AMS 311s (Unique #: 30520)
Popular Culture and American Childhood
Fall 2011
Instructor: Rebecca Onion, rebeccaonion@gmail.com
Class Meetings: MWF, 2-3, Garrison 0.120
Office hours: MW, 3:15-4:45, at Cafe Medici on the Drag
Course Website: www.americanchildhoods.com
Course Description: This course will look at the development of popular culture
associated with children and adolescents in the United States in the twentieth
century. Using cultural objects made for and by children and youth, we will ask
larger questions about the relationships between children and adults, while
addressing topics common to American Studies, including media, consumption,
citizenship, class, race, and gender. We will approach these themes through diverse
primary sources, looking at literature, advertising, websites, video games, films,
television shows, and toys. Because childhood is often perceived as “timeless”, this
class will focus on situating these cultural objects chronologically, continually asking
how culture for children and youth relates to larger social questions and
movements.
Course Objectives: By the end of this class, the student will have encountered a
wide variety of primary documents, as well as scholarship and popular writing
about childhood. The student will practice asking questions of shared class
documents. Then, through analyzing past cultural consumption, the student will
think historically about her own cultural experience, critically re-encountering the
culture of his own youth. These exercises will help the student learn how to ask
questions about a primary source, to use library databases for historical research,
and to write for an online audience. Additionally, because students will workshop
these short pieces in class, we will practice the skills of peer review and revision.
The final paper, designed as an expansion of one of these shorter pieces, will help
students practice shaping research questions provoked by primary sources into
larger projects. Students will also learn how to use Zotero, a free online citation
management system, to keep track of their research and write their papers.
Writing Flag Statement:
This course carries the Writing Flag. Writing Flag courses are designed to give
students experience with writing in an academic discipline. In this class, you can expect
to write regularly during the semester, complete substantial writing projects, and
receive feedback from your instructor to help you improve your writing. You will also
have the opportunity to revise one or more assignments, and to read and discuss your
peers' work. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come
from your written work.
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Assignments: Students will write three 750-word (about 3 pages) course website
entries about primary sources related to the themes we discuss in class. These short
pieces will combine personal reflection, historical research, and comparative
analysis. (Note: For students worried about online privacy, pseudonymity will be an
option. We will discuss this more before the first assignment is due.)
Students will turn in a graded paper proposal prior to writing their final paper.
Finally, students will write a 2000-word (about 8 pages) final paper that will
represent an expansion of one or more of the shorter papers.
Rubrics for these assignments will be provided.
Grading:
Three website entries, 10% each: 30%
Paper proposal: 10%
Final paper: 40%
Participation/Discussion/Reading Quizzes: 10%
Peer Review Participation: 10%
Policies:
Attendance/Lateness/Preparedness: If a student in this class misses more
than four meetings, they will automatically fail, regardless of their grade up
to that point. Attendance will be taken every day.
Arriving to class late is also strongly discouraged. I will often go over
“housekeeping” issues in the first few minutes of class, or use that time to set
up the day’s discussion; your late arrival annoys your fellow students and
myself, and jeopardizes your grasp of the mechanics of the course. Therefore,
every three late arrivals (between 5-15 minutes late) will equal one missed
class. Students who arrive more than 15 minutes past the start time will be
counted as absent for that class.
Late papers will be marked down by half a letter grade for each day the
paper is late, including weekend days.
This is a discussion-based class, and discussions don’t go well unless
everybody in the room has done the reading. In order to ensure profitable
discussions for all, I will administer periodic unannounced reading quizzes.
Computers: Please do not use laptops, tablets, smartphones, or dumbphones
in the classroom, unless I explicitly ask you to bring your technology on a
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particular day. I am a person who is so highly distractible that I must pay a
software program to lock me off the Internet when I need to get work done
(www.macfreedom.com, if you’re interested—works for PCs as well). This
no-computer policy exists just in case you are as Internet-prone as I am.
Contacting Me: I will respond to emails from you within 24-48 hours of
receiving your communication. Please read this syllabus and the assignment
rubrics carefully before emailing me. I will be posting copies of all course
documents on the course website. I will set up a class email list, so that you
can contact your peers with logistical inquiries.
For some small questions, email is a suitable forum. However, sometimes
email is not the best way to get information. If you find you are writing a
question for me that results in a very long email, it is probably an indication
that this is a question that can be best dealt with in person. In these
instances, you should come to office hours.
Submitting Assignments: Send me your assignments attached to an email,
in a Microsoft Word document, by 5 pm on each due date. I will return the
documents electronically, using Word’s comments function to input my
feedback. I judge whether or not you’ve fulfilled the length requirement by
word count, not by the number of pages in the document, so there’s no need
to use a specific font or format.
Late Work: For all assignments, late work will be penalized by a half letter
grade for each day of lateness. (At 5:01 pm on the due date, your email with
attached assignment is officially one day late; at 5:01 pm the day after the
due date, it’s two days late; etc.)
Undergraduate Writing Center: The Undergraduate Writing Center, located
on the second floor of the Flawn Academic Center (FAC 211), provides free,
expert writing help for undergrads on a drop-in or appointment basis. It is
an excellent resource, and I strongly encourage each of you to utilize their
services. At the end of a consultation, the consultant will ask you if you want
him/her to email me with information about what was discussed; although I
can’t promise that receipt of such an email will add to your paper’s grade, I
will certainly be inclined to award you more points for class effort and
participation. For an appointment or for more information, call 512-4716222 or visit their website: http://uwc.utexas.edu.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a serious matter, and students caught plagiarizing
will be penalized in accordance with the University’s academic integrity
policy. Students are required to familiarize themselves with this policy,
which can be found on the University’s website at
http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acint_student.php.
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Disabilities: Accommodations for students with documented disabilities are
available. Students with physical, mental or learning disabilities should
consult the University’s Services for Students with Disabilities for more
information. http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/.
I reserve the right to change this syllabus and reading schedule if it proves
necessary. If such a change occurs, I will alert you of it, and post a revised copy
on the course website.
Readings:
Henry Jenkins, ed., The Children’s Culture Reader (New York University Press, 1998)
(available at the Co-Op or on Amazon)
M.T. Anderson, Feed (available on Amazon or at PCL)
Course reader (available at the Jenn’s Copy located at 2518 Guadalupe, near Madam
Mam’s)
Articles located in the course reader are marked below with an asterisk.
Articles and pieces that I’ll make available in PDF form closer to the reading
date are marked with a double asterisk.
Finally, articles that should be read on the Web are marked with a triple
asterisk, and will be posted on the course website (there’s only one of these;
it’s a comic, so it won’t print well in B&W).
Note: The readings are listed on the date we’ll be discussing them in class;
therefore, you’ll need to be done with them before that date. Plan ahead!
August
Weds 24: First class. Introductions, syllabus, the usual.
Fri 26: Discussion: What the Heck is “Children’s Culture”? Read Henry Jenkins,
“Introduction: Childhood Innocence and Other Modern Myths,” in Jenkins, 1-40.
Mon 29: Unit 1 (Moral Panics) Begins. Discussion: Television, Part 1. Read *Neil
Postman, Introduction, Chapter 1, “When There Were No Children,” Chapter 5, “The
Beginning of the End,” and Chapter 8, “The Disappearing Child,” from The
Disappearance of Childhood (1982).
Weds 31: Discussion: Television, Part 2. Read Lynn Spigel, “Seducing the Innocent:
Childhood and Television in Postwar America,” in Jenkins, 110-135; *Gary Cross,
Chapter 1, “The Irony of Innocence” and Chapter 5, “Gremlin Child: How the Cute
Became the Cool,” from The Cute and the Cool: Wondrous Innocence and Modern
American Children’s Culture (2004).
September
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Fri 2 – Discussion: Comic Books. Read *James Gilbert, “Introduction: The Social
History of an Idea” and “Chapter 9: Mass Media and Delinquency: A National
Forum,” from A Cycle of Outrage: America’s Reaction to the Juvenile Delinquent in the
1950s (1986); Frederic Wertham, “Such Trivia as Comic Books,” in Jenkins, 486-492.
Mon 5 – No Class, Labor Day
Weds 7 – Research Workshop Day 1
Fri 9- Research Workshop Day 2
Mon 12- Discussion: Hip-Hop. Read *Robin D.G. Kelley, Chapter 2, “Looking to Get
Paid: How Some Black Youth Put Culture to Work,” from Yo’ Mama’s Disfunktional!:
Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America (1997); *David Roediger, “What to Make
of Wiggers: A Work in Progress,” in Joe Austin and Michael Nevin Willard,
Generations of Youth: Youth Cultures and History in Twentieth-Century America
(1998); *Jessica Lussenhop, “’Wigger Wednesday”: Black Student Sues School
District Alleging Racism,” City Pages (Minneapolis), August 3, 2011
Weds 14 – Discussion: Gaming. Read *Antonin Scalia, Decision in Brown v.
Entertainment Merchants Association (2011); another reading TBA.
Fri 16 – Discussion: Consumer Culture, Part 1. Read *K.J. Dell’antonia, “Study Shows
That Preschoolers Can Recognize Brand Names,” Slate.com, April 6, 2010; *Stephen
Kline, Chapter 6: “Building Character,” from Out of the Garden: Toys, TV, and
Children’s Culture in the Age of Marketing (1995).
Mon 19 – Discussion: Consumer Culture, Part 2. Read Ellen Seiter, “Children’s
Desires/Mothers’ Dilemmas: The Social Contexts of Consumption,” in Jenkins, 297317.
Weds 21 – Discussion: Food. Read Allison James, “Confections, Concoctions, and
Conceptions,” in Jenkins, 394-405; ***Allie, “The God of Cake,” Hyperbole and a Half,
n.d.; *Michele Simon, “Why the Happy Meal is a Crime—and Not Just a Culinary
One,” grist.org, January 24, 2011; *Stacey R. Hall, “Should I Blame My Parents
Because I’m Fat?,” salon.com, August 14, 2011.
Fri 23 – Peer Review - Bring Unit 1 Website Entry, Draft 1, to Class.
Mon 26 – Unit 1 Website Entry Due (Draft 2). Unit 2 (Pink and Blue) Begins.
Discussion: Forming Gender. Read *Jayme Poisson, “Parents Keep Child’s Gender a
Secret,” Toronto Star, May 21, 2011; Barrie Thorne, “Boys and Girls Together…But
Mostly Apart,” in Jenkins, 318-336.
Weds 28 – Discussion: Pink Sparkly Princesses. Read *Jeanne Maglaty, “When Did
Girls Start Wearing Pink?”, Smithsonian.com, April 8, 2011; **Peggy Orenstein, from
Cinderella Ate My Daughter (2011).
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Fri 30 – Discussion: Dolls, Part 1. Read Miriam Forman-Brunell, “The Politics of
Dollhood in Nineteenth-Century America,” in Jenkins, 363-381; Erica Rand, “Older
Heads on Younger Bodies,” in Jenkins, 383-393.
October
Mon 3 – Discussion: Dolls, Part 2. Read **Elizabeth Chin, from Purchasing Power:
Black Kids and American Consumer Culture (2001); *Meredith Carroll, “Proposed
Day Care Rules in Colo. Would Require Dolls of Different Races,” Strollerderby.com,
July 12, 2011.
Weds 5 – Discussion: Girlfans. Read *Barbara Ehrenreich, Elizabeth Hess, Gloria
Jacobs, “Beatlemania: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” from The Audience Studies Reader
(2003); **Melanie Nash and Martii Lahti, “’Almost Ashamed To Say I Am One of
Those Girls’: Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio, and the Paradoxes of Girls’ Fandom,” in
Titanic: Anatomy of a Blockbuster (1999).
Fri 7 –Discussion: Girls’ Magazines. Read *Dawn H. Currie, “Girl Talk: Adolescent
Magazines and their Readers,” from The Audience Studies Reader (2003); *Kara
Jesella and Marisa Meltzer, Chapter 1: “The Rise,” Chapter 3: “Feminism,” Chapter 5:
“Girl Culture,” from How Sassy Changed My Life: A Love Letter to the Greatest Teen
Magazine of All Time (2007)
Mon 10 – Discussion: Boys in Gangs, Boy Consumers. Read E. Anthony Rotundo,
“Boy Culture,” in Jenkins, 337-362; *Lisa Jacobson, Chapter 3: “Heroes of the New
Consumer Age: Imagining Boy Consumers,” from Raising Consumers: Children and
the American Mass Market in the Early Twentieth Century (2004).
Weds 12 – Discussion: Boys and School. Read *Ann Ferguson, Chapter 4: “Naughty
by Nature,” from Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity (2000).
Fri 14 – Discussion: Boys, Girls, and Reading. Read *ScienceDaily, “Gender Bias
Uncovered in Children’s Books With Male Characters, Including Male Animals,
Leading the Fictional Pack,” May 4, 2011; **Robert Lipsyte, “Boys and Reading: Is
There Any Hope?”, The New York Times, August 19, 2011.
Mon 17 – Discussion: Violence. Read *Jason Boog, “The Military-Toy-Industrial
Complex,” The Believer, October 2008; *David Sirota, “How the ‘80s Programmed Us
for War,” salon.com, March 20, 2011.
Weds 19 – Discussion: Geekdom. Read *Patton Oswalt, “Wake Up, Geek Culture.
Time to Die,” Wired, December 27, 2010; **another reading TBA.
Fri 21 – No class – instructor at American Studies Association conference
Mon 24 – Peer Review - Bring Unit 2 Website Entry, Draft 1, to Class.
Weds 26 – Unit 2 Website Entry Due (Draft 2); Unit 3 (Environments Real and
Virtual) Begins
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Discussion: Islanding. Read: *John R. Gillis, “The Islanding of Children: Reshaping the
Mythical Landscapes of Childhood,” from Marta Gutman and Ning DeConinck-Smith,
eds., Designing Modern Childhoods: History, Space, and the Material Culture of
Childhood (2008).
Fri 28 – Discussion: Suburbia. Read *Sean Griffin, “Kings of the Wild Backyard: Davy
Crockett and Children’s Space,” in Marsha Kinder, ed., Kids’ Media Culture (1999);
***Kate Murphy, “Playhouses: Child’s Play, Grown-up Cash,” The New York Times,
July 20, 2011.
Mon 31 – Discussion: The Loss of “Nature.” Read *Richard Louv, Introduction and
Part 1: “The New Relationship Between Children and Nature,” from Last Child in the
Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder (2007).
November
Weds 2 – Discussion: Surveillance and Overprotection. Read *Margaret Nelson,
Introduction and Part II: “Parenting and Technology,” from Parenting Out of Control:
Anxious Parents in Uncertain Times (2010); *Joan Acocella, “The Child Trap: The Rise
of Overparenting,” The New Yorker, November 17, 2008.
Fri 4 – Discussion: Social Networks and Freedom. Read: *danah boyd, “Why Youth
[Heart] Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life,”
in David Buckingham, ed., Youth, Identity, and Digital Media (2008).
Mon 7 – Discussion: Video Games and Mobility. Read *Henry Jenkins, “’Complete
Freedom of Movement’: Video Games as Gendered Play Spaces,” from Justine Cassell
and Henry Jenkins, eds., From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games
(2000); *Ray Bradbury, “The Veldt” (1950).
Weds 9 – Class Release Day – Watch “Hoop Dreams” on your own (available on
Netflix Streaming or Hulu Plus, at the Fine Arts Library, or at I Love Video)
Fri 11 – Discussion: Sports and Mobility. Read (well, watch) “Hoop Dreams.”
Mon 14 – Discussion: The Future. Read Anderson, Feed, pp 1-94.
Weds 16 – Peer Review – Bring Unit 3 Website Entry, Draft 1, to class.
Fri 18 – Discussion: The Future, Cont. Read Anderson, Feed, pp 95-207.
Mon 21 – Paper Proposal Due. Discussion: The Future, The End. Read Anderson,
Feed, pp 207-end.
Weds 23 – No Class – Thanksgiving
Fri 25 – No Class – Thanksgiving
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Mon 28 – Unit 3 Website Entry Due (Draft 2). Conferences about final paper class is cancelled, but conferences will be held during class time/office hours, so
don’t plan to skip town
Weds 30 – Conferences about final paper (see above)
December
Fri 2 – Last Day of Classes – Some fun/educational activity TBA.
Weds 7 – Final Paper Due.
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