- 648 Studies in Orality and Literacy
- 651 Topics: Perennial Philosophy
- 677.02 Folklore, Memory, and History
- 705 Intro to Latino Studies: Methods and Approaches
- 711 Appr to Comparative Cultural Studies I
- 770.01 Intro to Grad Study in Folklore: Genres and Interpretive Methods
- 862 Performance and Politics: The Special Case of Music
CS 648 Studies in Orality and Literacy
Instructor: Margaret Mills (Near Eastern Lang and Cultures)
W 2:30pm-518pm
Class# 26103
Cross-listed in NELC.
This course introduces some major theoretical trends concerned with literacy, oral communications and their interactions in global perspective, then critiques those theories in light of case material, key elements of which are from the Middle East. All readings are in English, and students working in other areas of the world are encouraged to write their final research papers on case material or theory with direct reference to their own areas of specialization, and to bring their comparative and critical perspectives derived from other parts of the world to bear on class discussion.
Since approximately the middle 1970s, case studies of oral traditions and oral forms of communication, and the comparative study of literacy practices worldwide, have been thriving fields. Historically, in the West, literacy has been seen by some as the key to the development of rational thought, historical consciousness, and civil society. Debates over the cognitive and social effects of forms of mass literacy, from print to the internet, are ongoing.
In this class we will review some foundational theorizations (Street vs. Ong on literacy, Lord building on Parry in modeling orality and oral tradition) and go on to look at subsequent extensions and critiques of them in case studies. The readings offer a sampler of history of the topic the last 35 years. Some questions to be addressed are:
- What claims have been/ can be made for technological effects of literacy on societies?
- What are the effects of oral performance on performers and audiences in different social contexts, and what are the mechanisms of those effects?
- What are some of the operative concepts of authorship, responsibility or authority over texts (variously defined) or other kinds of intangible property claims emerging from different case studies?
- How can the multiplicity of social contexts and varieties of communication be accommodated in any sort of comparative or unified theory of either orality or literacy at this juncture (or for that matter, of their interaction)?
Contact instructor at mills.186@osu.edu for more information.
CS 651 Topics in Comparative Studies: Perennial Philosophy
Instructor: Monika Brodnicka
T 3:30pm-6:18pm
Class# 17714
Scholarship on Perennial Philosophy, or philosophia perennis, offers a revolutionary perspective on the study of comparative religion. It claims that despite the exoteric differences or similarities among world religions, there is an underlying unity among them on the esoteric level. This unity is based on shared mystical principles, which offer direct insight into the nature of ultimate Reality. The Traditionalist School, for example, which helped to propel the ideas of perennial philosophy into the 20th century, argues that all religions share the same esoteric foundation for knowledge, described by René Guénon as oriental metaphysics. This course will examine the key figures of Perennial Philosophy, particularly from the Traditionalist School, discuss the major ideas put forward by the movement, review some of its main criticisms, and attempt to apply its framework to unexamined religious traditions. (WI 12 grad course list)
Contact instructor at brodnicka.1@osu.edu for more information.
CS 677.02 Themes in World Folklore: Folklore, Memory, and History
Instructor: Ray Cashman (English)
TR 1:30pm-3:18pm
Class # 26144
This course explores the interrelationships between folklore and history, memory and the past. What can we discover about the past from various surviving forms of popular expressive and material culture (e.g., ballads and vernacular architecture)? At stake is rescuing from oblivion the experiences, values, and worldviews of common people in the past. What can we discover about culture in the present from contemporary vernacular constructions of the past (e.g., commemorative parades and battle reenactments)? At stake is differentiating between history and memory, understanding the appeal of the past in the present, and appreciating how people use the past in the present to envision a future that fits their moral, social, and political agendas. Key concepts include folklore, identity, tradition, oral history, material culture, commemoration, nostalgia, social or collective memory, and the politics of culture. Using perspectives from folklorists, anthropologists, and historians, we will advance our understanding of culture, past and present, through transdisciplinary dialogue.
Readings will include several shorter texts on Carmen and the following:
Jan Vansina, Oral Tradition as History
Guy Beiner, Remembering the Year of the French: Irish Folk History and Social Memory
Maurice Halbwachs, On Collective Memory
Paul Connerton, How Societies Remember
Keith Basso, Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language among the Western Apache
Richard Flores, Remembering the Alamo: Memory, Modernity, and the Master Symbol
Assignments include reviews of and presentations on relevant books not on the syllabus, and a final research paper and presentation. (WI 12 grad course list)
Contact instructor at cashman.10@osu.edu for more information.
CS 705 Introduction to Latino Studies: Methods and Approaches
Instructor: Frederick Aldama, R 5:30pm-8:18pm
Class# 26714 (Cross-listed as Spanish 705)
This is the gateway course for the Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Latino Studies. "Introduction to Latino Studies" is an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Mexican-American/Chicano, Puerto Rican, Cuban American, Caribbean, and Central/South American communities within the United States as well as how their histories and cultures interface with those in the Americas generally.
We will explore social, historical, and political commonalities as well as differences between these Latino communities. Themes we will explore include: 1) Pros and cons of Latino identity markers; 2) immigration, migration, and community formation histories; 3) conceptions of gender and sexuality; 4) race and racial constructions; and 5) labor markets; 6) educational experiences; 7) cultural phenomena produced and consumed by and about Latinos. Other topics to be explored include demographic trends, citizenship, political participation, mass movements, relations to histories and events in Latin American origin communities, and media representation.
This course will be made up of a series of faculty-led discussions of the assigned readings and cultural analyses (film and short story, for instance). The goal is to provide you with a range of methods and approaches to understanding the presence (historical, social, political) of Latinos in the U.S. and the Americas generally. As you determine the track that you would like to follow—history, culture, social, educational, for instance—a Latino Studies faculty member of your choice will guide you in the writing of your research paper. Films will be available on closed reserve at our main library.
Purchase new or used copies ($3 or so via Amazon.com) of Aldama’s "Dancing with Ghosts: A Critical Biography of Arturo Islas." Articles will be available for download via Carmen and the class "Content" page: www.carmen.osu.edu
This course is not available to students with credit for Spanish 705. Cross-listed in Spanish. (WI 12 grad course list)
Contact instructor at aldama.1@osu.edu for more information.
CS 711 Approaches to Comparative Cultural Studies II
Instructor: Kwaku Korang
MW 12:30pm-2:18pm
Class# 14664
This course, CS 711, continues the introduction to the theoretical and methodological debates informing comparative cultural studies that started in CS 710. The weekly readings and class discussions will be organized around a series of key concepts selected from the following: subjectivity/agency, ideology, power, unconscious/desire, communications/media, mass culture/contemporary popular culture, ritual, gender, sexuality/body, and markets/exchange. The concepts will be explored through three kinds of comparative conversation: historical, geo-political, and inter/disciplinary. The concepts will also be assessed for their use in the critical analysis and comparative study of authoritative discourses and social practices in varying socio-historical contexts. (WI 12 grad course list)
Contact instructor at korang.1@osu.edu for more information.
CS 770.01 Intro to Graduate Study in Folklore: Genres and Interpretive Methods
Instructor: Merrill Kaplan (English), TR 1:30pm - 3:18pm
Class# 26744
Cross-listed in English.
How do we interpret traditional forms and the cultural practices that create them? How can we read cultural expression as text within the context of its performance? This course provides a lightning introduction to folklore and the intellectual wellsprings of its study. It then moves on through several canonical genres of traditional expression such as festival, fairytale, legend, folk belief, jokes, and costume with an eye towards developing the tools necessary for their interpretation.
A two-course sequence in current scholarship and methods necessary for advanced study in folklore.
Introduction to the canonical folklore genres and practice and methods in the interpretation of folklore in context. Prereq: Grad standing or permission of instructor. Advanced undergrads may be admitted with permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for English 770.01. (WI 12 grad course list)
Contact instructor at kaplan.103@osu.edu for more information.
CS 862 Performance and Politics: The Special Case of Music
Instructor: Barry Shank, M 2:30pm-5:18pm
Class# 26180
The field of performance studies carries an implicit, if slightly contradictory, politics. To a certain extent, these implicit contradictions can be rooted in the use of publics, counter-publics, and states to use performance practices to pursue their own contradictory political projects. Similarly, artists across a range of media rely on the multivalent signifying practices of performance to elicit and critique the political practices of publics and states. This seminar will provide advanced graduate students with an exposure to the theoretical and analytic literature of cultural musicology along with book length examples of work in this newly developing field. Students in the class will have an opportunity to pursue their own analyses of musical performance or an exploration of cultural musicological theory in a final paper.
This offering of Performance and Politics will spend ten weeks investigating the political agency of music as a special case of the intersection of performance and politics. The course is designed for those who desire an intense discussion about the possibilities and the limits of musical culture for producing change in the shape of the political. (WI 12 grad course list)
Contact instructor at shank.46@osu.edu for more information.