This course may serve as a starting point for undergraduate majors in Visual Anthropology. We will question the idea that American culture is best characterized as a variety of many immigrant cultures; specific institutions have produced a shared conception of the American Dream and how fault lines based on race, ethnicity, gender, and generation have come to be “made in America.” Emphasis will be given to the contrast between the ways in which American popular culture is represented through media and the way in which ethnographic studies present insights into the ways in which Americans live. Special emphasis will be given to the ways in which fault lines between groups have been socially and culturally constructed and transcended over time and the role that overarching institutions like schools, public policies and media representations play in producing both the diversity and homogeneity of American culture.Note:
Course is appropriate for students in American Studies, Media Studies, Sociology and Education. Mode: Seminar.