Dr. Todd Boyd CTCS 464: The Birth of the Cool Fall 2010 Thursdays 2-5:50 pm, SCA 108
Dr. Boyd’s Office Hours are Wednesdays from 11:45am-12:30pm and Thursdays from 12:15-1:30pm. Please note that appointments for Dr. Boyd’s Office Hours must be made in advance through the Critical Studies Office located on the third floor of the new SCA Complex, Room 320, 213.740.3334.
Teaching Assistants Garrett Thompson ([email protected]) Office Hours: Thursday 12:30-1:30pm, TA Office Ghia Godfree ([email protected]) Office Hours: Monday 5:00-6:00pm, TA Office The Critical Studies TA office is located on the 2nd floor of the Copy Center/IMS Building. If you are unable to come to office hours, please email either Garrett or Ghia to schedule an appointment.
Course Description What does it mean for something or someone to be thought of as “cool”? What factors play into being accorded such a distinction? Is “cool” organic or can it be manufactured? Where does this idea come from in the first place? What happens when “cool” reaches the masses?
This course is interested in investigating the concept of “cool” and the way in which the “cool” has circulated throughout American culture. With a specific focus on the early Cold War era, the course will highlight “cool” during what might be called its golden age, the years immediately after World War II through the mid 1960s. “Cool” would emerge from the world of bebop and post-bop jazz during this time and its impact would influence other aspects of American culture as well. Evidence of the “cool” ethos would become apparent in cinema, art, architecture, design/style, literature, fashion, politics, and sports, among other areas of the culture. Thus, this course will study “cool” as an ideology, philosophy, and style, while consistently assessing the way in which “cool” continually functions relative to contemporary culture.
Required Texts Birth of the Cool: Beat, Bebop, and the American Avant-Garde, Lewis McAdams, 2001. Blue Note Records: The Biography, Richard Cook, 2001. Hip: The History, John Leland, 2004. Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece, Ashley Khan, 2000. Miles: The Autobiography, Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe, 1989. Miles Davis and American Culture, Gerald Early, 2001. The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex Haley, 1964. The Birth (and Death) of the Cool, Ted Gioia, 2009. The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism, Thomas Frank, 1997. 1959: The Year That Changed Everything, Fred Kaplan, 2009. CTCS 464: The Birth of Cool Course Reader available for purchase at Magic Machine located in the University Village.
Course Requirements Midterm Exam – 50% Final Exam – 50% No make-up exams will be given. Attendance is mandatory and will be recorded during every class session.
August 26 Screening: Good Night and Good Luck (George Clooney, 2005) Reading: Birth of the Cool: Beat, Bebop, and the American Avant-Garde, Lewis McAdams; p.12-143 “A Snapshot of Midcentury Culture,” Anna Brouwer and Mary Trent (CR)
September 2 Screening: Bird (Clint Eastwood, 1988) Reading: Birth of the Cool: Beat, Bebop, and the American Avant-Garde, Lewis McAdams; p.146-267 “Cold War Cool,” Thomas Hine (CR)
September 8 Screening: The Miles Davis Story (Mike Dibb, 2001) Reading: Miles: The Autobiography, Quincy Troupe; Chapters 1-4 From Miles Davis and American Culture: “The Art of the Muscle,” Gerald Early “Miles and the Jazz Critics,” John Gennari “Mad Men, Miles Davis, and the Aesthetics of Cool,” Todd Boyd (CR)
September 15 Screening: A Man Called Adam (Leo Penn, 1966) Reading: Miles: The Autobiography, Quincy Troupe; Chapters 5-11 From Miles Davis and American Culture: “Miles, Politics, and Image” Ingrid Monson “Miles Davis and the 1960’s Avant-Garde,” Waldo E. Martin Jr. “It’s About That Time: The Response to Miles Davis’ Electric Turn,” Eric Porter “Miles Davis and the Double Audience,” Martha Bayless
September 22 Screening: Elevator to the Gallows (Louis Malle, 1958) Reading: Miles, The Autobiography, Quincy Troupe; Chapters 12-20 Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece, Ashley Khan
September 29 Screening: Paris Blues (Martin Ritt, 1961) Reading: The Birth (and Death) of the Cool, Ted Gioia; p. 1-137 Blue Note Records: The Biography, Richard Cook; Chapters 1-8
October 6 Screening: Straight, No Chaser (Charlotte Zwerin, 1988) Reading: The Birth (and Death) of the Cool, Gioia; p.138-219 Blue Note Records: The Biography, Richard Cook, Chapters 9-11 “Cool on Cool: William Claxton and the Way the Music Looked,” Dave Hickey (CR)
October 13 – MIDTERM EXAMINATION Screening: The Pawn Broker (Sidney Lumet, 1964) Reading: The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex Haley; Chapters 1-7
October 20 Screening: Malcolm X: Make It Plain (Orlando Bagwell, 1994) Reading: The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Haley; Chapters 8-14 1959: The Year That Changed Everything, Fred Kaplan; 1-15 “Squaresville USA vs. Beatsville,” Life, Sept. 21, 1959 (Link on blackboard)
October 27 Screening: Lenny (Bob Fosse, 1974) Reading: The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Haley; Chapters 15-19, Epilogue 1959: The Year That Changed Everything, Fred Kaplan; 16-25
November 3 Screening: JFK (Oliver Stone, 1991) Reading: Hip: The History, John Leland; p.1-160 “Esquire Covers Commemorate Boxing’s Prime,” Todd Boyd (CR) From Advertisements for Myself, Norman Mailer (CR): “Part 4—Hipsters” “Sixth Advertisement for Myself” “The White Negro” “Notes on Reflections on Hip” “Reflections on Hip “Hipster and Beatnik” “Advertisement for “Hip, Hell, and the Navigator”
November 10 Screening: The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer, 1962) Reading: Hip: The History, John Leland; p.161-356 “The Coolhunt,” Malcolm Gladwell (CR) “The Playboy Philosophy,” Hugh Hefner (CR) From Advertisements For Myself, Mailer (CR): “The Hip and the Square” “The List” “Catholic and Protestant” “T-Formation and Single Wing”
November 17 Screening: The Hustler (Robert Rossen, 1961) Reading: The Conquest of Cool, Thomas Frank; Chapters 1-6 “The Square and the Cool: California Art, Design, and Culture at Midcentury,” Elizabeth Armstrong (CR) “West Coast Modernism and the Movies,” Bruce Jenkins (CR)
November 25: Thanksgiving Break
December 1 Screening: Ocean’s 11 (Lewis Milestone, 1960) Reading: The Conquest of Cool, Thomas Frank; Chapters 6-11
FINAL EXAM: Thursday, December 9, 2-4 pm, Norris Theater
Disability Services and Programs (DSP) Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to youe TA as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.
Course Exam Retention Policy It is the responsibility of all students in Critical Studies courses to retrieve all papers, projects, assignments and/or exams within one academic year of completion of a course. These records may be essential in resolving grade disputes and incompletes as well as assist in verifying that course requirements have been met. The Critical Studies Division will dispose of all records from the previous academic year in May of the current academic year. No exceptions. Please be in contact with your TAs about collecting these documents while you are taking the course.