Honors 131: Humor & Global Politics George Mason University Fall 2017 Aquia 219 Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:30-2:45p.m. Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Ashley Office: Buchannan Hall, D217J E-mail: jashley4@gmu.edu Office Hours: Tuesdays from 3:30-5:30 p.m. and by appointment Course Description: This course explores the role of humor and satire in global political discourse. We begin the course with an examination of the work of Habermas, as well as those who have appropriated and/or critiqued his formulation of the public sphere. This discussion will be followed by a consideration of humor and satire as a form of political communication, drawing on Bakhtin s discussion of the carnivalesque. In the second part of the course, we will consider how scholars have taken up these theoretical frameworks to analyze the use of entertainment television (such as The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live in the US, Les Guignols de l'info in France, and Heti hetesin Hungary) to promote public debate. Students will be asked to critically evaluate the concept of the public sphere in relation to media as they consider whether, why, and how television allows for (or fails to allow for) critical engagement with issues of public concern. They will also be asked to consider the potential and limits of dissident laughter in effecting political change. Course readings and critical media viewing will allow us to consider how relations of power shape what is shown on television, when it shown, and why it is shown. Discussion will explore the definition and creation of a public and the emergence of multiple publics and counterpublics. Through an examination of these various topics, this course aims to consider what it might mean for television to be democratic. By the end of the course, students should be able to: Outline the basic ideas behind public sphere theory and its critiques Describe the potentials and limits of satire as a form of global political communication Critically evaluate the possibilities and limitations of television in providing a space for global political discourse Identify in their own work and in that of others the elements of a strong academic analysis Required Texts: Students are expected to bring printed copies of the readings (or extended notes) to class. Readings will be posted on Blackboard (located on MyMason). Blackboard will also be used to post announcements (including schedule changes and extra credit opportunities). Whenever possible, full-length videos will be available in the library, and clips will be posted on Blackboard. Course Requirements and Grading Active participation: Active participation means having arrived at class with annotated copies of the readings and questions/comments prepared for discussion. Laptops and cell phones are not permitted during class except in exceptional circumstances. You are expected to attend all class sessions. If you have to miss more than two classes over the course of the semester, please see me as soon as possible to work out a plan to make up in-class work. 1
Discussion Postings: As part of their participation grade, students will be required to watch media programming outside of class and post short analyses (1 paragraph) of this media based on course readings. Over the course of the semester, you will be asked to post on eight of ten possible discussion forum. These posts should be in the form of one content-rich paragraph that develops one key idea. They must be between 150-200 words and have an argument-driven title. These should not be a summary of the text, but rather work to use the course reading to analyze the media of that week. These responses should be posted to Blackboard by midnight before class. (Please note that I grade these as if they were micro paper assignments. That is to say, they will be evaluated both in terms of content and structure.) Students are required to post on the readings/programming of the following sessions: *August 31 st *September 7 th *September 14 th *October 5 th Students are required to post on the readings/programming of at least 4 of the following six sessions: *October 17 th *November 2 nd *November 7 th *November 9 th *November 16 th *December 5 th Presentation: Over the course of the semester, students will be required to do one short presentation on a theme related to course readings. These presentations will consist of providing an empirical example of one or more of the theoretical issues outlined in course readings. An outline of the presentation is due to the instructor by noon the day before class. We will sign up for presentation slots during the first week of class. Take-Home Essay Exams: There will be two take-home essays, one at midterm, and one at the end of the course (1250-1500 words, single-spaced). Essays are due the week after they are assigned, as indicated in the syllabus. Students will be asked to prepare a response to one of a choice of essay questions, which will be explicitly tied to course readings, discussions, and media presentations. Grading Rubric: Participation: 10% Presentation: 10% Discussion Posts: 20% First take-home essay: 30% Second take-home essay: 30% Grading scale: A 94.0 to 100.0 A- 90.0 to 93.9 B+ 87.0 to 89.9 B 84.0 to 86.9 B- 80.0 to 83.9 C+ 77.0 to 79.9 C 74.0 to 76.9 C- 70.0 to 73.9 D+ 67.0 to 69.9 D 64.0 to 66.9 D- 60.0 to 63.9 F 0 to 59.0 Late Paper Policy: Late papers will only be accepted for full credit with university-issued written documentation. Late papers received without the proper documentation will be penalized a grade increment (for example, from A- to B+) for each day after the official due date. 2
Academic Integrity: Plagiarism is a serious offense and you are expected to read and follow the Honor Code that can be found in the University Catalog. You will be asked to produce original work for your assignments, and must provide proper citation of the ideas and words of other authors. See: http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/plagiarism.htm Email policy: You must activate your Mason e-mail account, use it to communicate with the department and other administrative units, and check it regularly for important university information including messages related to this class. Please check the syllabus before emailing me regarding course matters, and contact a classmate for notes if you miss class. I will not respond to email inquiries that arise from a lack of attention to the syllabus (i.e. office location, office hour times, due date for assignments, etc.) or class absence. I am happy to respond to clarification requests on assignments, though I strongly prefer to address these matters during class time. Academic Accommodations: If you are a student with a disability and need academic accommodations, please see me at the beginning of the semester and contact the Office of Disability Services at 703.993.2474 or ods.gmu.edu. Accommodations must be arranged through that office. Important Dates: https://registrar.gmu.edu/calendars/fall-2017/ Last Day to add/drop with no tuition penalty: September 5, 2017 Last Day to drop with a 33% tuition penalty: September 19, 2017 Last day to drop with a 67% tuition penalty: September 29, 2017 Selective Withdrawal Period: October 2-27, 2017 Part I: Introduction 1 Tu 29 Aug Introduction to Course Aims Case study: US-Cuba relations (With the help of South Park, Conan O Brien, and Pánfilo) Th 31 Aug Introduction to Television Studies Kellner, Doug. 2005. Critical Perspectives on Television from the Frankfurt School to Postmodernism. In A Companion to Television. Janet Wasko, ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Pp. 29-47. Media: 30 Rock, Season 1, Episode 5, Jack-Tor. (Available on Netflix and on reserve in the library) **Everyone posts on Blackboard Part II: Theoretical Approaches 2 Tu 5 Sept Habermas & the Public Sphere Calhoun, Craig. 1994. Introduction: Habermas and the public sphere. In Habermas and the Public Sphere. Craig Calhoun, ed. Cambridge: The MIT Press, pp. 1-43. Th 7 Sept Habermas & the Public Sphere II Habermas, Jurgen. 1974. The Public Sphere: An Encyclopedia Article (1964). New German Critique 1(3): 49-55. VanDerWerff, Todd. The classic American sitcom is exactly what we need in this fractured political moment: https://tinyurl.com/ybt4jdy2 Media: All in the Family, Season 7, Episode 15, The Draft Dodger. **Everyone posts on Blackboard 3
3 Tu 12 Sept Publics & Counterpublics Fraser, Nancy. 1992. "Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy. In Habermas and the Public Sphere. Craig Calhoun, ed. pp. 109-142. Cambridge: The MIT Press. Th 14 Sept Counterpublic Texts Howe, Cymene. 2008. Spectacles of Sexuality: Televisionary Activism in Nicaragua. Cultural Anthropology 23(1): 48-84. Media: Clips from Sexto Sentido **Everyone posts on Blackboard. 4 Tu 19 Sept Transnational Public Sphere? Fraser, Nancy. 2007. Transnationalizing the Public Sphere: On the Legitimacy and Efficacy of Public Opinion in a Post-Westphalian World. Theory, Culture & Society 24(4): 7-30. Th 21 Sept Safety Valves & Critical Complicity Wedeen, Lisa. 2015[1999]. Preface. In Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Wedeen, Lisa. 2015[1999]. Signs of Transgression. In Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria. Pp. 87-132. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 5 Tu 26 Sept Social Critique of Humor Billig, Michael. 2005. Laughter and Unlaughter. In Laughter and Ridicule: Towards a Social Critique of Humour. London and Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Pp. 175-199. Th 28 Sept Embarrassment, Humor and the Social Order Billig, Michael. 2005. Embarrassment, Humour, and the Social Order. In Laughter and Ridicule: Towards a Social Critique of Humour. London and Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Pp. 200-235. 6 Tu 3 Oct Humor as Dialogical Bakhtin, Mikhail. Introduction. In Rabelais and His World. Helene Iswolsky, trans. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Pp. 1-58. Th 5 Oct South Park & the Carnivalesque Thompson, Ethan. 2010. Good Demo, Bad Taste: South Park as Carnivalesque Satire. In Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era. Jonathan Gray, Jeffrey Jones, and Ethan Thompson, eds. Pp. 213-232. New York: NYU Press. Media: South Park, The Last of the Meheecans, Season 15, Episode 9 (On reserve in the library or online via Hulu: http://www.southparkstudios.com/fullepisodes/s15e09-the-last-of-the-meheecans) **Everyone posts on Blackboard 4
Part III. Global Flows 7 Tu 10 Oct **We will not meet. Go to your Monday classes today. Th 12 Oct Beyond Cultural Imperialism Straubhaar, J. 1991. Beyond Media Imperialism: Asymmetrical Interdependence and Cultural Proximity. Critical Studies in Mass Communication 8: 39 59. Torgovnick May, K. 2016. A New Age of Animation. The Atlantic. May 26. https://tinyurl.com/yah6o3c7 *Discuss first take-home essay. 8 Tu 17 Oct Global Audiences Gray, Jonathan. 2007. Imagining America: The Simpsons Go Global. Popular Communication 5(2): 129-148. Media: The Simpsons, Episode TBA Th 19 Oct **Optional Blackboard posting #1 Local Production Sayfo, Omar Adam. 2015. Arab Sitcom Animations as Platforms for Satire. In The Power of Satire. Marijke Meijer Drees and Sonja de Leuw. John Benjamins Publishing Company: Amsterdam and Philadelphia. Pp. 81-91. **First take-home essay due online before midnight. Part IV. Questioning Regimes of Truth 9 Tu 24 Oct Regimes of Truth Foucault, Michel. 1980. Truth and Power. Power/Knowledge. Selected Interviews & Other Writings. Pp. 109-17 Th 26 Oct Parody and Truthiness Boyer, D. 2013. Simply the best: Parody and political sincerity in Iceland. American Ethnologist 40(2): 276-287. LA Times, 2016. Icelandic comedian Jón Gnarr s The Mayor is like Veep, only with a real-life politician : http://tinyurl.com/jf8gu2h 10 Tu 31 Oct No class today. Take a break, and be ready with the reading and media viewing for Thursday. Th 2 Nov Satire, Sleuthing, and the Supernatural in a Gambian TV Show Guest lecture: Prof. Niklas Hultin Readings TBA Media: Banjul Cops, Episode 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b7ldm6p41w Optional Discussion Post #2 11 Tu 7 Nov News Parody in Global Perspective Baym, Geoffrey and Jeffrey Jones. 2012. News Parody in Global Perspective: Politics, Power, and Resistance. Popular Communication 10: 2-13. Media: Stephen Colbert on Russia s Evening Urgant (Вечерний Ургант): 5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt3vfq8wyzg Th 9 Nov Optional Discussion Post #3 The Daily Show and Fake News Jones, Jeffrey. 2010. Chapter 4 and Chapter 6. In Entertaining Politics: Satire Television and Political Engagement. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. Pp. 63-92 and 111-143. Media: The Daily Show, Episode TBA Optional Discussion Post #4 12 Tu 14 Nov Socialist-Capitalist Satire Anikó Imre (2012) The Witty Seven: Late Socialist-Capitalist Satire in Hungary, Popular Communication, 10:1-2, 131-144. Th 16 Nov Prime-time Puppets Doyle, Waddick. 2012. No Strings Attached? Les Guignols de l'info and French Television. Popular Communication, 10:1-2, 40-51. Media: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x52410w Optional Discussion Post #5 Part IV: Convergence and Conclusions 13 Tu 21 Nov Spreadable Media Jenkins, Henry and Joshua Green. 2013. Intro. Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Age. New York and London: New York University Press. Pp. 1-47. Th 23 Nov No class. Enjoy your Thanksgiving! 14 Tu 28 Nov Egypt s Jon Stewart Gordon, Joel and Heba Arafa. 2014. Stuck with Him : Bassem Youssef and the Egyptian Revolution s Last Laugh. Review of Middle East Studies 48(1/2): 34-43. Th 30 Nov In-class media: Part I of Tickling Giants (Dir. Sarah Taksler, 2016) Satire in Difficult Times Ibrahim, Amal and Nahed Eltantawy. 2017. Egypt s Jon Stewart: Political Satire and Serious Culture Jamming. International Communication 11: 2806-2824. In-class media: Part II of Tickling Giants (Dir. Sarah Taksler, 2016) 15 Tu 5 Dec The Potential and Limits of Dissident Laughter Day, Amber and Ethan Thompson. 2012. Live From New York, It's the Fake News! Saturday Night Live and the (Non)Politics of Parody, Popular Communication, 10:1-2, 170-182, DOI: 10.1080/15405702.2012.638582 Media: Saturday Night Live, Episode TBA Th 7 Dec Optional Discussion Post #6 Course Wrap-Up Second take-home essay due online by midnight 6
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