Themes, Terms, and Topics
(See Example: Topic/Research Question)
THE THEMES: Each of the three broad themes named and outlined below evokes some dimension of everyday life. Each serves as a category that, in the terms of our toolbox, informs our subjectivity.
Work: Emphasizes productive activity and also related ideas about social class (group membership and difference). What is real work? How does occupation shape self-identity or how others perceive us? What kinds of work are valued, what kinds not, and why? Do people engaged in all occupations define equally define themselves in terms of their work? How does loosing a job or long-term unemployment shape one's sense of self? If we have commonsense or shared ideas about what constitutes real work or what it means to be a student (doctor, firefighter, clerk, construction worker, teacher, programmer, accountant), where did these come from? Are they logical and natural? How would an ideology critic seek to demystify them? Can you think of occasions where people (perhaps children) confront a socializing process, whereby they take on certain ideas and ideals about work? Do cliches and common sayings about work reveal anything about its meaning for us ("work hard, play hard")? How do our assumptions about wages, kinds of work (blue-collar/white-collar), the kinds of people who choose to do certain work, inform our attitudes towards ourselves and others? What kinds of routines and habits surrounding kinds of work would an outsider find remarkable, even strange?
Consumerism: Emphasizes our relation to material things, the clothes, music, cars, we purchase as expressions of our "self" or in fulfilling wants (as distinguished from basic needs like food and shelter). Do you consider yourself a consumer? What does it mean to be addressed as a consumer? When and how are we sometimes positioned as existing or having value as customers? To what extent does possession of material things create our identity and social position? If one questions the equation of material worth and human value, can it be easily escaped? Would it surprise you to know that major TV networks declined to run a paid advertisement for National "Buy Nothing Day?" Does assuming the role of "consumer" gain one power or subject one to other forces? What is the psychology of wanting "things," e.g. the child begging for just that style of sneaker? Does the way one dresses, for instance, as fashion statement maximize "individuality" or group relationships? What aspects of consumer culture might a visitor from a less wealthy country find noteworthy (I recall a British friend for whom 24-hour Supermarkets were horrifying)?
Gender: Emphasizes the claim that male/female differences are not natural or given but constructed; thus they are shaped by and shapers of social behavior. Can you think of instances where gender differences seemed to be enforced rather than coming naturally? (Althusser's Mens/Ladies room example) How do subjects assume their gender roles? What advantages do we gain in playing well within the "boundaries;" what sanctions are felt by those who do not adhere? (Yearly examples of high-school athletics come to mind: the male exchange student who would play field hockey, the female soccer star who wants to be a place kicker). Can you think of specifically gendered behaviors (i.e. ways males/females "ought" to act) that have changed in the last fifty years? What were the causes and effects of the change? Given the dramatic ways in which gender differentiates subjects, can you think of any usefully obscure instances (a la Sherlock Holmes) where gender might be at work without our knowing it? In what ways does the everyday functioning of gender seem to assume heterosexuality as the norm? Do expressions of homophobia or even the discomfort felt by many heterosexuals even talking about gender and sexual preference raise interesting questions about gender itself? What tactics do subjects use when confronting gender-based refusals?
THE Toolbox/TERMS:
Subjectivity, interpellation, ideology, mystification, material, gender, class, ethnicity, naturalization, defamiliarization, strategy, tactic, front/back regions, "stepping-out," work, labor, value, critique.
YOUR RESEARCH AREA/QUESTION:
Having selected a theme, you will shortly begin to develop your individual topic and a more specific research question. It should involve an investigation into some dimensions of the everyday, making use of appropriate toolbox terms and research (traditional and primary fieldwork) to allow you to teach yourself something about the subject.
Theme: Consumerism.
Terms: subjectivity, value, class.
Broad Topic: College Choice and Status.
Topic Paragraph: I am interested in the way that people represent
themselves in public by advertising their connection with a college or
university, especially when this is not just an expression of support for an
athletic team. I would like to know what it is taken to express, whether
it involves unstated ideas about status and the value of certain diplomas. It
may be a form of expressing social class.
Working Research Questions: Why do so many college graduates continue to
sport logos on their clothing and bumper-stickers on their cars, years after
they've given up on the loosing football teams of their alma maters? Does the
school one attends in the U.S. express something about your subjectivity? Does
it convey value, a sense of class, of belonging or exclusion? If the
source of one's diploma (rather than grades earned or subsequent life
achievements) has meaning, what is it? How do subjects reconcile this status
oriented self-branding (Grade-A College Graduate, Not from Concentrate) with
other U.S. values about individuality, the merits of hard work and earned
successes, and the investment in a class-less society? Do graduates from
all colleges sport their pedigree in the same fashion? Do drivers of all kinds
of cars seem equally likely to advertise? Is it prominent mostly in urban areas
with competitive job markets and yuppee culture?
Courses |
Sherwood |IUP
English | IUP
Last Updated:
09 December, 2008