WRPR 1XXB001-02: B-Sides + Blues Visions: Reviewing Black Popular Culture for Social Transformation
Instructor: Christopher R. Rogers, Ph.D
Class meetings: Section 01: TTh 11:30am-12:55pm | Section 02: TTh 02:30pm-03:55pm
Location:
Student hours: T/ Th 01:00pm - 02:15pm / OR by appointment (in person/virtual)
In a classic essay interrogating cultural organizing in the 21st Century, journalist Jeff Chang (2010) establishes:
“Culture is the space in our national consciousness filled by music, books, sports, movies, theater, visual arts, and media. It is the realm of ideas, images, and stories -- the narrative in which we are immersed every day. It is where people make sense of the world, where ideas are introduced, values are inculcated, and emotions are attached to concrete change. Cultural change is often the dress rehearsal for political change. Or put in another way, political change is the final manifestation of cultural shifts that have already occurred.”
His words spoke to the critical and historical role of cultural production (especially hip-hop) for leveraging grassroots movements for progressive social change. In this writing seminar, we will investigate the relationship between cultural production arising from Black communities and its resonance within their visions/actions for social transformation. Through three acts, we will consider: (1) the multiplicity of the role of popular culture in our lives beyond its value as a commodity; (2) a survey of historical 20th Century examples upon which popular music arising from Black communities served to amplify visions of social transformation; and (3) review and speculate upon the possibilities of contemporary popular culture artifacts to inspire present-day mobilizing for progressive social change. Course readings will include anchor texts combined with supplemental articles, essays, and multimedia artifacts. Assignments will involve essays that build on formative personal experiences with popular culture toward articulating historical arguments for the social afterlife of a popular culture artifact. The final assignment concludes with seminar participants establishing a contemporary argument for the utility of a self-selected popular culture artifact to support a current mobilization for justice-oriented outcomes.
Instructor: Christopher R. Rogers, Ph.D
Class meetings: Section 01: TTh 11:30am-12:55pm | Section 02: TTh 02:30pm-03:55pm
Location:
Student hours: T/ Th 01:00pm - 02:15pm / OR by appointment (in person/virtual)
In a classic essay interrogating cultural organizing in the 21st Century, journalist Jeff Chang (2010) establishes:
“Culture is the space in our national consciousness filled by music, books, sports, movies, theater, visual arts, and media. It is the realm of ideas, images, and stories -- the narrative in which we are immersed every day. It is where people make sense of the world, where ideas are introduced, values are inculcated, and emotions are attached to concrete change. Cultural change is often the dress rehearsal for political change. Or put in another way, political change is the final manifestation of cultural shifts that have already occurred.”
His words spoke to the critical and historical role of cultural production (especially hip-hop) for leveraging grassroots movements for progressive social change. In this writing seminar, we will investigate the relationship between cultural production arising from Black communities and its resonance within their visions/actions for social transformation. Through three acts, we will consider: (1) the multiplicity of the role of popular culture in our lives beyond its value as a commodity; (2) a survey of historical 20th Century examples upon which popular music arising from Black communities served to amplify visions of social transformation; and (3) review and speculate upon the possibilities of contemporary popular culture artifacts to inspire present-day mobilizing for progressive social change. Course readings will include anchor texts combined with supplemental articles, essays, and multimedia artifacts. Assignments will involve essays that build on formative personal experiences with popular culture toward articulating historical arguments for the social afterlife of a popular culture artifact. The final assignment concludes with seminar participants establishing a contemporary argument for the utility of a self-selected popular culture artifact to support a current mobilization for justice-oriented outcomes.
- Trainer/in: Christopher R. Rogers