1 NCLC 475: AIDS and Culture (4 Credits) New Century College
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NCLC 475: AIDS and Culture (4 credits) New Century College, Spring 2011 Friday 10:30 AM – 1:15 PM(Robinson Room A 105) Michael Lecker, Instructor [email protected] / Enterprise Hall 416B Office hours: By appointment “My sweet brother…my brothers who have been my tender one for so many years, are falling down”- Aaron Shurin Course Description: This course will examine HIV/AIDS and its intersections with politics, culture, government, medicine, education, and commerce. As just illustrated, this epidemic has left little untouched. This course will examine how the impact and reaction to the epidemic. Required Texts (Available at the bookstore): Bordowitz, Gregg. The AIDS Crisis Is Ridiculous and Other Writings, 1986-2003. The MIT Press, 2006. Print. Monette, Paul. Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir. Mariner Books, 1998. Print. Pisani, Elizabeth. The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels and the Business of AIDS. W. W. Norton & Company, 2009. Print. Treichler, Paula A. How to Have Theory in an Epidemic: Cultural Chronicles of AIDS. 1st ed. Duke University Press, 1999. Print. ALL OTHER READING MATERIAL IS ON BB Course Assessment: Participation----------20% Hide/Seek------------ 5% Reading Responses--15% Proposal---------------10% Website----------------25% Commenting----------10% Written Exam---------15% Assignment Descriptions: Participation: 20 % Participation will be graded on several criteria. First, you must show up to participate. Second, you must bring the PRINTED reading materials for the day. And lastly, you must contribute positively to class discussions. Hide/Seek: 5% Choose one piece from the AIDS section of the Hide/Seek exhibit at the Portrait Gallery. Describe to me what you see and then tell me the significance. What does the art do? Think about the medium, size, color, and subject of the piece. 2 pages. 1 Reading Response (5% each, must do three): For the reading response, students should not simply recount what was said, but discuss, elaborate on, connect to other readings, critique, or react to a reading. I would like this to be a place for students to think through what they have read. Two pages maximum. Not looking for a diary entry, but not looking for a manifesto. Proposal for Website entry: 10% Read over Website Entry and write a brief, but well thought out proposal that cover the break down and significance of what they will be writing on for their website entry. Website Entry: 25% Students will pick a topic (artist, community, event, group, nation, policy---the smaller the better). After selecting the topic the students should situate it within the cultural matrix. When did this happen? Where did this happen? What was the culture climate like? What else was happening? What is the economic and or political situation? After thinking this through students should identify, DESCRIBE, and discuss the following topics and possibly any other relevant markers. a. How did the space (nation, city, neighborhood) matter? Discuss how the space shaped it. b. What populations and communities were involved? c. Who is involved? Who are the major players (individuals, groups, NGOs, non-profits, governments, agencies)? What are their positions of power? d. What actions, movements, power struggles, products were made? What happened? Why does it matter? e. When did it happen? Why does this matter? Contextualize it. f. CRITIQUE- Discuss the implications at length. With all the factors above in consideration, discuss the racial, class, gender, sexual orientation, national, communal, moral, ethical, and/or political ramifications. g. Aesthetics: Students should write small articles on each of the above topics. Their main body of work should mention the particular (space, place, people, organizations, and so on) and link to a separate page- where that particular is discussed in more detail. Connecting the Website and Corresponding Paper: 10% This assignment is in two parts: a. Students must thoughtfully respond to (through commenting) two other entries. b. In these or additional comments, students should find other students articles to connect to, so that readers interested in that topic can continue perusing our website and be educated by all our – your hard work. Written Exam: 15% A week before the end of the semester the class will come up with the questions for the final. 2 Ground Rules: • Common Courtesy: Using common courtesy during our course is an expectation of all students. This includes avoiding coming late to class and accepting or making calls/texts during class. Turn off cell phone ringers. If you are late to class three times, that will equal one absence. • Open Door Policy: You can discuss in person or through e-mail any questions or concerns you have regarding this course without worrying about it affecting your grade. • Late Work: Papers and other assignments are to be turned in at the beginning of class on the due date. Late work will be reduced one letter grade per day. No work will be accepted over one week late without a valid written medical excuse or notice of death in the family. Please do not plan to turn work into my mailbox unless you have specific permission to do so. Work should be submitted in class in hardcopy format; emailed and faxed material is not acceptable. • Format for Assignments: All assignments must be typed using 12-point font, one- inch margins, double-spaced, and stapled. You must correctly and consistently use a recognized citation style, for example MLA, APA, or Chicago manual. For a summary of the styles, visit http://classweb.gmu.edu/nccwg/researchguide.htm. Daily Schedule As in any course, some adjustments to the schedule may be made during the semester. It is the responsibility of students to come to class regularly and frequently monitor e-mail correspondence to stay informed about possible changes in activities or assignments. EVERYTHING IN BOLD IS AVAILABLE ON BB Week Theme Readings & Activities Due 1 Introduction • Syllabus 01/24/11 In Class Watch: • Tonsil Trouble- South Park (22 minutes) • Fire In My Belly- David Wojnarowicz (4 minutes) • Sex is Not the Enemy- Garbage • I Have AIDS- a Teenagers Story 2 Michel • “We ‘Other’ Victorians’,” “The Incitement to 01/31/11 Foucault Discourse,” “Right of Death and the Power of Life” “On the Government of the Living (focus on 84-5)” & “Subjectivity and Truth” • “The Queer Politics of Saint Foucault” 15-31)- David Halperin • WoW “Preface” 1-12 3 3 AIDS- The • HHTE “Preface” 1-10 “AIDS Homophobia, and 02/07/11 Beginning Biomedical Discourse” 11-41 HHTE “The Burdens of and History” 42-98 Meanings 4 Activism • HHTE “Beyond Cosmo” 235-253 & 257-276, “How to Hide/Seek 02/14/11 and Affect Have Theory in an Epidemic” 278-314 Reaction in the USA • “AIDS Activism and Public Feelings”– Ann Cvetkovich Due 5 Art • “Structures of Feeling”- Raymond Williams 02/21/11 • ACR “Picturing a Coalition” 21-41, “The AIDS Crisis is Ridiculous” 43-67, “Operative Assumptions” 69-93, “Dense Moments” 113-140, “Present Tense” 141-145, “What the World Needs Now” 201-212, “The Effort to Survive AIDS,” “My Postmodernism” 221-240, More Operatic Assumptions” 6 AIDS and • “HIV/AIDS and African Americans” by Donna M. 02/28/11 Community Christensen • “HIV/AIDS and the African-American Community: A State of Emergency” by Cato T. Laurencin, MD, PhD; Donna M. Christensen, MD; and Erica D. Taylor, MD • “How To Use a Condom” by Paula Treichler • “The AIDS Crisis is Not Over” • “The Spectacle of Mourning” – Douglas Crimp • “Silences: ‘Hispanics,’ AIDS, and Sexual Practices” by Anna Maria Alonso and Maria Teresa Koreck 7 Why read • “Heart of Stone” – Christopher Bram Proposal 03/07/11 literature? • Borrowed Time 1-156 Due 8 03/14/11 Spring Break: No Class 9 Why read • Borrowed Time Finish Book 03/21/11 literature? 10 A Counter- • “Postcards from America” (27) & 103-110 by David 03/28/11 Counter Wojnarowicz Narrative • “Why 28” (6-16), “Siphiwe Hlophe,” & “Manuel Cossa” by Stephanie Nolen Watch: • http://hiv.staying-alive.org/the-show • http://www.mtv.com/videos/movies/366837/heres- to-new-friends.jhtml#id=1608192 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arSPVQquiJI 4 11 How do we • HHTE “Seduced and Terrorized” 134-148 (Part of Chapter) Rough 04/04/11 know what and “AIDS, HIV, and the Cultural Construction of Reality” Copy of we know? 149-175, and “AIDS Narrative on Television” 174-193, Website 201-204 (Parts of Chapter) 12 The Global • HHTE “AIDS and HIV Infection in the Third World” 99- 04/11/11 AIDS 126 and “AIDS, Africa, and Cultural Theory” 205-234 Crisis (or • WoW “The Naked Truth” 124-160 just the • Edward Said “Orientalism” (BB) African AIDS Crisis?) 13 International • “Race Boundaries and AIDS Policy in Brazil and South Website 04/18/11 Politics Africa” By Lieberman 70 Due • “Malaysia: ethnicity, activism, and AIDS” by Chris Beyrer 12 • “Sex, Scale and the New Urban Politics” by Michael Brown 14 Government • WoW “Cooking Up an Epidemic” 13-42, WoW 04/25/11 & “Landscapes of Desire” 43-83, “The Honesty Box” 84-123 Business 15 Government • “Sacred Cows” 161-187, “Articles of Faith” 188-226, Web 05/02/11 & WoW “HIV Shoots Up” 227-268, & WoW “Ants in the Responses LAST Business Sugar-Bowl” 269-300 Due DAY Write Questions for Finals 16 05/11/11 Due: Final Question FINALS WEEK A Note on the Honor Code When you enrolled in this course you agreed to abide by the university's Honor Code. The Honor Code does not preclude collaborative work, such as informal discussions and studying in communities. Nor does it preclude assigned group work. The Honor Code does require that work you, as an individual, turn in ultimately be the product of your own individual synthesis or integration of ideas, and that the work a group turns in ultimately be the product of the group's collective ideas.