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AMERICAN CULTURE STUDIES (L98)  (Dept. Info)Arts & Sciences  (Policies)

L98 AMCS 3086Living in a Material World3.0 Units
Description:In the months after 9/11, President Bush urged Americans to buy cars and take vacations to show their patriotism and unity and also to send a message to terrorists that "our way of life" could not be stolen. Such calls to consume have often been made in times of crisis, and consumption has long been something of a national pastime (some would say a national pathology!). But frugality, simple living, and ethical consumerism have also at times been declared American values, and they are now just as likely to be advanced by celebrities, entrepreneurs, or corporations as by political activists. This multidisciplinary course explores our complex and evolving relationship to materialism and materiality, focusing on moments in U.S. history when consumption has been especially consoling or haunting or when it has been aligned with ideas of the public good or social and political change. Along the way, we will study material goods that have been declared symbols of American values (e.g., soap, Tupperware, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, #MAGA hats); influential advertising campaigns and models of "good" and "bad" consumer behavior (e.g., shoplifting, hoarding, "good housekeeping," thrifting); and anti-materialist positions, from Thoreau's "Walden" to the Occupy Movement to today's "off-the-grid" cooperative-living communities. Students will write short analytical response papers, conduct a study of their own consumer practices, and do a final project on a recent "ethical consumption" campaign in historical perspective. This course counts as "Multidisciplinary" for AMCS students and as "Visual Culture" for Sam Fox students.
Attributes:
Instruction Type:Classroom instruction Grade Options:CPA Fees:
Course Type:HomeSame As:N/AFrequency:None / History
Label

Home/Ident

A course may be either a “Home” course or an “Ident” course.

A “Home” course is a course that is created, maintained and “owned” by one academic department (aka the “Home” department). The “Home” department is primarily responsible for the decision making and logistical support for the course and instructor.

An “Ident” course is the exact same course as the “Home” (i.e. same instructor, same class time, etc), but is simply being offered to students through another department for purposes of registering under a different department and course number.

Students should, whenever possible, register for their courses under the department number toward which they intend to count the course. For example, an AFAS major should register for the course "Africa: Peoples and Cultures" under its Ident number, L90 306B, whereas an Anthropology major should register for the same course under its Home number, L48 306B.

Grade Options
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P=Pass/Fail
A=Audit
U=Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
S=Special Audit
Q=ME Q (Medical School)

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