- Winter 2021
Syllabus Description:
Professor Gillian Harkins Office Hours M/W 1:00-1:30
Email: gharkins@u.washington.edu or by appointment
English 207 Winter 2021
Introduction to Cultural Studies: Common Sense
How did we get here, to this present, with our imaginations limited by a common sense of possibility that we did not choose? -- Hua Hsu, “Stuart Hall and the Rise of Cultural Studies” The New Yorker (2017)
Are we brave enough to imagine beyond the boundaries of ‘the real’ and then do the hard work of sculpting reality from our dreams? -- Walidah Imarisha, “Introduction” Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements (2015)
This class will introduce you to Cultural Studies, a field that asks how and why “culture” becomes a central concept in contemporary life. “Culture” has a complex history; many activists, artists, and academics have struggled to fully understand its capacity to shape so many diverse, sometimes even contradictory or competing, life-worlds. Cultural Studies emerges from such struggles, drawing on artistic, activist and academic inquiry to ask how culture is created through, and is used to create, various practices, texts and objects. Given the enormous range of Cultural Studies, we will narrow this quarter’s focus to a specific topic: common sense. As the epigraphs above suggest, common sense often shapes what is perceived as possible or real. But many people ask how and why common sense has such power, as well as whose sense, where, and when is considered “common” (more than an isolated experience). Thus we will read works exploring sense-making and sensation, embodiment and imagination, and the role of culture in creating or changing different experiential commons. This exploration will take us into studies of capitalism, colonialism and imperialism as well as race, gender, sexuality, and embodiment. Some texts in this class will be sexually explicit and/or deal with epistemic and interpersonal violence; please let me know if you need support negotiating any of the course materials. |
Course Format: Due to COVID-19, this course will be offered on-line through the UW Canvas course platform. The course is designed so that students can complete the course a-synchronously by completing assigned readings, watching recorded Panopto lectures, participating in on-line discussion activities, and completing the required writing assignments. For students who prefer Zoom-based interactive discussion with peers and time for Q&A with the Professor, Zoom discussion sessions will be held for the second hour of each scheduled course session. The course materials will be available as links or as .pdf texts on the Canvas website. |
Required Texts: Our readings include poetry, prose fiction, and criticism by: Kathleen Alcalá, Zania Alsous, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Billy-Ray Belcourt, adrienne marie brown, Samuel Delaney, Renee Gladman, Mishuana Goeman, Antonio Gramsci, Stephen Greenblatt, Stuart Hall, Cathy Park Hong, Hua Hsu, Walidah Imarisha, Ursula LeGuin, Lisa Lowe, José Muñoz, Bao Phi, Edward Said. On-Line Course Readings: All readings are collected on the Canvas website. Webpages or videos will be accessible through links on the website syllabus. Some links will be to external websites. Please let me know if you have problems accessing course materials. |
Course Objectives
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Course Requirements
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Additional Resources Additional support for technology access, writing and research support, financial and health needs, food, parenting, and legal resources and have been gathered at this link: https://english.washington.edu/resources-times-need On-line advising appointments with the new Humanities Advising Center can be scheduled here: https://hasc.washington.edu/schedule-appointment |