COMM 100B INTERPRETIVE STRATEGIES

PROFESSOR ELANA ZILBERG

WINTER 2015

T/Th 12:30-1:50Peterson Hall 110

Office: Media Center and Communication Building (MCC)206Office Hours: By appointment only on Wednesdays 10:00 - 12:00 and as needed.Email: ezilberg@ucsd.edu

TEACHING ASSISTANTS

Christina Aushana (A10, A11) Jamese Fort (A07,A09)caushana@ucsd.edu jmfort@ucsd.edu

David Gonzalez-Hernandez (A03, A08) Jacob Hellman (A06, A12)d10gonza@ucsd.edu jhellman@mail.ucsd.edu

Ned Randolph (A04,A05) Yi Hong Sim (A01,A02)egrandol@ucsd.edu yhsim@ucsd.edu

INTRODUCTION

In this course, we will examine the ways in which culture as a system of meanings, representations, practices, and power relations is constantly and actively (re)made in daily life through a broad spectrum of communication media – visual, material and spatial. In particular, we will consider how the categories of race, gender, class, and nationality are themselves culturally constructed categories even as they function to produce, sustain and transform culture. Employing the tools of cultural criticism and a variety of interpretive strategies, students will learn to denaturalize or to make strange the familiar and the taken for granted. The goal of this course then is for students to develop a critical awareness or “presence of mind” about the cultural systems in which we live and participate.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Required Reading and Viewing

The reading for this course is the backbone of our endeavor. It is not especially copious. At an average of 50-60 pages per week, it amounts to less than 10 pages a day! The reading, however, is at times difficult. Allot sufficient time and thought to keeping up. You must complete reading assignments before sections and ideally before lectures.

1) TextSturken and Cartwright, Practices of Looking, 2nd edition. Available to buy at the University Bookstore, for rent on Amazon, and on reserve at Geisel Library.

2) Course Reader (CR)Available through University Readers http://www.universityreaders.com/students/ (Tel: 800.200.3908, email: orders@universityreaders.com). Several copies of the reader will

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be placed on reserve at Geisel Library. See TED announcements for ordering instructions.

3) TEDIn an effort to keep costs down for students, a portion of the readings have been placed on our TED course website.

4) Documentaries and Films (AV)All documentaries and films will be placed on reserve at the Video and Film Library in Geisel Library after class screenings. They will also be available to stream. Both are an integral part of the course and should be taken as seriously as all other course components.

Lectures and Discussion Sections

Attendance in both lectures and discussion sections is required and will be indispensable to your success in this course. Attend faithfully. Their will be no unexcused absences from sections. Unaccounted for absences have consequences. If you do not inform or make prior arrangements with your T.A., your section grade will drop by a point for every section you miss. Your section participation and any other work your TA assigns in section will constitute 25 points of your grade.

Prepare for lectures and discussion by reading carefully and by thinking about what you have read. In lecture as well as section, you are encouraged to raise questions not only about course material, but how it applies to current events and to your life. Pay attention to the way in which newspapers, magazines, television, films, popular music, popular debate, and political controversy intersect with and/or distill course issues and incorporate your observations and questions in written and spoken work where relevant and appropriate.

Use of Electronic Devices

Please note that all cell phones, PDAs, and similar devices must be turned off during class. Laptops and tablets may only be used during lecture for note taking and web queries relevant to the lecture. Laptops and tablets may NOT be used for email, social networking, or other coursework during lecture.

Assignments

There will be three short take-home assignments in this class, each worth 25 points.

Assessment

The final grade will be determined as follows:

Assignment #1 25% Due Thursday, February 5th Assignment #2 25% Due Thursday, February 26th Assignment #3 25% Due Tuesday, March 17th Section 25%

All assignments must be turned in on the due date indicated on the syllabus. You will

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lose a grade point for each day that an assignment is late. This means, for example, that if you get an A on an assignment that is two days late, your grade will drop to a B+

Incompletes will only be given for valid and documented medical or legal reasons (e.g. court appearance). There will be no exceptions to this policy.

In managing this class the professor and teaching assistants will function as a team and will consult regularly with each other on all matters concerning the class. In particular, they will use identical criteria in grading student assignments and will make every effort to ensure that grades assigned are scrupulously fair and reflect the quality of the work concerned. Due to this process of consultation and the use of uniform grading criteria, teaching assistants have complete authority in all actions that they undertake regarding the course, and the professor is unlikely to rescind any of their decisions.

Grading Scheme for Assignments 

Students sometimes ask, when they do not receive an A for written essays, what was missing, what did their instructor expect. The following rubric is meant as a loose descriptive aid to understanding your grade, not a grading guideline. Please note that A means excellent (see criteria). B is good, C good enough. 

A=Excellent

Projects awarded A grades tend to offer depth of analysis, interpretation, and/or insight in a creative manner with a strong thesis or framing of concepts, and bear a well documented relationship to the course materials. The A project is usually well organized or well designed. The thesis is well supported by concepts and issues drawn from class materials. A assignments offer description and analysis of the points made and examples used to make them. Projects awarded an A grade usually integrate themes, issues, and concepts from readings, screenings, and discussions in comprehensive and detailed ways that make a point or raise ideas. Quotes and ideas from sources are used in a manner that goes beyond re-statement of another author’s claims. All direct quotations are cited and their meaning in the context of the project is explained rather than left to stand on their own for the reader to determine. Any use of audio or visual material is carefully thought through in terms of design, composition, and juxtaposition with other forms (such as writing). Design and organization of the project are thoughtfully worked through and communicate effectively in a manner that adds interest to the project. Creativity is a strong feature of the A project! Very important for A assignments: Creativity is evident in concept or thesis, and/or in the research or technical design of the project. Attempts to push boundaries with creative form outside the traditional essay style are to be rewarded, even if these projects are less clear than conventional styles of presentation. Assignments that are very competently done but do not offer a new insight or say anything new beyond what the materials themselves offer are in the B range. 

B=good

Projects awarded B grades offer complete and accurate review of ideas, themes, and issues in course materials with insights offered at a general level of understanding. Arguments and ideas are thoughtful, well supported by course materials that are properly cited, and made in an organized manner. Some B projects have strong features of A projects without the full complement of features. For example, some B projects are insightful and creative but do not use course materials with depth and careful discussion or clear linking and careful interpretation. Other B projects are impeccably organized and clear but do not offer new insights

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or interpretations beyond describing those found in the course materials.

C=good enough

Projects awarded C grades demonstrate comprehension of the class materials but do not offer and adequately support a thesis, analysis, or insight beyond what is found in the course materials. In some cases arguments are not fully developed and supported with either the writer’s own statements or with quotations or discussions of ideas from the class materials. In some cases C papers introduce good, sound ideas, insights and concepts but are not well designed, well organized, or well supported with discussion about course materials. In some cases C papers are good but too far off the topic of the assignment. In some cases C papers cite source materials but restate what they say without elaboration or without making a unique thesis or point.

D=unsatisfactory

Projects awarded D grades do not provide evidence of adequate engagement with course materials, miss important issues or points within the range of the thesis identified in the project, or misunderstand the readings and course materials. In some cases projects awarded a D do not contain a thesis that pertains to class materials or do not engage the project assignment. 

F=fail

Projects awarded a grade of F demonstrate no evidence of engagement with course materials. A grade of F may be awarded for the class in the event of 7 or more absences regardless of one’s project grades. Attendance is a mandatory feature of the class. See requirements outlined in this document above.

Academic Integrity

You are required to observe university regulations regarding academic integrity. This means no student shall engage in any activity that involves attempting to receive a grade by means other than honest effort; for example:

• No student shall knowingly procure, provide, or accept any unauthorized material that contains questions or answers to any examination or assignment to be given at a subsequent time.

• No student shall complete, in part or in total, any examination or assignment for another person.

• No student shall knowingly allow any examination or assignment to be completed, in part or in total, for himself or herself by another person.

• No student shall plagiarize or copy the work of another person and submit it as his or her own work.

• No student shall employ aids excluded by the instructor in undertaking course work or in completing any exam or assignment.

• No student shall alter graded class assignments or examinations and then resubmit them for re-grading.

• No student shall submit substantially the same material in more than one course without prior authorization.

• No student shall sign attendance sheets for another student, or ask someone else to sign in for her/him. Any plagiarism will result in a grade of F for the assignment or exam, will be reported to the Academic Integrity Office, and may result in an

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overall course grade of F. To view the UCSD Academic Integrity Statement, visit: https://students.ucsd.edu/academics/academic-integrity/ai-and-you.html Maintaining Academic Integrity: Students agree that by taking this course all required papers will 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. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the terms of use agreement posted on the Turnitin.com site.

Disability Accommodations

The professor is dedicated to making this course as accessible to all students as possible. If you require accommodations or services for disabilities, please communicate with the Professor immediately and register with the Office of Students with Disabilities (OSD) in order to obtain a current Authorization for Accommodation (AFA) letter. This letter is required for eligibility for requests. Receipt of AFAs in advance is necessary for appropriate planning for the provision of reasonable accommodations. OSD Academic Liaisons also need to receive current AFA letters.

For additional information, contact the Office for Students with Disabilities:

• 858.534.4382 (V)• 858.534.9709 (TTY) - Reserved for people who are deaf or hard of hearing• osd@ucsd.edu • http://disabilities.ucsd.edu

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CLASS SCHEDULE

INTRODUCTION: KEY CONCEPTS

1.1 January 6

Culture and Power

1.2 January 8

Williams, Raymond (1977) “Culture,” 11-20, “Hegemony,” 108-114,” in Marxism and Literature. CR

Hall, Stuart (1993) “The West and the Rest: Discourse and Power” in Formations of Modernity, Stuart Hall and Bram Gieben eds., Cambridge: Polity Press, 185-203. CR

RecommendedFoucault, Michel, "Lecture Two: 14 January 1976,” in Power/Knowledge, ed. Colin Gordon, Pantheon, 1980, 92-108. CR

I. VISUALITY

a. Image

2.3 January 13

PR: Sturken and Cartwright (2009) Ch. 1 “Images, Power and Politics,” 12-32, and Ch. 2 “Viewers Make Meaning,’ 69-75t. TEXT

Hariman and Lucaites (2002) “Performing Civic Identity: The iconic photography of the flag raising on Iwo Jima," in Quarterly Journal of Speech, 88:4, 363-392. TED

b. Stereotype

2.4 January 15

Mitchell, “In Living Color,” in What do pictures want? 294 – 308 CR

Barthes, "Myth Today," in Mythologies, trans. Annette Lavers. Hill and Wang, 2012, 217-231. CR

Hall, “Spectacle and the Other,” in Representations, 254-264. TED

Goodwin, “Truth, Justice and Videotape,” in Inside the L.A. Riots, Institute for Alternative Journalism, 1992. CR

Film: Bamboozled

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c. Gaze

3.5 January 20

Sturken and Cartwright, Ch. 3 “The Gaze and the Other,” 111-136. TEXT

Fanon, “The Fact of Blackness” in Black Skins, White Masks,109-117. CR

Hall, “Contesting a Racial Regime of Representation,” in Representation, 269-275. TED

3.6 January 22

Sturken and Cartwright, Ch. 3 “Modernity: Spectatorship, Power and Knowledge,” 93-104 TEXT

hooks, “Oppositional Gaze,” in Black Looks,115-132 CR

Recommendedhooks, and “Representations of Whiteness,” Black Looks 165-178 CR

d. Surveillance

4.7 January 27

Sturken and Cartwright, Ch. 3 “Discourse and Power" 104b-111t

Foucault, “Docile Bodies" and "Panopticism," 206-213 CR

4.8 January 29 Guest Lecture: Professor Kelly Gates

Sturken and Cartwright, Ch 9 "Images as Evidence," 355-364t

Gates, “The Cultural Labor of Surveillance,” 1-17 TED

RecommendedGates, “The Work of Wearing Cameras,” TED

Take-Home Assignment # 1 (Due Thursday, February 5th)

II. MATERIALITY

a. Dress

5.9 February 3

Cosgrove, “The Zoot-Suit and Style Warfare,” History Workshop Journal 18 (Autumn 1984): 77-91.TED

Recommended: Miller, Daniel (2010), “Why Clothing is not Superficial,” in Stuff, Cambridge: Polity Press, 12-41 TED

Film: Zoot Suit

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5.10 February 5

Joan Wallach Scott, "Symptomatic Politics: The Banning of Islamic Head Scarves in French Public Schools," in French Politics, Culture & Society, Vol. 23, No. 3, (Winter 2005), 106-127. TED

b. Built Environment

6.11 February 10

Phoebe Schroeder Kropp, “Citizens of the Past” in Radical History Review, Issue 81, Fall 2001, 35-60. TED

Recommended Massey, “Plaza de las Tres Culturas,” City Worlds, eds. Doreen Massey, John Allen and Steve Pile, Routledge, 1999, 100-109. CR

6.12 February 12

Anna McCarthy, "The Front Row Is Reserved for Scotch Drinkers": Early Television's Tavern Audience in Cinema Journal, Vol. 34, No. 4 (Summer, 1995), pp. 31-49 TED

c. Landscape

7.13 February 17 Guest Lecture: Professor Gary Fields

Mitchell, “Imperial Landscapes,” in Landscape and Power, Landscape and Power, ed. W. J. T. Mitchell, University of Chicago Press, 1994, 5-34. CR

d. Plastic

7.14 February 19 Guest Lecture: Dr. Kim De Wolff

Freinkle's, “Matter out of Place,” in Plastic: A toxic love story, 115-139 TED

Recommended De Wolff, “Current Collections: Material Encounters on a Plastic Beach,” 1-9 TED

Take-Home Assignment # 2 (Due Thursday, February 26th)

III. MOBILITY

a. Flows

8.15 February 24

Gupta and Ferguson, "Beyond 'Culture': Space, Identity and the Politics of Difference," Cultural Anthropology, Vol. 7. No. 1, February 1992, 6-23 . TED

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Appadurai, "Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy," Theory, Culture, Society, 295-310. TED

8.16 February 26

Larkin, “Indian Films and Nigerian Lovers,” Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 67.3 (1997): 406-440. TED

Film: T-Shirt Travels

b. Friction

9.17 March 3

Zilberg, “Fools Banished from the Kingdom,” American Quarterly 56.3 (September 2004): 759-779. TED

Recommended Zilberg, “Troubled Corner,” City & Society 14.2 (2002): 31-56. CR

9.18 March 5 Guest Lecture: TBA

Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, “Ways of Staring” in Journal of Visual Culture 2006, 5:173-190 TED

10.19 March 10

Serlin, “Disability, Masculinity, and the Prosthetics of War, 1945 to 2005,” in The Prosthetic Impulse: From a Posthuman Present to a Biocultural Future; Marquard Smith and Joanne Morra, eds. MIT Press, 2006 155-183. CR

Lindeman and Cherny, “Communicating in and Through ‘Murderball,” in Western Journal of Communication, vol. 72, no. 2, April-June 2008, pp. 107-125. TED

10.20 March 12

Film: Murderball

Take-Home Assigment # 3 due on Tuesday, March 17th by 2:30 p.m.

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READINGS BY LOCATION

1. TEXT

Sturken and Cartwright, Ch. 1 “Images, Power and Politics,” and Ch. 2 “Viewers Make Meaning”

Sturken and Cartwright, Ch. 3 “The Gaze and the Other” Sturken and Cartwright Ch. 3 “Modernity: Spectatorship, Power and Knowledge”

2. PRINT RESERVES (PT) Sturken and Cartwright, Practices of Looking

3. COURSE READER (CR) Williams, “Culture,” and “Hegemony” Hall, “The West and the Rest" Foucault, "Lecture Two” Mitchell, “In Living Color” Barthes, "Myth Today," in Mythologies, 215-31 (16) CR Goodwin, “Truth, Justice and Videotape" Fanon, “The Fact of Blackness” hooks, “Oppositional Gaze" hooks, “Representations of Whiteness” Foucault, “Docile Bodies" and "Panopticism" Massey, “Plaza de las Tres Culturas” Mitchell, “Imperial Landscapes” Zilberg, “Troubled Corner” Serlin, “Disability, Masculinity, and the Prosthetics of War"

4. TED Sturken and Cartwright, Ch. 1 “Images, Power and Politics,” and Ch. 2 “Viewers Make

Meaning" Hariman and Lucaites, “Performing Civic Identity" Hall, “Spectacle and the Other” in Representations Hall, “Contesting a Racial Regime of Representation” in Representations Gates, “The Cultural Labor of Surveillance” Miller, “Why Clothing is not Superficial” Cosgrove, “The Zoot-Suit and Style Warfare.” Scott, "Symptomatic Politics" Kropp, “Citizens of the Past”

McCarthy, "The Front Row Is Reserved for Scotch Drinkers" Gupta and Ferguson, "Beyond 'Culture'" De Wolff, “Current Collections" Freinkle's, “Matter out of Place” Appadurai, "Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy" Larkin, “Indian Films and Nigerian Lovers” Zilberg, “Fools Banished from the Kingdom" Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, “Ways of Staring” Lindeman and Cherny, “Communicating in and Through ‘Murderball’”

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