Race &American Popular Culture

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

While race is a notoriously difficult concept to define, it is undoubtedly a powerful force in American life. But how do we know what we know about race? Where do these ideas come from? How will matters of race and representation change in the era of Barack Obama? Focusing on the late nineteenth century to the present, this course explores the ways in which ideas about race are formed, negotiated, and resisted in the arena of American popular culture. From blackface minstrelsy on the vaudeville stage to contemporary comedy, television, and music, this course will ask how popular culture actively shapes - rather than merely reflects - American ideas about race and ethnicity. Rather than emphasizing on a particular racial or ethnic group, we will more broadly examine the politics and practices of representing difference in the United States. By engaging with a diverse set of theoretical, historical, and primary texts, students will learn to approach and analyze popular culture with a critical eye.