Course Syllabus

Course Information

Fall 2007
American Popular Culture
AMS 3300.001 – Collegium V
Tues. & Thurs. 4:00 – 5:15 p.m.
CBW 1.103

Professor Contact Information

Dr. Erin A. Smith

School of General Studies
Office: GR 2.208
Phone: (972) 883-2338
e-mail: erins@utdallas.edu
web site: http://www.utdallas.edu/~erins

Office Hours: Tues. 2:30 – 3:45 p.m.

Thurs. 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
and by appointment

Course Description

This course examines American culture through some of its most popular cultural forms—best-
selling novels, magazines, advertising, television, Hollywood films, sports, and popular music.
Although we will make connections between the present and the past, the course is focused
specifically on the popular culture of the Cold War (mainly 1950s and 1960s) through Hollywood
films, pulp novels, best-selling self-help books, television sit-coms and early rock music. We will
consider such topics as: norms about gender and sexuality; the post-War religious revival and its
co-existence with increasingly secular ways of being in the world; the Cold War and efforts to
contain communism abroad; race and early civil rights activity; class and consumption in
burgeoning suburbs.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes

1. Students will be able to analyze selected works of American literature closely.

2. Students will compare/contrast the representations of gender and/or race from texts
assigned for the course.
3. Students will be able to describe the history behind contemporary social, political, and
cultural debates, and become educated participants in those debates.

Course Syllabus Page 1

Required Textbooks and Materials

Mickey Spillane, One Lonely Night (1951)

Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking (1952)
Sloan Wilson, Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1955)
Valerie Taylor, The Girls in 3-B (1959)
Lynn Spigel, Make Room for TV: Television and the Family Ideal in Postwar America (1992)
Elaine Tyler May, Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold-War Era (1999)

All texts are available at the UTD Bookstore and at Off-Campus books.

13 readings on e-reserve at

http://utdallas.docutek.com/eres/coursepage.aspx?cid=280

This course does not use WebCT. Course materials are found at my website
www.utdallas.edu/~erins

Assignments & Academic Calendar

Thurs. 16 Aug.

Organizational / Intro. to Course

Introduction to the Study of Popular Culture

Tues. 21 Aug.

John Fiske, chap. 23, “Popular Culture” in Critical Terms for Literary Study, 2d ed. Ed. Frank
Lentricchia and Thomas McLaughlin (Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1995): 321-35 (e-reserve)

Thurs. 23 Aug.

Geertz, Clifford, “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight,” in Rethinking Popular Culture:
Contemporary Perspectives in Cultural Studies. Eds. Chandra Mukerji and Michael Schudson
(Berkeley: U of California P, 1991): 239-77 (e-reserve)

Conformity and Its Discontents: Domesticity, the Suburbs, & the Organization Man

Tues. 28 Aug.

May, Homeward Bound, Introduction (ix-xxvi), chap. 1 “Containment at Home: Cold War,
Warm Hearth” (10-29), and chap. 7 “The Commodity Gap: Consumerism and the Modern
Home” (143-62)

**Thurs. 30 Aug.

Course Syllabus Page 2

Wilson, Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, chap. 1-20 (1-143)

Tues. 4 Sept.

Wilson, Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, chap. 21-41 (143-276)

Early Television: Audiences, Consumers, and Communities

Thurs. 6 Sept.

Spigel, Make Room for TV, intro. chap. 1 -2 (1-72)

**Tues. 11 Sept.

Spigel, Make Room for TV, chap. 3-4 (73-135)

Thurs. 13 Sept.

Spigel, Make Room for TV, chap. 5 (136-180)

screen l Love Lucy episode

“The Cult of Reassurance”: Religion in Cold-War America

Tues. 18 Sept.

Paul Hutchinson, “Have We a ‘New’ Religion?” Life 11 April 1955, 140+ (e-reserve)

James Gilbert, chap. 6 “’My Answer’: Billy Graham and Male Conversions” (106-134) in Men
in the Middle: Searching for Masculinity in the 1950s (Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2005) (e-
reserve)

**Thurs. 20 Sept.

Peale, Power of Positive Thinking, preface-chap. 8 (viii-114)

Tues. 25 Sept.

Peale, Power of Positive Thinking, chap. 9-epilogue (115-225)

Thurs. 27 Sept. – Midterm Exam – Bring a blue book

Commies, Queers, and other Subversives: Trash Fiction

Tues. 2 Oct.

May, chap. 4 “Explosive Issues: Sex, Women, and the Bomb (80-99) in Homeward Bound

Course Syllabus Page 3

Erin Smith, chap. 1, “The Hard-Boiled Writer and the Literary Marketplace”(18-42) in Hard-
Boiled: Working-Class Readers and Pulp Magazines (Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2000) (e-
reserve)

**Thurs. 4 Oct.

Spillane, One Lonely Night, chap. 1-6 (1-99)

Tues. 9 Oct
Spillane, One Lonely Night, chap. 7-11 (100-174)

Thurs. 11 Oct. – No class / work on papers

Tues. 16 Oct.

Yvonne Keller, “’Was It Right to Love Her Brother’s Wife So Passionately?’: Lesbian Pulp
Novels and U. S. Lesbian Identity, 1950-1965,” American Quarterly 57.2 (June 2005): 385-410
(e-reserve)

Lillian Faderman, chap. 5, “’Naked Amazons and Queer Damozels’: World War II and Its
Aftermath,” (118-38) in Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-
Century America (New York: Penguin, 1991) (e-reserve)

**Thurs. 18 Oct.

Taylor, The Girls in 3-B, foreword-chap. 14 (v-107)

Tues. 23 Oct.

Taylor, The Girls in 3-B, chap. 15-afterword (107-206)

On the Origins of Rock and Roll: The Politics of Gender, Class, and Race

**Thurs. 25 Oct.

George Lipsitz, chap. 5, “Against the Wind: Dialogic Aspects of Rock and Roll” (99-132) in
Time Passages: Collective Memory and American Popular Culture (Minneapolis: U of
Minnesota P, 1990) (e-reserve)

**Tues. 30 Oct..

Nelson George, chap. 3, “The New Negro (1950-1965)” (59-93) in The Death of Rhythm &
Blues (New York: Pantheon, 1988) (e-reserve)

**Thurs. 1 Nov. – Cold War Popular Culture Paper Due / brief presentations

Course Syllabus Page 4

Susan Douglas, chap. 4, “Why the Shirelles Mattered” (83-98) in Where the Girls Are: Growing
Up Female with the Mass Media (New York: Times, 1994) (e-reserve)

**Tues. 6 Nov.

Penny Von Eschen, chap. 3, “The Real Ambassador” (58-91) in Satchmo Blows Up the World:
Jazz Ambassadors Play the Cold War (Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2004) (e-reserve)

Spectator Sports: Bodies and Culture

**Thurs. 8 Nov.

Randy Roberts, “The Wide World of Muhammad Ali: The Politics and Economics of Televised
Boxing” (24-53) in Muhammad Ali, the People’s Champ , ed. Elliott J. Gorn (Urbana: U of
Illinois P, 1995) (e-reserve)

The Biblical Epic: God, the Cold War, and the American Way

Time TBA – outside class screening of The Ten Commandments

Tues. 13 Nov.

Melani McAlister, chap. 1, “’Benevolent Supremacy’: the Biblical Epic at the Dawn of the
American Century, 1947-1960,”(48-83) in Epic Encounters: Culture, Media and U.S. Interests in
the Middle East since 1945 (Berkeley: U of California P, 2005) (e-reserve)

Thurs. 15 Nov.

Wrap – Up / Evaluations / Final Exam Questions Out

Tues. 20 Nov. –Contemporary Popular Culture Papers due / class presentations

Thurs. 24 Nov. – Thanksgiving – NO CLASS

TAKE-HOME FINAL EXAM due Tuesday 27 November in my office at 5:00 p.m.

Grading Policy

Attendance and participation -- You are expected to come to class prepared for
discussion. Your participation includes not only expressing your own ideas, but also the
respect and seriousness with which you treat the ideas of your colleagues.

Presentation -- You and a partner are responsible for getting discussion of the day’s reading
started once during the semester. You should meet in advance and plan the background, issues,

Course Syllabus Page 5

passages to examine closely, and questions you want to bring to the class. Presentations will be
the first 10 minutes of class, although discussion of questions may run much longer. You will
distribute to everyone a single hand-out you jointly produce with 3-5 questions for us to
address at the start of class. Classes available for student presenters are marked with a ** on
the syllabus.

Reading Question Write-Ups – Six times over the course of the semester, you will hand in a one-
page (MAX) typed response to questions about the reading. Goal is to (1) prove you’ve done the
reading; and (2) show some thoughtful consideration of the issues or questions it raises. These
are reaction papers vs. more formal writing. If you spend more than 20-30 minutes writing, you
are working too hard. I will post prompts on my website for each day’s reading. You may feel
free to add thoughts/questions to these. You must hand in 3 of these by Thurs. 27 Sept. They
are due on the day we discuss a reading. Late reading questions will not be accepted. E-
mailed and faxed questions will not be accepted. I will not accept questions from students
not present in class that day.

Midterm and Final Exams -- essay exams designed to test your mastery of course
readings and class discussion, and your ability to synthesize the material and think
critically about it. Midterm is in-class on Thurs. 27 Sept. Final exam is a take-home
exam due in my office at 5:00 p.m. on Tues. 27 Nov.

Cold War Popular Culture Paper (5 pages) -- an analysis of some form of Cold-War
popular culture (novel, self-help book, television show, magazine, album, film, etc.)
using the terms and approaches from the course. Requires outside research. Detailed
handout to be provided. Due Thursday 1 Nov. at the start of class. Brief presentation to
class required.

Contemporary Popular Culture Paper (5 pages) – an analysis of some contemporary form

of popular culture with which you have some engagement. Uses approaches from the
course. Detailed handout to be provided. Due Tues. 20 Nov. at the start of class. Brief
presentation to class required.

Grading Policy --Your grade will be based on:

Cold War Popular Culture Paper 20%

Contemporary Popular Culture Paper 20%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 20%
Presentation 10%
Reading Question Write-ups 10%

You must complete all course requirements in order to pass the class (e.g. if you do not
hand in a paper, you will fail the class, even if the other grades average out to a passing
grade). Attendance and participation will be reflected in your grade (i.e. it doesn’t matter
how well you do on the other things, if you regularly don’t show for class or don’t
participate). Anyone missing more than 8 classes (for whatever reason) will fail the
course. Habitual lateness, absences or failure to hand in a paper on time will be reflected
in your grade. Please consult me in the event of illness, emergency, or other extenuating
circumstances.

Course Syllabus Page 6

Course & Instructor Policies

A NOTE ON CELL PHONES AND PAGERS—TURN THEM OFF!!! They are

rude, disruptive, and disrespectful to me and to your classmates.

Student Conduct & Discipline

The University of Texas System and The University of Texas at Dallas have rules and
regulations for the orderly and efficient conduct of their business. It is the responsibility
of each student and each student organization to be knowledgeable about the rules and
regulations which govern student conduct and activities. General information on student
conduct and discipline is contained in the UTD publication, A to Z Guide, which is
provided to all registered students each academic year.

The University of Texas at Dallas administers student discipline within the procedures of
recognized and established due process. Procedures are defined and described in the
Rules and Regulations, Board of Regents, The University of Texas System, Part 1,
Chapter VI, Section 3, and in Title V, Rules on Student Services and Activities of the
university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures. Copies of these rules and regulations
are available to students in the Office of the Dean of Students, where staff members are
available to assist students in interpreting the rules and regulations (SU 1.602, 972/883-
6391).

A student at the university neither loses the rights nor escapes the responsibilities of
citizenship. He or she is expected to obey federal, state, and local laws as well as the
Regents’ Rules, university regulations, and administrative rules. Students are subject to
discipline for violating the standards of conduct whether such conduct takes place on or
off campus, or whether civil or criminal penalties are also imposed for such conduct.

Academic Integrity

The faculty expects from its students a high level of responsibility and academic honesty.
Because the value of an academic degree depends upon the absolute integrity of the work
done by the student for that degree, it is imperative that a student demonstrate a high
standard of individual honor in his or her scholastic work.

Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, statements, acts or omissions related
to applications for enrollment or the award of a degree, and/or the submission as one’s
own work or material that is not one’s own. As a general rule, scholastic dishonesty
involves one of the following acts: cheating, plagiarism, collusion and/or falsifying
academic records. Students suspected of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary
proceedings.

Plagiarism, especially from the web, from portions of papers for other classes, and from
any other source is unacceptable and will be dealt with under the university’s policy on
plagiarism (see general catalog for details). This course will use the resources of
turnitin.com, which searches the web for possible plagiarism and is over 90% effective.

Email Use

Course Syllabus Page 7

 The University of Texas at Dallas recognizes the value and efficiency of communication
between faculty/staff and students through electronic mail. At the same time, email raises
some issues concerning security and the identity of each individual in an email exchange.
The university encourages all official student email correspondence be sent only to a
student’s U.T. Dallas email address and that faculty and staff consider email from
students official only if it originates from a UTD student account. This allows the
university to maintain a high degree of confidence in the identity of all individual
corresponding and the security of the transmitted information. UTD furnishes each
student with a free email account that is to be used in all communication with university
personnel. The Department of Information Resources at U.T. Dallas provides a method
for students to have their U.T. Dallas mail forwarded to other accounts.

Withdrawal from Class

The administration of this institution has set deadlines for withdrawal of any college-level
courses. These dates and times are published in that semester's course catalog.
Administration procedures must be followed. It is the student's responsibility to handle
withdrawal requirements from any class. In other words, I cannot drop or withdraw any
student. You must do the proper paperwork to ensure that you will not receive a final
grade of "F" in a course if you choose not to attend the class once you are enrolled.

Student Grievance Procedures

Procedures for student grievances are found in Title V, Rules on Student Services and
Activities, of the university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures.

In attempting to resolve any student grievance regarding grades, evaluations, or other

fulfillments of academic responsibility, it is the obligation of the student first to make a
serious effort to resolve the matter with the instructor, supervisor, administrator, or
committee with whom the grievance originates (hereafter called “the respondent”).
Individual faculty members retain primary responsibility for assigning grades and
evaluations. If the matter cannot be resolved at that level, the grievance must be
submitted in writing to the respondent with a copy of the respondent’s School Dean. If
the matter is not resolved by the written response provided by the respondent, the student
may submit a written appeal to the School Dean. If the grievance is not resolved by the
School Dean’s decision, the student may make a written appeal to the Dean of Graduate
or Undergraduate Education, and the deal will appoint and convene an Academic
Appeals Panel. The decision of the Academic Appeals Panel is final. The results of the
academic appeals process will be distributed to all involved parties.

Copies of these rules and regulations are available to students in the Office of the Dean of
Students, where staff members are available to assist students in interpreting the rules and
regulations.

Incomplete Grade Policy

As per university policy, incomplete grades will be granted only for work unavoidably
missed at the semester’s end and only if 70% of the course work has been completed. An
incomplete grade must be resolved within eight (8) weeks from the first day of the
subsequent long semester. If the required work to complete the course and to remove the

Course Syllabus Page 8

 incomplete grade is not submitted by the specified deadline, the incomplete grade is
changed automatically to a grade of F.

Disability Services

The goal of Disability Services is to provide students with disabilities educational

opportunities equal to those of their non-disabled peers. Disability Services is located in
room 1.610 in the Student Union. Office hours are Monday and Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to
6:30 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30
p.m.

The contact information for the Office of Disability Services is:

The University of Texas at Dallas, SU 22
PO Box 830688
Richardson, Texas 75083-0688
(972) 883-2098 (voice or TTY)

Essentially, the law requires that colleges and universities make those reasonable
adjustments necessary to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability. For example,
it may be necessary to remove classroom prohibitions against tape recorders or animals
(in the case of dog guides) for students who are blind. Occasionally an assignment
requirement may be substituted (for example, a research paper versus an oral presentation
for a student who is hearing impaired). Classes enrolled students with mobility
impairments may have to be rescheduled in accessible facilities. The college or
university may need to provide special services such as registration, note-taking, or
mobility assistance.

It is the student’s responsibility to notify his or her professors of the need for such an
accommodation. Disability Services provides students with letters to present to faculty
members to verify that the student has a disability and needs accommodations.
Individuals requiring special accommodation should contact the professor after class or
during office hours.

Religious Holy Days

The University of Texas at Dallas will excuse a student from class or other required
activities for the travel to and observance of a religious holy day for a religion whose
places of worship are exempt from property tax under Section 11.20, Tax Code, Texas
Code Annotated.

The student is encouraged to notify the instructor or activity sponsor as soon as possible
regarding the absence, preferably in advance of the assignment. The student, so excused,
will be allowed to take the exam or complete the assignment within a reasonable time
after the absence: a period equal to the length of the absence, up to a maximum of one
week. A student who notifies the instructor and completes any missed exam or
assignment may not be penalized for the absence. A student who fails to complete the
exam or assignment within the prescribed period may receive a failing grade for that
exam or assignment.

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 If a student or an instructor disagrees about the nature of the absence [i.e., for the purpose
of observing a religious holy day] or if there is similar disagreement about whether the
student has been given a reasonable time to complete any missed assignments or
examinations, either the student or the instructor may request a ruling from the chief
executive officer of the institution, or his or her designee. The chief executive officer or
designee must take into account the legislative intent of TEC 51.911(b), and the student
and instructor will abide by the decision of the chief executive officer or designee.

Off-Campus Instruction and Course Activities

Off-campus, out-of-state, and foreign instruction and activities are subject to state law
and University policies and procedures regarding travel and risk-related activities.
Information regarding these rules and regulations may be found at the website address
given below. Additional information is available from the office of the school dean.
(http://www.utdallas.edu/Business Affairs/Travel_Risk_Activities.htm)

These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the Professor.

Course Syllabus Page 10