Course

Title

Cr

Time/Place

Instructor

259:B1

Popular Culture

How popular culture shapes and reflects society in advertising, music, popular entertainments, fads, fashion, radio, television, sports, and games.

3

M/W

10:00AM-2:00PM

RAB 208

C/D

Backes

266:B6

Cult Films in American Culture

Focus on the American "cult" film from its origins in the 1920s and its evolution in American culture. Close analyses of cult films will be paired with critical readings in film, theory, and cultural history. This course previously given as a 300-level topics course. Credit not given for that course and this one.

3

T/TH

6:00PM-9:40PM

SC 123

CAC

Nigrin

301:B2

Topics: Beach Culture

How has beach culture become an integral urban and suburban experience? Each of the five Saturday meetings will provide a chance to enjoy the outside weather of various New Jersey beaches while we study the many experiential aspects of beach economy, anthropology, and sociology: labor, industry, tourism, recreation and hospitality, ecology, global warming, “beach reading,” beach poetry, architectural and historical sites, cultural venues, self-reflection, beach arts, yoga on the beach, and athletic beach life.

3

SAT

9:30AM-6:30PM

SC 221

CAC

Appels

301:B3

Topics: Murder in America

We will study murder in literature, theater, film, television and in the media in an effort to determine how cultural approaches to murder have formed American society’s view of homicide and why murder has worked so well as a genre for these medium. We will stage a mock trial to find out who killed famed Hollywood film director William Desmond Taylor in 1922.

3

M/W

1:15PM-5:15PM

MU 213

CAC

Chadwick

331:B6

Off-Campus

301:B1

302:B6

Ethnic America: New Immigrant Stories

Immigration takes on many different forms these days. Through the lens of literature, history, and film, this course examines how the immigrant’s story has undergone change during the last two decades. We will focus on works that challenge us to develop new concepts and frames for understanding the American immigrant experience. 

Comedy at the Beach

How do we hear the acoustics of laughter when in natural environments? How does the spirit of the beach produce a physical lightness akin to the comic sensibility? Through readings, discussion, skits and theatre scenes, improv games, movement exercises, as well as visits to cultural venues and historical sites, we examine recreation, creation, and leisure activities as a place of reflection, social rejuvenation, and psychological stability in American culture.

Jersey Shore at Night

The pleasures and crowds of the Jersey Shore extend well beyond the tanning hours of the daytime. This course is concerned with the distinct lived experience of differing beach shore environments, both social and ecological. Particular emphasis will be on the literature of differing townships, boardwalks, and nature preserves, which display evening life as both touristic and local. Of special concern will be the performance of gender and sexuality, and the dating practices, of evening life at the Shore. Jersey Shore night culture will be studied in poetry, short stories, plays, films, performances, indoor and outdoor events, and galleries which open late and close late.

3

3

3

T/TH

6:00PM-9:40PM

SC 202

CAC

T/TH

2:00PM-5:45PM

Western Monmouth

T/TH

6:00PM-9:40PM

Western Monmouth

Shin

Course

Title

Cr

Time/Place

Instructor

300:E6

Topics: Comic Life

We want to laugh as much as possible on a daily basis. But we do not want the career that we undertake to be seen as a joke. Through readings and class recreational trips, we examine humor in America: cartoons, comics, riddles, jokes, stand up comedy, comic film and plays, even playful gestures of animals, as well as the tricks played on us, and the antics of everyday life. “Comic Life” will help students to find comic relief by balancing the serious side of daily life (such as, homework, test preps, exams, illnesses, mortality, motivational difficulties, obstacles of all sizes and shapes) with the playful instinct found in all cultures.

3

M/W

6:00PM-10:00PM

CA A5

CAC

Appels

Course

Title

Cr

Time/Place

Instructor

304:H6

The American City

The American City takes an interdisciplinary approach to the history, culture, problems and future of the American urban environment by investigating specific icons of American urbanism including The World's Fair of 1893, Rockefeller Center, Levittown, Los Angeles, and Atlantic City. The course will also trace the progression of urbanism in America by examining how urban areas are portrayed in literature, music, art, film and popular culture. One field trip to New York City is required with one organized date for the class and an option for students to visit required sites alone if needed. Trip fee to be determined.

Some meetings online.

3

T

6:00PM-9:40PM

SC 221

CAC

Ferguson