W16-AMSTUD-106-01 : SPECTACULAR TRIALS: SEX, RACE AND VIOLENCE IN MODERN AMERICAN CULTURE. 2016 Winter
Abstract/Contents
- Course Description
- This course will use the phenomenon of the spectacular trial as a framework for exploring the intersections of sex, race, and violence in the formation of modern American culture. Beginning in the late nineteenth century and continuing through the 1990s, we will focus our inquiry on a number of notorious cases, some associated with familiar names?the ?Scottsboro Boys,? Emmett Till, O.J. Simpson?others involving once-infamous actors?like Joan Little and Inez Garcia?whose ordeals have receded into historical memory, considering a range of questions arising from this thematic nexus. For instance, in what ways are sexual transgressions racialized and gendered? What are the practical and theoretical ramifications of the seemingly inextricable conjunction of sex and violence in legal and popular discourse? And what insights might such spectacles afford when broached as an arena in which sexual meanings, identities, and practices are refracted and ultimately constructed? We will also examine the role of the pertinent professions in the evolution of these events, in particular how the interplay of law, medicine, psychiatry, and forensic science helped define the shifting boundaries of legality, and how print, radio, and television journalism operated not only in sensationalizing, but also in reflecting, modeling, and shaping prevailing attitudes and behaviors. Our study of this vital facet of our ?society of the spectacle? will draw on a series of compelling secondary readings complemented by a diverse array of primary sources?from contemporaneous pamphlets and newspaper accounts to photographs, letters, trial testimony, and psychological commentary?that will enable class members to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different textual genres, experiment with alternative methods of fashioning historical interpretations, and contemplate the ways history might be employed to illuminate the persistent problems of racial bias, reflexive sexualization, and the packaging of trials as mass entertainment in the present day.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Extent | 1 text file |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Date created | 2016 |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Sponsor | Stanford University. Department of American Studies | |
|---|---|---|
| Teacher | Cardyn, Lisa |
Subjects
| Subject | Stanford University |
|---|---|
| Subject | Teaching > Outlines, syllabi, etc |
| Genre | Syllabi |
Bibliographic information
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Finding Aid |
|
| Course ID | W16-AMSTUD-106-01 |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/ns950xg5306 |
| Location | SC1454 |
| Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Collection
Stanford University Syllabi
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