IMAGERY
AND CULTURE (SPRING 2009)
VISUAL &
PERFORMING ARTS
21&62:965:309:01
PROFESSOR LEO ARISTIMUÑO
Bradley Hall 320
(973) 353-1184
aristim@andromeda.rutgers.edu
Office Hours: Thursdays,
11:30 – 12:30 By appointment
Please use sign-up sheet
on office door and e-mail to confirm
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course examines multiple
approaches to understanding media and culture, including ways in which imagery
affects perceptions of race, gender, consumer behavior, politics, and identity.
It explores imagery in the context of popular culture, television, and film.
METHODOLOGY
Through a series of readings,
lectures, screenings, and class discussions, students will be introduced to
theoretical approaches to the study of culture and will apply these approaches
to specific media texts. This critical approach will reveal the ideological
effects of dominant culture.
The course will begin with selected
texts from the field of Cultural Studies. These will provide a theoretical
outline from which we will conduct our own case studies and analyses of imagery
from our popular culture. Specifically, we will examine images of race, gender,
immigrants, and “Otherness” towards the goal of providing students a critical
perspective on representations of these in the "mainstream media."
Students will explore four specific strategies of cultural criticism and
resistance: the academic essay, alternative video practices, culture jamming,
and the "Theater of the Oppressed."
Students will be expected to write a
critical essay focusing on one specific media text, to create a cultural
intervention, and to participate in Image Theater workshops –all aimed at
contesting key paradigms of dominant/popular culture.
COURSE READINGS
A course reading packet has
been created for this class and will be available after week 3 AFFORDABLE COPIES (49 Halsey
St, Newark, NJ 07102 (973) 802-1007).
Additional Readings will be available directly from
the course web site.
All assigned readings are considered required, as
class discussions and lectures will be based on these texts.
COURSE WEB SITE: http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~aristim/IMAGERY
This site will be used for
communications between professor and students and will include valuable
information, including copies of this syllabus, week by week topic and reading
assignments, and links to required readings. Students must check it often. (Also, in the event of inclement weather or other
emergencies, class cancellations will always be posted on the course web site
prior to class.)
ASSIGNMENTS
3 short writing assignments.
(10 points each
= 30 points)
This assignment will require students to elaborate on
specific aspects of assigned readings and class concepts.
Critical Essay (15
points for 1st draft, 10 points final version)
This assignment will allow students to critically
engage with a specific cultural text by incorporating the critical skills
learned in the course. In this assignment, writing is conceived as a critical
tool, as a way to comment, and as a way to challenge. This essay will ask
students to engage the theories studied in class and to closely analyze a
specific cultural "text" drawn from popular media. (7-10 pages)
Notes on Writing Skills
For this assignment to be successful, students must
demonstrate appropriate writing skills. We will cover a few aspects of academic
writing in class as a way to prepare students for this assignment. Students
will also submit rough drafts of their essays on specifically assigned due
dates. Students will have the full term to craft a well written final draft.
Students will be expected to visit the writing center for assistance in
crafting a well argued academic essay.
The Rutgers Writing Center, located on the first floor of Bradley Hall, can
provide very useful guidance, including writing tutors. It is highly
recommended that every one visit the center as they are developing their essay.
To encourage this visit, extra points will be given to those who provide
documentation of their work with the center. The Center's online address :http://www.andromeda.rutgers.edu/~nwc/index.html
Plagiarism is a serious academic offense and will be dealt with
according to official university policy. According to University policy, there
are four levels of violations of academic integrity. Levels one through three
pertain specifically to plagiarism. Punishment for these can range from failure
in the assignment to suspension from the university.
“Plagiarism is the representation of the words or
ideas of another as one's own in any academic work. To avoid plagiarism, every
direct quotation must be identified by quotation marks, or by appropriate
indentation, and must be cited properly according to the accepted format for
the particular discipline.
Acknowledgment is also required when material from any source is
paraphrased or summarized in whole or in part in one's own words.”1 This
includes references to course readings, web sites, films, etc.
Appropriate
formatting for referencing can be found on a number of web sites, including http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citmla.htm
For
the sake of uniformity, all students must use the MLA STYLE.
For
the University's policy on plagiarism please read the Rutgers-Newark Student
Handbook, PAGE 189, available on-line at: http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/integrity.shtml
Culture Jamming : A Cultural Intervention
(15 points)
Details on this assignment will be provided
after we explore the strategies of "Culture Jamming" In
brief, students will be required to undertake one cultural intervention that
will (1) be publicly visible, (2) provide a clear criticism of one specific
text from dominant popular culture, and (3) encourage its audience to shift
their perspective and take social action. This exercise can take many forms: a
graphic/poster, a photograph, a physical performance, etc. Under no
circumstances does this assignment have to involve an illegal act.
Performance : IMAGE THEATER (10 points)
Based on the models provided by Augusto Boal in
his seminal work: Theater of the Oppressed, we will explore ways of
transforming images from popular culture by performing empowering alternatives.
(15 points)
Class Participation (10 points)
This course relies heavily on the participation
of students in class discussions. A large component of this is reliant on
students' attendance and timeliness, as well as active, in class engagement
with the issues of the course.
Attendance
policy
In
order for an absence to be excused, it must be documented as a medical or
personal emergency. Students must provide doctors' notes or other
documentation. ONLY 2 UNEXCUSED ABSENCES ARE ALLOWED. More than 2 unexcused
absences will result in a 50% reduction of the participation grade. More than 3
unexcused absences will result in a 100% reduction of participation grade,
meaning a full letter drop for the course grade. Notes for absences must be
provided in writing, NOT by E-Mail.
Tardiness
Students are expected to be on time
for all classes, as tardiness is a disturbance to the professor and the class.
If a student is not in class for attendance, that student will be marked
absent. 2 late arrivals result = 1 absence. Tardiness will be excused only with
appropriate documentation.
Engagement in Class
Discussions
Even if a student has no absences at
all, grade for participation is not guaranteed to be 100%.
Students
will begin the class with an automatic 7/10 points of the participation grade.
Students
will lose points through unexcused absences or tardiness, and students can earn
their full participation points by actively engaging in class discussions.
WEEK BY WEEK (SUMMARY)
NOTE: Full details of
reading assignments, due dates, and topics of discussion can be found on the
course web site under the SYLLABUS: WEEK BY WEEK link.
*Professor reserves the right to alter the syllabus, with
sufficient notice to students, in order to meet the needs and dynamics of the
class.
1.
“Academic Integrity Policy.” Office of Student Judicial Affairs. Rutgers
University. 2008. Visited 15
January, 2009. http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/integrity.shtml#plagiarism