First-Year Research Seminar: Ideology in Everyday Life

Semester and Year	SP 2011
Course Number	FIRST-UG720
Section	001
Instructor	Lauren Kaminsky
Days	Tue,Thu
Time	3:30 PM - 4:45 PM
Units	4.0
Level	U
Foundation Requirement

Notes/Restrictions

Please note the following courses--- K10.0719, K10.0720, and K10.0722 --- are scheduled on the same day and time and periodically will meet together to discuss common themes on the topic of culture and ideology in the 20th century.

Description

Ideologies are systems of ideas that shape politics and society, transforming people as well. Students in this course will study the lived experience of ideology, contemplating what it means to contend with conflicting ideologies, and how those systems of ideas shape an individual life. We will explore different disciplinary approaches to the study of ideology, reading philosophy, literary criticism, history, and critical theory, at the same time examining the incorporation of political and moral ideas into everyday life. By bridging the gap between the theoretical and the practical, we will study how ideological subjectivity changes our understanding of the self. In addition to reading key works on capitalism, fascism, and communism, we will also examine memoirs, poems, letters, and other accounts that capture the subjective experience of ideological conflict. Readings may include works by authors such as Louis Althusser, Hannah Arendt, Frantz Fanon, Benjamin Franklin, Betty Friedan, Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx, George Orwell, Max Weber, and Slavoj Žižek. These texts will serve as sources for critical essays that each student will write over the course of the semester, culminating in a final research project on ideologies connected to the student’s areas of interest.

Course Type

First-Year Program: Research Seminars (FIRST-UG)