Top US Consumerism - History

“Advertising has done more to cause the social unrest of the 20th century than any other single factor.” -- Clare Boothe Luce HIST 463: American Consumerism Winter 2014 Tuesdays & Thursdays 4-5:20pm 276 Lokey Education Building Professor Jamie Mayhew Bufalino Office: 340W McKenzie Hall Office hours: Tuesdays 12-1:30 & Thursdays 2:00-3:30pm (or by appt) [email protected] Course Overview: This course will examine the emergence of United States consumer culture in the 1880s and trace its development in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Students will examine and discuss primary documents including advertisements, political propaganda, and social commentary as well as secondary sources chronicling the historical significance of consumerism. Topics of discussion will include the development of the infrastructure of a consumer-based economy, the modernization of the advertising industry, the rise of a culture of consumerism, the role of government in the consumerbased economy, consumer activism, and scholarly critiques of liberal and neoliberal economic ideals. The course will also consider the impact of consumerism on notions of class, race, gender, sexuality, politics, & individual identity.

Teaching Method: This is a reading intensive discussion-based course. It is vital that students come to class prepared to discuss the day’s reading assignments. Most of our class time will consist of group discussion. There will be occasional short lectures to provide necessary context for course readings. Discussions will be focused on analysis of primary and secondary documents related to the history of U.S. consumer culture.

Required Texts: Lizabeth Cohen, A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games Roland Marchand, Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity, 19201940 *Additional readings on course website on blackboard

Attendance Policy & Participation: As class participation is vital to the success of this course, attendance is mandatory and will be recorded at the beginning of each class period. More than three absences from class will result in failure of the participation component of the course. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the day’s readings. Once per week students are invited to participate in an online discussion of course readings. While participation in the online discussion is not required, thoughtful participation in online discussion will contribute toward each student’s participation grade.

Discussion Etiquette: You are permitted to take notes using a computer. However, I will alter this policy if I find that either I or other students are disturbed by the improper use of electronic devices during class. Please silence devices & remain quiet during class unless called on by instructor. Arrive and depart the classroom on time so as not to distract others. In both online and classroom discussion, students are encouraged to provide alternate view points on course readings. However, please respect the views of others by responding with alternative arguments rather than personal remarks.

Course Assignments: Student grades will be determined on the basis of the following criteria: 1. Document Analysis Papers – 5 short papers analyzing assigned readings (5 pages each). See individual assignment instructions on blackboard. (17% each) 2. Participation in classroom & optional online discussion (15% of course grade). More than 3 absences will result in automatic failure of this portion of the course.

Incompletes, Late Assignments, and Academic Dishonesty: Incompletes will be given in rare cases such as serious illness but must be discussed with me prior to the end of the term. Late assignments will be docked at a rate of one-third grade level per day following the due date (for instance an A- paper would earn a B+ if one day late, a B if two days late and so on). It is the responsibility of the student to make sure that I receive the late paper. Academic dishonesty will result in disciplinary action and potential assignment/course failure. Academic dishonesty includes plagiarism of published works including online sources and passing off the work of another student as one’s own. For guidelines see http://libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/plagarism/students/.

History 463: American Consumerism Day

Reading

Discussion Topic

Tu 1/07

Leach, Land of Desire , pgs. xiii-38, Strasser, "From Customer to Consumer"*

Building the Infrastructure of a Consumer Society

Thu 1/9

Leach, Land of Desire , pgs. 112-190*

Building the Infrastructure of a Consumer Society

Tu 1/14

Leach, Land of Desire , pgs. 298-322; Susman, "Personality and the Making of 20th Century Culture"*

The Emergence of a Consumer Culture

Thu 1/16

Barton, excerpt "The Man Nobody Knows"; Allen, "A Revolution in Morals and Manners" "Epitaph for Middletown"*

The Emergence of Consumer Culture

Tu 1/21

Marchand, Advertising the American Dream , xv24, 52-116; Exhibit "The Power of Refined Beauty"*

The Rise of Advertising

Thu 1/23

Marchand, Advertising the American Dream , pgs. 117-205

The Rise of Advertising

Tu 1/28

Cohen, A Consumers' Republic , pgs. 18-61

The Rise of the Citizen Consumer

Thu 1/30

"Don't Buy Where You Can't Work;" Exhibit "Oregon Responds to WWII"*

Depression Era & WWII Consumer Movements

Tu 2/4


The Consumers' Republic

Thu 2/06


The Modern Landscape of Consumption

Tu 2/11

Frank, The Conquest of Cool , Ch 6 & 7; "1960s: The Golden Age of Advertising. Doyle Dane & Bernbach"*

The Creative Revolution & the Golden Age of Advertising

Thu 2/13


Political Culture of Mass Consumption

Tu 2/18

Episodes of The Age of Uncertainty & Free to Choose; Galbraith & Friedman readings *

Friedman vs. Galbraith: Competing Visions of 20th century economics

Thu 2/20

Klein, "Local Foreign Policy;" "Neoliberalism & Stories of Racial Redemption;" "Just Do It"*

Neoliberalism

Tu 2/25

"Mixing Pop (Culture) and Politics;" "The Fair Trade Movement;" "Culture Jamming"*

Modern Consumer Activism

Thu 2/27

"Free Self-Esteem Tools?"; "Consumerism & the Construction of Black Female Identity"

Women & Consumer Culture

Tu 3/4

Collins, The Hunger Games, pgs. 3-194

Documentary: "Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising's Image of Women"

9

Thu 3/6

Collins, The Hunger Games, pgs. 195-374

"Bread & Circuses:" A Critique of American Media Culture

10

"Selling Democracy," "Political Advertising…" & "From Networked Nominee to Networked Nation"* Tu 3/11 "Meat, Mask, Burden: Probing the Contours of the Branded Self"* & "The Work of Being Watched"* Thu 3/13

Week

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

* Reading notated with asterisk located on blackboard

Selling Democracy Branding Ourselves through Social Media

Assignment

Document Analysis I

Document Analysis II

Document Analysis III

Document Analysis IV

Document Analysis V