the main ideas of the reading(s) and discuss the

relevant arguments, characters, metaphors, events etc. that support these ideas. If you are presenting on a novel, be careful that you don’t re-tell the story. Analyse, don’t summarize.

c) make a coherent outline, two pages or so, to share with the rest of

the class – point form is fine, as long as it is comprehensive. The outline will help everyone, particularly when it comes time to review for an exam, and part of your mark will evaluate this outline. Make a note of your cultural artefact and discussion questions at the end.

d) You will also choose a cultural artefact from contemporary daily life (this could be an article from a newspaper or magazine, a book, an example of advertising, a television show, news item, or film, etc.) and discuss how the ideas in the reading help us to understand it. This element of your presentation demonstrates an applied analysis, where you take the ideas from the readings and use them to analyse a cultural product. It is an important aspect of the presentation as the whole purpose of the course is to develop analytical and critical skills that can enhance our understanding of contemporary culture.

e) Your presentation will conclude with three thoughtful discussion questions. Good questions that stimulate discussion are difficult to compose, but your tutorial leader can help you with this.

Tutorials will be discussions of the assigned readings in which readings are presented, analysed and discussed. Discussion is a very important component of studies in the Humanities. Learning is also about dialogue and sharing ideas. The marks will be assigned as follows according to the discretion of your tutorial leader:

5 – This student comes to all the tutorials, does all the readings and has engaging things to say about them.

4 – This student comes to all the tutorials, does all the readings and occasionally contributes to the discussion.

3 – This student comes to most of the tutorials, does 75% of the readings, and occasionally has things to say about them.

2 – This student comes to most of the tutorials, does 60% of the readings, and rarely speaks in class.

1 – This student comes to 60% of the tutorials, and rarely speaks.

0 – This student comes to less than 60% of the tutorials.

Sometimes unforeseen circumstances make it impossible for students to write exams or finish their work within the period of the term, and for medical or compassionate reasons need to request more time. If you missed the final exam or for some extraordinary reason need an extension beyond the final course date for course work, you need to do the following:


1. Get a Final Exam/ Assignment Deferred Standing Agreement Form from the Registrar's Office or download it from the website

. The Course Director needs to sign it, and a deadline set by which time the make-up exam must be written or the course work completed. Your final mark may appear as an F, but will be changed once the make-up is written and marked or the course work completed.  

 http://www.registrar.yorku.ca/pdf/deferred_standing_agreement.pdf



2. Provide appropriate documentation. 

a) IF the reason was medical in nature you need an Attending Physician's Statement.  This form is also available from the Registrar  [A "Doctor's Note" is NOT sufficient.]



 http://www.registrar.yorku.ca/exams/deferred/index.htm?tab=3

b) IF the reason is other than medical then you require documentation to support your reason.

3. Bring the signed forms to the Department of Humanities Vanier 262 and they will forward it to the Registrar’s office.

4. If your Course Director refuses to grant deferred status, then you may appeal to your home faculty.

HUMA2650 Course Outline 2011-2012

Most of the readings are in the course kit or on line, but I may be adding additional material as we go. Also, during lectures I will be showing clips, photographs or artworks that you are expected to be familiar with. Powerpoints will be posted on Moodle, but lecture notes will not. Due to changes in copyright laws, some material shown in lecture cannot be included in posted powerpoints. I will endeavor to post the links to that material.
1. September 6

Introduction
2. September 13

Why study identity? Why culture?

Foucault, Michel. “The Incitement to Discourse”, The History of Sexuality: An Introduction. Vol. 1. (1978) Trans. Robert Hurley. New York: Vintage Books, 1990. Pp. 17-35.

Ray, William. “Introduction: The Paradox of Culture”, The Logic of Culture: Authority and Identity in the Modern Era. Oxford: Blackwell, 2001. Pp.1-12.
Part 1: The History of Identities and the idea of the Self
3. September 20

The Self and community – the sacred self.

Hildegard von Bingen: Letters from August 17, 1177, February 18, 1179.

Lovejoy, Arthur O. The Great Chain of Being: A Study of the History of an Idea. New York: Harper and Row, 1936. Pages 58-66.
4. September 27

The autonomous Self and the rise of democracy

Griswold, Wendy. “Culture in a Wired World”, Cultures and Societies in a Changing World. 2^nd Ed. Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi: Pine Forge Press, 2004. Pp. 153-173.

http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/declaration_transcript.html

http://www.constitution.org/fr/fr_drm.htm

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/americanstudies/lavender/decwom2.html

Harraway, Donna J.. “Chapter Eight: A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century”, Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. London: Free Association Books, 1991. Pp. 149-181.

Yeats, W.B. The Second Coming (moodle)

Part 2: “Discovering” the Self - Narrative and Identity
6. October 11

Power, the gods and the Self – foundational myths

Sophocles. Oedipus Rex (moodle)

Freud, Sigmund. “Femininity”, New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis. Trans. & ed. By James Strachey. W.W. Norton & Company

from Rosemary Agonito, History of Ideas on Women: a source book. New York: Paragon, 1979. Pp. 299-322.
8. October 25

Gendering the Self (Heroes and Heroines)

de Lauretis, Teresa. “5. Desire in Narrative”, Alice Doesn’t: feminism, semiotics, cinema. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1984. Pp. 103-143.

King, Nicola. “Memory in Theory”, Memory, Narrative, Identity: Remembering the Self. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000. Pp. 11-32.

No readings, powerpoint images

Johnston, Basil H. “One Generation from Extinction”; “Is That All There Is? Tribal Literature”, Anthology of Canadian Native literature in English (2^nd Ed.) ed. Daniel David Moses and Terry Goldie. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1998. Pp. 99-112.

Brant, Beth. “Grandmothers of a New World”. Pp.163-174.

King, Thomas. “The One About Coyote Going West”. Pp. 203-210.

12. November 29

Genesis - “The Creation and Fall of Man and Woman”, from Rosemary Agonito, History of Ideas on Women: a source book. New York: Paragon, 1979. Pp. 19-22.

Aristotle, De Generatione Animalium - “The Differences between Men and Women”, from Rosemary Agonito, History of Ideas on Women: a source book. New York: Paragon, 1979. Pp. 43-54

Any two “Fairy Tales” of your choice

Berger, John. Chapter 3, Ways of Seeing. New York : Viking Press, [1973, c1972]. Pp.45-64.

Nead, Lynda. “Theorizing the Female Nude”, The Female Nude: art, obscenity and sexuality. London ; New York, NY : Routledge, 1992. Pp. 5-17.

Hooks, bell. “Selling Hot Pussy: Representations of Black Female Sexuality in the Cultural Marketplace”, Black Looks: race and representation. Boston, MA : South End Press, 1992. Pp. 61-77.

Jandt, Fred and Heather Hundley. “Intercultural Dimensions of Communicating Masculinities”, The Journal of Men’s Studies, Vol. 15, No 2, Spring 2007, 216-231.

Gillam, Ken and Shannon R. Wooden. “Post-princess models of Gender: The new man in Disney/Pixar”, Journal of Popular Film and Television 2008.

Film: Tough Guise: violence, media and the crisis in masculinity, with Jackson Katz.

Directed by Sut Jhally, Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation, c2002.

Schiebinger, Londa. “Chapter 5: Theories of Gender and Race”, Nature’s Body: Gender in the Making of Modern Science. Boston : Beacon Press, 1993. Pp.143-183.

Eyerman, Ron. “The Harlem Renaissance and the heritage of slavery”, Cultural Trauma: Slavery and the Formation of African American Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Pp. 89-129.

hooks, bell. “Chapter 2: Gangsta Culture: A Piece of the Action”, We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity. New York: Routledge, 2004. Pp. 15-32

Gines, Kathryn T. “Queen Bees and Big Pimps: Sex and Sexuality in Hip Hop”, Hip Hop and Philosophy: Rhyme 2 Reason. Derrick Darby and Tommie Shelby, eds. Chicago: Open Court, 2005. pp.92-104.

McPherson, Lionel K. “Halfway Revolution: From That Gangsta Hobbes to Radical Liberals”, p.173-182.

hooks, bell. 1993. “Altars of sacrifice: Re-membering Basquiat”, Art in America; June, 81, 6, pp. 69-75, 117 (we will read in tutorial)

Kaw, Eugenia. “’Opening’ Faces: The Politics of Cosmetic Surgery and Asian American Women”, Many Mirrors: Body Image and Social Relations. Nicole Sault, ed., New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1994. Pp. 241-265.

Northampton, MA : Media Education Foundation, 2006.

Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Toronto: Anchor Canada, 2004.

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis 2: The story of a return. New York: Pantheon Books, 2004

Frith, Simon. “Music and Identity”, Questions of Cultural Identity. Eds. Stuart Hall and Paul du Gay. London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage, 1996. Pp. 108-127.

P. 103-143

P. 8-11, 63-68.