Anthropology Graduate 206.

816 2010 Fall/Seoul National University

American Culture and Society Seminar

Wednesday 2:00-5:00; Bldg 16-448 Hyang-Jin Jung (16M 317-1; hjjung@snu.ac.kr; 880-9006)

Course Description In contemporary scenes anywhere on the globe, America represents not just a geopolitical entity (U. S.) but more profoundly something about being modern. For it is necessarily impregnated with notions of democracy, capitalism, and progress, and/or resistances to them. Starting out as a historical experiment, U. S. has continuously attempted to evangelize the world with its utopian vision, amid its paradoxes and contradictions. If we measure the success of the evangelical effort by the extent that America has become entrenched in our conception of modernity, it has been a huge success. But how could this have happened? How has America become an embodiment of modernity? How does America figure socially and culturally under current post-modern conditions? This course aims to review theoretical discussions of American culture and society, in an attempt to locate America in the cultural politics of modernity. A particular emphasis is on social and cultural unfolding of late modernity or post-modernity in U. S. society and its implications worldwide. Students are asked to critically reflect on the themes of the course and relate them to their own research interests of whatever geopolitical area.

Language The course is conducted in English, but no less is expected of students whose native language is other than English. This means that individual students may seek help
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outside classroom to prepare their presentation and paper. YET this course is designed in such a way that students with a moderate level of proficiency in English can fully participate and even enjoy! A moderate level in this case refers to the level required by the Graduate School for admission.

Class Routine Class consists of three components: question & answer, individual presentation, and panel discussion. Individual presentation and panel discussion go together in that each student presents in a panel of three or so presenters. Each orally presents a key theme or two in relation to the one of other presenters on the panel, based on his/her short paper. The panel as a whole organizes its themes in a coherent way, in a close and critical reading of the text. Some class time is devoted to question & answer led by instructor, in order to facilitate discussions among students as a whole.

Short Paper Students write how and what they read in the text in a short essay of one or two pages. The reading ought to be close and critical, the writing logical and succinct.

Final The final is to write a theoretical review paper on American culture and society, and modernity. Students are advised to pay attention to weekly themes so as to incorporate them into the theme of final paper. The length of final paper is 8,00010,000 words including references.

Film Analysis Week 14 is for My Favorite American Movie. Students analyze a film of their choice that can be treated as an ethnographic material of American culture and society. The film need be rich in its ethnographic contents and cultural nuances.
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Grading Short paper 30 Individual presentation 15 Panel discussion 10 Other in-class performance 5 Final paper 40

Reading Materials Tocqueville, Alexis de. 2004[1840] Democracy in America. Vol. II. Trans. Arthur Goldhammer. NY: Library of America. Weber, Max. 1997[1930]. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. NY: Routledge. Campbell, Colin. 1987. The Romantic Ethic and the Spirit of Modern Consumerism. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Cushman, Philip. 1996. Constructing the Self, Constructing America: A Cultural History of Psychotherapy. Da Capo Press. Giddens, Anthony. 1991. Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. CA: Stanford University Press. Sennett, Richard. 1992[1977]. The Fall of Public Man. NY: Norton. Illouz, Eva. 2003. Oprah Winfrey and the Glamour of Misery. NY: Columbia U Press. Huxley, Aldous. 2006[1932]. Brave New World. NY: Harper. Elliott, Carl. 2003. Better than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream. NY: Norton. Boellstorff, Tom. 2010. Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Weekly Schedule 1 (9/1): Introduction 2 (9/8): Tocqueville 3 (9/15): Weber 4 (9/22): Chuseok No Class 5 (9/29): Campbell 6 (10/6): Cushman 7 (10/13): Giddens 8 (10/20): Sennett
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9 (10/27): Illouz 10 (11/3): Library Research 11 (11/10): Huxley 12 (11/17): Elliott 13 (11/24): Boellstorff 14 (12/1): Film Analysis 15 (12/8): Final Presentation Paper Due: 5 pm, December 15 (Wed), 2010