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Even before the election of Donald Trump, class has moved to a high place on the North American Studies agenda. Many observers hold that class has been underrated in the past half century and that certain developments have occurred because of this neglect. Actually, in one or the other way class has always been under observation in North America, even in the neo-liberal times of Ronald Reagan. In this seminar, we will read some seminal books on the realities of class in the US (please acquire Vance, Harvey and Ehrenreich), analyze two movies, read several magazine article and read some short stories (by Bonnie Jo Campbell, Krys Lee, Jim Harrison). We will be asking how one can describe the class system in North America today, what class means in the US today, how class is related to intersecting difference, and how class is represented in various different media.
Please sign yourself up for this class in the virtual classroom in Moodle (link in Agnes)! The key is "Inequality". No registration through Agnes!
Readings:
- James David Vance, Hillbilly Elegy: a memoir of a family and culture in crisis. New Yokr: Harper, 2016.
- Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and dimed: or (not) getting by in America, New York: Metropolitan, 2001.
- David Harvey, A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005.
- Joe Sacco and Chris Hedges, "Days of Devastation" (from: Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt. New York: Nation Books, 2012)
- The last text and short additional texts will be uploaded onto the Moodle platform.
Viewings:
We will watch and discuss two movies, dates for screening will be announced in class:
- The Florida Project
- Precious
Course Requirements:
Students have to write 9 reflections on our class discussions as a "spezielle Arbeitsleistung". As a MAP you will have to write a term paper (Module 5) or a book review (Modules 9/10). |
