CELEBRITY Rebecca Tiger Munroe 205 rtiger@middlebury.edu Office Hours: M/W 2:30-4 COURSE OVERVIEW: In this course, we will explore (1) definitions of fame and celebrity and difference between the two, (2) the history, production and consumption of celebrity in the U.S., and (3) the structures of power and inequality the celebrity phenomenon and its commodification embody. We will use a variety of theoretical perspectives to sociologically analyze phenomena such as celebrity production and consumption, reality television, sports, deviance, and the role the internet plays in celebrity culture and surveillance. Overall, we ll consider what the pleasures we derive from consuming celebrities reveal about their cultural significance in our everyday lives. BOOKS (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE): Joshua Gamson, Claims to Fame: Celebrity in Contemporary America (UC Press) Christopher Smit, The Exile of Britney Spears (Univ. of Chicago Press) Orin Starn, The Passion of Tiger Woods (Duke U. Press) Articles/Book Chapters: I ll make the other course readings on the syllabus (book excerpts and articles) available to you throughout the semester and will post them on the course s wordpress site. Course Website: http://blogs.middlebury.edu/celebrity/
WHAT YOU LL BE DOING (THAT I LL BE GRADING): 3 individual projects (3-5 pages each) 60% 3/7: The Meaning of Celebrity 4/4: Producing/Consuming Celebrity 4/25: Deviance and Celebrity In-class work /Participation 20% Group Presentations (May 7 & 9) 20% Individual Project Due Dates: March 7, April 4, April 25 Group Presentation Dates: May 7 & May 9 Projects are due IN CLASS on the dates listed above.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS February 13 Introduction Gamson, Claims to Fame, Introduction February 15 Fame! Gamson, Claims to Fame, Part I February 20 Worship Rojek, Celebrity and Religion February 22 Conspicuous Consumption Veblen, Conspicuous Consumption February 27 Social Status Kurzman, Celebrity Status February 29 Social Mobility Sternheimer, Celebrity Culture and the American Dream, Intro. & Ch. 9 March 5 Authenticity Gamson, Claims to Fame, Chapter 7 & 8 1CR9eC3lEe9bL-r2i34ty09 07Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1, Jan 2010: March 7 FIRST PROJECT Spectacle Debord, Society of Spectacle, selections March 12 Postmodernity Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulations March 14 March 19 Exit Through the Gift Shop (watch in class) Culture Industry Discussion Horkheimer & Adorno, The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception March 21 Producing Celebrity Gamson, Claims to Fame, Part II Smit, The Exile of Britney Spears, pp. 9-21
April 2 Consuming Celebrity Smit, The Exile of Britney Spears, parts II and III April 4 SECOND PROJECT DUE Celebrity Downfall Starn, The Passion of Tiger Woods, 39-66 April 9 Sporting Ideology Starn, The Passion of Tiger Woods, 67-118 April 11 No Class April 16 Deviant Celebrities Tiger, They Tried to Make Her Go to Rehab Cohen, Monster Theory, Introduction April 18 April 23 The Politics of Gossip Watch in Class: Smash his Camera (excerpts) View in Class: We Live in Public Frost, Hedda Hopper s Hollywood (excerpts) Foucault, The Panopticon April 25 THIRD PROJECT Reality TV Clissold, Candid Camera and the Origins of Reality TV April 30 Neoliberalism View in Class: Survivor (excerpts) Andrejevic, Reality TV: The Work of Being Watched May 2 Hypertrophic Celebrity Meyers, Reality Television and the Hypertrophic
View in Class: Celebrity Rehab (excerpts) Celebrity May 7 May 9 Group Presentations Group Presentations