This course examines the ways in which we use language performatively to construct our personal, social, and cultural realities. Specifically, we will examine how performance and other cultural productions generate, reproduce, and negotiate cultural meanings, identities, and differences.

Central to this course is an assumption that language is itself a performative endeavor -- we study not so much what language is as what language does. It is also assumed that culture is an ongoing process of cultivation -- through language, we perform in an ongoing and ever-changing process of the generation, reproduction, and negotiation of meanings and identities. We will focus on how we construct our culture, social, and individual identities through discourse and performance.

Additionally, we will spend much of the semester examining various case studies in the performance of cultural identity. These case studies should allow us to apply the theoretical models we discuss in class to real world examples.

Required Texts:

301 Reader and Sourcebook, available from Tam's Copy Center

Dick Hebdige, Subculture: The Meaning of Style

Course Requirements:

Exams: The exams will be part objective and part analytical. They will cover the material in readings and lectures prior to the exam date. These examinations are not easy and I strongly encourage students to take them seriously when studying. These exams are together worth 40% of your total grade. Exams will comprise multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions.

Written Presentation on Class Readings: Each student will choose a set of readings and write a short (3-5 pages) presentation on those readings for that date. The student will turn the paper in on the day before the readings are discussed, and will participate in the discussion of those readings on that day. I will hand out forms for you to "vote" for your choice of reading, but there is no guarantee that you will receive the one you choose. I will hand out reading assignments on Feb 13th, and they will begin with the readings for Feb. 20.

Presentations should do two things: (1) provide a brief summary of the author's main points in the reading, and (2) offer an original argument setting the reading into the context of performance, language, and cultural studies. In other words, take a critical or analytical position on the text you are covering; don't simply review what the author has to say. This presentation is worth 20% of your final grade.

In-Class Exercises and Class Participation: While not formally graded, your participation in class discussions and in in-class exercises is expected and required. I will not be marking attendance but will expect you to show up to class; in-class exercises cannot be made up. Participation is worth 10% of your final grade.

Oral Presentation and Final Paper: Early on in the semester I will place you in groups for group oral presentations at the end of the semester. Each group will choose an outside-class performance text which you will do some ethnographic research on. Your research should utilize some of the materials covered in class lectures, readings, and discussions to analyze your performance text and discuss the underlying cultural struggles or ideas that you find in the text.

Each student will write a final paper (5-7 pages) which offers a critical-analytical interpretation of the performance you have chosen. This paper should offer an original argument about the performance; your argument should be somewhat different in focus, emphasis, or position, than those of your other group members. This written paper will be worth 20% of your final grade.

Additionally, each student will arrange with their group an oral presentation of your analysis. These presentations should offer students an opportunity to share your work, as well as to hear what other students have been researching. Each student should hold up their part of the group presentation for I will assign grades individually. This presentation will be worth 10% of your final grade.

Academic Honesty: I certainly hope you won't cheat in my class. If you are caught in any form of academic dishonesty, expect to fail the course and to be brought up on charges in accordance with the Student Conduct Code. If you are unsure what constitutes academic honesty, consult the university catalog and/or your therapist.

Late Assignments: In the past, I have had a lenient policy towards extensions and late assignments. However, due to the abuse of this lenience by a number of students and the unfairness perceived by other students who do their work on time, I will no longer be accepting any late assignments. I will listen sympathetically in emergency situations, but do not expect me to bend over backwards to help you because you forgot to get an assignment in on time, as it isn't fair to the rest of the class.

performance n (15c) 1 a: the execution of an action b: something accomplished: DEED, FEAT 2: the fulfillment of a claim, promise, or request : IMPLEMENTATION 3 a: the action of representing a character in a play b: a public presentation or exhibition 4 a: the ability to perform: EFFICIENCY b: the manner in which a mechanism performs 5: the manner of reacting to stimuli: BEHAVIOR 6: linguistic behavior

perform vb [ME performen, fr. AF performer, alter. of OF perfournir, fr. per- thoroughly (fr. L) + fournir to complete -- more at FURNISH] -->vt (14c) 1: to adhere to the terms of: FULFILL 2: CARRY OUT, DO 3 a: to do in a formal manner or according to prescribed ritual b: to give a rendition of: PRESENT --> vi 1: to carry out an action or pattern of behavior: ACT, FUNCTION 2: to give a performance: PLAY

language n [ME, fr. OF, fr. langue tongue, language, fr. L lingua -- more at TONGUE] (13c) 1 a: the words, their pronunciation, and the methods of combining them used and understood by a considerable community b (1): audible, articulate, meaningful sound as produced by the action of the vocal organs (2): a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meanings (3) the suggestion by objects, actions, or conditions of associated ideas or feelings {body --} (4): the means by which animals communicate... 2 a: manner of verbal expression; specif: STYLE b: the vocabulary or phraseology belonging to an art or a department of knowledge c: PROFANITY

culture n [ME, fr. MF, fr. L cultura, fr. cultus, pp.] (15c) 1: CULTIVATION, TILLAGE 2: the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties esp. by education 3: expert care and training 4 a: enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training b: acquaintance with and taste in fine arts, humanities and broad aspects of science as distinguished from vocational and technical skills 5 a: the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon man's capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations b: the customary beliefs, social forms and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group 6: cultivation of living material in prepared nutrient media; also: a product of such cultivation