China Pop: The Social History of Chinese Popular Culture

An exploration of how the artifacts of visual, material, aural and ritual culture illuminate the construction of and tensions in Chinese society at various levels and localities during the last two centuries. Topics include arrangements of space and time; gender and the body; popular entertainment; religion and performance; the growth of mass media; and the relationship of cultural forms to politics, local identity, and global forces. Class projects will draw on the Haffrenreffer collection and develop multimedia presentations.