First-Year Writing Seminar (101-8-1)
Topic
Protest Cultures
Instructors
Jessica R Winegar
847/491-4831
1819 Hinman Ave, #204, EV Campus
Jessica Winegar is a sociocultural anthropologist who has conducted extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Egypt. She specializes in the visual arts and popular culture. She is the author of the award-winning book Creative Reckonings: The Politics of Art and Culture in Contemporary Egypt, and is a founding member of the Task Force on Middle East Anthropology, dedicated to increasing the relevance, visibility, and application of anthropological perspectives on the region.
Meeting Info
Locy Hall 305: Tues, Thurs 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
The past decade has been called the worldwide "Decade of Protests." Protesting has become a key way that everyday people articulate political demands. This course will examine how we got here to this time of protests, and analyze current protest cultures in the US and around the world. It focuses on how protests start and build power, how they sustain themselves, and what effects they have, do not have, or cannot have. We will ground our inquiry in careful attention to the demographics of protests, how protests use space, the relationship between protests and social media, and the popular culture of protests—including chants, signs, music, fashion. Ultimately, we will ask the question: what are protests good for?"
Registration Requirements
First Year seminar
Learning Objectives
1) Understand basic history of protests in the 20th and 21st century
2) Understand basic features of protest cultures in the 21st century
3) Evaluate how these features operate to articulate political demands
4) Evaluate the efficacy of protest cultures in achieving political demands
5) Develop writing skills for analyzing social science and humanities topics, using evidence from materials in a variety of media"
Evaluation Method
feedback on written assignments, letter grades
Class Materials (Required)
Articles, films, book chapters, and websites available at library/on Canvas/on open access internet.
Class Attributes
WCAS Writing Seminar