Dr. Todd Boyd
CTCS 510: 9/11 America
Wednesday 1-5:50, Fall 2009
SCA 216 & SCA 110 (screening room)
Dr. Boyd’s office hours: Wed. 11:45-12:30 & Thurs. 12:30-1:30.
Office hour meetings are by appointment. To make an appointment for Dr. Boyd’s office hours call (213.740.3334) or visit the Critical Studies main office (SCA 320).
Course Description:
This course will use the events of “September 11, 2001” as an opportunity to focus on the relationship between politics, media, and culture, in contemporary American society. In a sense the course is interested in defining what might be called “9/11 America,” using the disputed Bush v. Gore election of 2000 and the historic election of Barack Obama in 2008 to frame the time period in question. Yet in order to fully understand 9/11 America it is necessary to look beyond this decade. The historical events, attitudes, and ideology that defined “America”—from the early days of the Cold War through the rise of “Reaganomics” into the post-Cold War era—will assist in putting 9/11 into its proper context.
The course will draw on a list of political and cultural examples, while surveying cinema, contemporary critical literature, and other forms of discourse on a range of relevant issues; these would include, nationalism and national identity, globalization, the rise of neo-conservative politics, neo-liberalism, the religious right, radical Islam, torture, notions of terrorism, the economic crisis, preemptive war, race, class, and gender, information and technology, and executive power, along with studying the mediated representation of various political figures, including George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Osama Bin Laden, and Barack Obama, among other relevant topics.
Our main focus will be on exposing the connections and divergences between the cultural, social, and political elements that shape contemporary American identity and how these forces have come to define our present society.
Course Requirements:
1. One presentation on one of the films screened in class:
You will select one of the screenings to make an in-class presentation. Your presentation should discuss the film and its relationship to the themes of the class. This presentation should avoid plot summary and instead focus on critical analysis with an eye towards connecting the film to the larger social, cultural, and political issues that exist outside the film. You should make connections to comparable films. Your presentation should also prompt class discussion on the issues at hand. You will also submit a detailed outline of the film and other appropriate issues that define your presentation.
2. One presentation on one of the readings assigned for the class:
You will select one of the assigned readings to make an in-class presentation. Your presentation should discuss the book from a critical standpoint and apply the ideas to the themes and issues of the class. You should make connections to comparable books/articles. Your presentation should prompt class discussion on the topic and its related issues. You will also submit a detailed outline of the book and other appropriate issues that define your presentation.
3. Seminar length paper on a topic of your choice that reflects the concerns of the class: You must choose a topic, develop the ideas and meet with Dr. Boyd to have the topic approved before turning in your paper. This meeting must take place no later than November 4 so that you will have ample time to work on the paper itself.
4. Attendance and participation:
As this is a graduate course, your regular attendance and participation in the course is assumed and expected.
5. Other:
This is a class where a good knowledge of contemporary news events is key to the overall success of the course. To this end, you are strongly encouraged to be a regular reader of The New York Times and to watch The News Hour with Jim Lehrer (PBS). Familiarity with other relevant media examples is encouraged and will be helpful also.
Required Texts:
The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth From 9/11 to Katrina (Frank Rich)
The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America’s Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11 (Ron Suskind)
The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Lawrence Wright)
Resurrecting Empire: Western Footprints and America’s Perilous Path in the Middle East (Rashid Khalidi)
Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib, and the War on Terror (Mark Danner)
Hegemony and Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance (Noam Chomsky)
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream ( Barack Obama)
The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals (Jane Myers)
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (Naomi Klein)
A Brief History of Neo-Liberalism (David Harvey)
Recommended Texts:
9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
The Bush Tragedy, (by Jacob Weisberg)
The Conscious of a Liberal, (by Paul Krugman)
Course Schedule:
August 26
Screening: The Fog of War (Errol Morris, 2003)
Reading: The Looming Tower
September 2
Screening: W. (Oliver Stone, 2008)
Reading: The Looming Tower, cont.
September 9
Screening: The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
Reading: Resurrecting Empire
September 16
Screening: The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer, 1963)
Reading: Resurrecting Empire, cont.
September 23
Screening: One Day in September (Kevin Macdonald, 1999)
Reading: The Greatest Story Ever Told
September 30
Screening: Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore, 2004)
Reading: The One Percent Doctrine
October 7
Screening: No End in Sight (Charles Ferguson, 2007)
Reading: The Dark Side
October 14
Screening: There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
Reading, The Dark Side, cont.
October 21
Screening: Syriana (Stephen Gaghan, 2005)
Reading: Hegemony and Survival
October 28
Screening: Paradise Now (Hany Abu-Assad, 2005)
Reading: The Shock Doctrine
November 4
Screening: Standard Operating Procedure (Errol Morris, 2008)
Reading: The Shock Doctrine, cont.
November 11
Screening: When the Levees Broke (Spike Lee, 2006)
Reading, A Brief History of Neo-Liberalism
November 18
Screening: Three Kings (David O. Russell, 1999)
Reading, Torture and Terror
November 25
Screening: In the Valley of Elah (Paul Haggis, 2007)
Reading, The Audacity of Hope
December 2
Screening: The Siege (Edward Zwick, 1998)
Reading: The Audacity of Hope, cont.
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