Syllabus 1.1. This syllabus WILL change online and YOU are responsible for the current version. (If you’re coming to class, this will not be a problem, as I will mention changes.)

 

ANT 322H - ANTHROPOLOGY OF YOUTH CULTURE

Dr. Dylan Clark, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto, Mississauga. Winter 2010. Office, rm. #242 (North) . Dylan.clark {{ at }} utoronto.ca Office hours: by appointment, and: Wednesdays 11-2, Thursdays 2-3.  Marker: TBA. Fridays 10-12, SE 1142

                                                                                                                                                                                          

Required books—please purchase:

 bad boys, japan

Hebdige.  Subculture: The Meaning of Style. (1st edition)

Belsey.  Poststructuralism: A Very Short Introduction.

O’Brien/Szeman. Popular Culture: A User’s Guide, 2nd edition. (the 1st edition should work well)

 

(We will also have handouts and readings available on CCNET, on the UT library system, and on the Internet.) 

 

Optional book

Finkelstein. With No Direction Home: Homeless Youth on the Road and in the Streets

 

The course is predicated on the study of “youth,” a word we need to quickly call into question. “Youth,” after all, varies tremendously across time, space, and that stuff we might call “culture.” And yet, after acknowledging the shaky notion of “youth,” we might fruitfully investigate some sort of period human life. For this course, we’ll forego any study of small children, and turn instead to “adolescents” and “young adults.” Our study will turn mostly to so-called post-industrial societies; places saturated with capitalist economics and ideologies. We want to pay special attention to the relationships between youth cultures and capitalism. In this vein, we’ll try to pry open the idea of “learning capitalist culture.” We will explore some of the following themes of youth: subculture, music, deviance/dissent, gender, ethnicity, and race. 

 

Every one of these books should have resale value at the end of the semester. I strongly urge you to buy the books, because we will often study passages from the books together, during class. You will want to have your book(s) with you in class (bring only the book or books which have reading due that day) and you will probably want to mark important passages in the book, so that you may review them for exams and papers. ALSO: All of the books will be on reserve at Library Circulation. Some of the videos are similarly on reserve.  If you're low on funds, get to know the interlibrary loan system. Many, many more books available when you use interlibrary loan. They will send the book to UTM Library (or any library in the system): Have a look at the interlibrary loan system. Many of these books are available in the library system. First come first served.

  
Course films: (To be announced)
 
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Expectations, Policies, and Common Courtesy 

Attendance: Students are expected to attend all classes, including lectures and tutorials. 
 
Punctuality: You are expected to arrive and be settled in your seat by the beginning of class or tutorial and to remain until the end of class, or you will only receive partial credit for tutorial attendance. Unless you become ill, do not begin packing up books or stand to leave before the end of class or tutorial, because this is distracting to all. If you know you cannot stay for the entire period, please sit near the door and leave very quietly.  
 
Courtesy in Class: Every student is expected to pay close attention in the lecture or film. Refrain from talking during lectures and films, except to ask or respond to a question from the instructor. Even quiet talking is distracting and disrespectful for your fellow students and your instructor. Turn off pagers and mobile phones. In tutorials, your undivided attention and courtesy is also expected; however, this is your opportunity to discuss what you are learning in class with your TA and one another. You are encouraged to thoughtfully ask and answer questions, but please, no confidential, whispered conversations. Anything you say should be directed to the class as a whole. 
 
Email Communication: Emailing with your professor or TA is a form of professional communication. Please write courteously and clearly; do not use text-messaging abbreviations or slang. Please clearly indicate your questions or concerns. Be sure to provide a summary of the email topic in the Subject line (do not just write “Hi” or leave the Subject blank, or your email may be rejected as junk mail by the UTM server). You should ALWAYS use your UT email address if at all possible. The UT server regularly rejects Hotmail and Yahoo accounts as potential spam. Your message should be very brief, polite, and to the point. 
(For example: subject; [ANT204] Question about Sept 12th lecture.   Dear Professor Clark, I am having trouble with your claim that Africa is an idea. Can you help explain this to me? Sincerely, Sara 
 
Please do not bother to explain your missing presence, your missing papers, etc. Generally speaking, something came up and you missed class. It is your responsibility to get notes from another student. Back up your computer files, start projects long before they are due, and study hard. You will not be excused from your work: just get the job done. In severe situations (death in the family, disabling illness, etc.) provide written proof.  
 
If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to me a letter from the proper UTM authorities in a timely manner so that your needs may be addressed. UTM has procedures to determine accommodations based on documented disabilities. If you have religious scheduling concerns, please report these in the first or second week of class. I will do my utmost to respect disabilities and religious issues if they should arise.  
 
MID-TERMS and FINAL EXAMINATIONS 
Both the mid-terms and the final exam will consist of multiple choice and short answer questions on ALL materials presented in the class and discussed in tutorial (readings, lectures, AND films).  The final exam will not be cumulative. However, materials reviewed again in lectures will be a part of the final exam.  
 
*MISSED EXAMS* 
Avoid missing an exam - the procedure for taking a make-up exam is strictly regulated by the university, and these policies will be followed in all cases. Please notify the instructor by email or phone as soon as possible if you miss an exam. 
* For the Mid-term Exam, see Section 7.9 “Term Tests” in the UTM Calendar for 2009-2010. A valid doctor's excuse or similar university-approved excuse will be required to take the make-up for the mid-term. ONE makeup will be given for the mid-term, the week after the regular exam. All makeup exams will be short answer format only, not multiple choice. 
* For the Final Exam, see Section 7.14 “Examinations” in the UTM Calendar for 2009-2010. You will have to submit a petition to Registrarial Services, among other requirements, and re-take the exam during the Deferred Examinations Period (possibly Feb. 2010 during Reading Week, or as otherwise scheduled by the university). All makeup exams will be short answer format only, not multiple choice. 
 
PLAGIARISM on exams and written work: You may get lecture or tutorial notes from other students for days when you are absent, but the answers you submit must be your own independent work. Exercises in which duplication is detected will be severely penalized. For more details, see Academic Honesty; and the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters in the UTM Calendar for 2009-2010 under Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters. It is your responsibility to be familiar with this code, and adhere to it.  IF you have any questions about what is or is not plagiarism, please see www. Plagiarism.org.  Students will be required to submit their course essays to Turnitin.com.  Instructions will be provided.  By now you should be aware that the university expects your work to be done independently.  The university takes this issue very seriously.  Any attempt to gain undue advantage over your classmates by plagiarizing or other forms of cheating will be dealt with according to the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters.  The terms that apply to the University's use of the Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com web site.   For further information you can refer to http://www.utoronto.ca/ota/turniitin/Conditionsof%20Use.html
 
LATE EXERCISES: (1) Late exercises will be penalized per calendar day, including weekends (Turnitin.com will register the time/date of your submission).  

 

COURSE MARKS: Midterm examination: 25%, paper 20%, participation and quizzes 15%, final exam 40%.


________________________________________ 
 
Course Calendar:  
Reading is to be done by the start of class.  
Notes on reading:  
* Read both text and illustrations, except as noted. 

You are to read these texts as a geographer, searching for information about how ideologies, customs, tools, and technologies changed landscapes and cultures. You are not required to memorize dates and other trivia. You should have a sequential understanding of events; an understanding of where and when things happened without obsessing about the details. 

 Do not fall behind. The reading is too challenging and too extensive to cram before an exam. When you have done your reading you will have a far greater comprehension of the lectures. 

Bring your readings to class.

 

NOTE: OB/S = O’Brien/Szeman, Popular Culture.

 

Course Calendar: (Reading is to be done by the start of class.)

Note: view videos early: only one copy, and time/space may be limited.

 

Text Box: Note: view videos early: only one copy, and time/space may be limited. January 8     Belsey, “Creatures of Difference” pp. 1-22, OB/S p. 11 (capitalism), p.13 (First two paragraphs: “Popular culture” and “power relationships,” pp. 15-22 (up to ‘culture and economics”).

 

January 15   Belsey, “Difference and culture,” pp. 23-37; Althusser, “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses.” (http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/althusser/1970/ideology.htm) (please pay special attention to the section “Ideology Interpellates Individuals as Subjects”); OB/S, p. 53, “Hegemony.”

 

January 22   OB/S, pp. 109-27. Horkheimer and Adorno, “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception,” http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/adorno/1944/culture-industry.htm

 

January 29     OB/S, chapter 3, pp. 67-107, Hebdige. Part I. pp. 1-72

 

February 5     Hebdige, Part II. Pp. 73-140. OB/S, “The politics of subcultures,” pp. 276-82. 

 

February 12   Malcolm Cowley (http://courses.cit.cornell.edu/hist100.96/elc/exiles.html); Thomas Frank (http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/259919.html) Be sure to print out the text AND the images! Images are on the left margin of the web page: you have to click on each one. ; Malcolm Gladwell, “The Coolhunt,” http://www.gladwell.com/pdf/coolhunt.pdf . OB/S, chapter 5, “The Consuming Life,” 149-82; OB/S pp. 140-1, “lifestyle,” and “suggested activity 4.3.”

 

Reading Week

 

Papers due in early March.  You’ll need a strong thesis, based on careful and thorough reading.

Text Box: Papers due in early March. You’ll need a strong thesis, based on careful and thorough reading. February 26  Midterm examination

 

March 5 Thomas Frank, “Why Johnny Can’t Dissent,” http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/f/frank-dissent.html; Naomi Klein “Patriarchy Gets Funky: The Triumph of Identity Marketing,” http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/klein.htm . OB/S, chapter 9, “Spaces and Places of Popular Culture,” pp. 287-319. 

 

March 12 Kelley, Robin D.G. "Notes on deconstructing ‘the folk.’” http://simplelink.library.utoronto.ca.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/url.cfm/95179; Paul Gilroy, “Between Afro-centrism and Euro-centrism: youth culture and the problem of hybridity.” (UT library system or http://logic.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/~b114299/young/1993-2/y932gilr.htm ; OB/S chapter 7, “Identity and Community,” pp. 219-56.

 

 Be sure to watch the video soon. It’s in the library. Or you can watch it piece by piece on YouTube.com (search for “riot grrrl retrospective”. I think it has at least 11 parts).

 

March 17  PAPERS DUE, 12:PM, noon. One hard copy to be slid under my office door (North 242) by noon, AND an identical paper uploaded to TurnItIn.

 

March 19 Dylan Clark: “The Death and Life of Punk, The Last Subculture” (http://utoronto.academia.edu/DylanClark/Papers/32839/The-Death-and-Life-of-Punk--The-Last-Subculture  ); David Graeber, “The New Anarchists.” http://newleftreview.org/?view=2368; Hakim Bey, TAZ. “Pirate Utopias,” http://delza.alliances.org/taz/taz1.html, AND, “Waiting for the Revolution” http://delza.alliances.org/taz/taz2.html

 

March 26 Due today: watch “Don’t Need You” video (about 45 minutes; in library: you need to watch on your own time in the weeks before class!), Riot Grrrl Manifesto (http://onewarart.org/riot_grrrl_manifesto.htm ); Gottlieb and Wald, “Smells Like Teen Spirit: Riot Grrls, Revolution and Women in Independent Rock,” (to be posted on Blackboard). Belsey, “Difference and Desire”, pp. 48-68; OB/S, “Identity and the Body,” pp. 183-212.ford and counter-hegemonic lesbians

 

April 2 Holiday: no class; Belsey, “Dissent,” pp. 89-108.

 

April 2-7 Study week.

 

April XX: FINAL EXAM.  Date/Time to be determined by UTM.  Written and comprehensive. All class readings and lectures and videos required for final.

 

On reserve at UTM Library: VHS: “Hype”. DVD: “Dogtown and ZBoys.” “Don’t Need You: The Herstory of Riot Grrrl.”  ; possible DVD (on order) : “The Ad and the ego;” OPTIONAL: “Living Room” DVD on anarchist infoshops in the USA. Reference for anarchist projects/papers; DIY inspiration. 

 

OPTIONAL VIDEO, strongly recommended and very helpful: Stuart Hall: http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-8471383580282907865 With two Hall readings, a Hebdige article which leans on Hall’s work, a Gilroy article (Hall’s student), and lecture material repeatedly based on Stuart Hall’s work, this video can help you to fortify your comprehension of Hall’s work.