124184 VK BEd 08b.3: VK Cultural Studies for Language Teachers (2021S)

In this class we will explore some recent popular culture productions that caused quite some attention in US discourses and were often discussed controversially, such as the music video that lends the title to our course: “This Is America” by Childish Gambino. Childish Gambino’s music and visual art, much like “Formation” by Beyoncé or “Pynk” by Janelle Monáe, the FX Show “Pose,” HBO’s “Lovecraft country” or the movie “Mudbound” directed by Dee Rees bring forward important social issues and societal conflicts; They discuss burning issues such as anti-Black racism, police brutality, sexism, misogyny and prudery, homo- and transphobia among other things. Many of these cultural productions draw a connection between the history of slavery, and racial segregation (especially in the US South) and current forms of racialized injustices. Moreover, they make alliances with social movements such as the Black Lives Matter Movement, queer-feminist, and transgender or body positive politics etc.
We will discuss these and other examples of popular culture as cultural and media phenomena that reflect contemporary and past U.S. American society, and address social issues from an anti-racist, feminist and queer perspective. With the help of cultural studies theory and intersectional research methods, we will analyze how the different artists address issues around gender, class, sexuality, and dis/ability, and which alliances to current social movements and issues they make. Additionally, we will discuss how we can use popular culture in the classroom to discuss difficult and contested issues and conflicts within American culture and society.