Summer Session I 2019 [June 24 - August 2, 2019]
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Humanities 002B. American Humanities Forum: "The (Maga)Zine Scene: Indie, Alt and DIY Culture" (4 units)
Kristin George Bagdanov
TWR 10:00-11:40A
1038 Wickson Hall
CRN 53951
Note: HUM 002B can be repeated one time for credit if topic differs.
Course Description: From punks and anarchists to beatniks and activists, communities on the fringes of society have self-published and distributed underground magazines to counter mass culture and carve out a space of “their own.” Historically anti- (institution, academia, consumerism, mainstream), these hand-stitched, stapled, typewritten, Xeroxed, and digital objects produce new networks of solidarity and creativity for marginalized and alternative groups.
This hands-on course asks four questions:
1. What is a little magazine, zine, and literary magazine?
2. What historical, social, political and technological conditions give rise to these projects and how do they counter “mainstream” culture?
3. What role does art play in activism and identity formation?
4. And finally, how do we make a (maga)zine of our own?
With a focus on American history and culture, this course will begin by looking at the birth of the little magazine in the interwar years of the early 20th century and end by exploring contemporary literary journals and their relationship to the university and publishing industry today. In between these periods, we will explore the role of “mimeograph magazines” in the 1960s counter culture revolution (with titles like F*ck You / a magazine of the arts, Umbra, Floating Bear, and Kulchur) and the (fan)zine revolution, beginning in the 1970s and 80s, and its connection to punk, queer, POC, and feminist movements (Bust, riot grrrl, the POC Zine Project, Sniffin’ Glue, Gutter Flowers, Capitol Crisis, etc.). We will also discuss the advent of digital spaces to examine how zines have resisted or incorporated an online presence, and how social media and the internet has affected the circulation and definition of these “little” (maga)zines. Alongside our investigation of “high” vs “low” culture in the 20th century, we will be learning basic principles on In-Design, cut-up and collage techniques, editorial aesthetics (with interviews of current small press publishers and zine creators) in order to actually produce cultural artifacts of our own.
Course structure:
Each week students will read assigned magazines (“case studies”) as well as secondary sources and write weekly reading responses synthesizing these sources. Students will also conduct “DIY” projects, where they will practice the skills they’ve learned in class to create something of their own (collage, In-Design, etc). Major projects include a case study analysis of a magazine of the student’s choosing, a final group project in which students produce their own magazine, as well as an individual reflection essay. The final exam is a presentation of the group project and a short in-class essay.
Prerequisite: None.
GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, American Culture, Governance & History and Writing Experience.
Format: Lecture; Writing.
Textbooks:
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None. Readings provided as PDFs via Canvas.
About the Instructor: Kristin George Bagdanov is in the PhD literature program at UC Davis. She has taught courses on creative writing, composition, and the environment and literature. She is also a poet and the poetry editor of Ruminate Magazine.https://english.ucdavis.edu/people/kmgb
Summer Session II 2019 [August 5 - September 13, 2019]
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Humanities 002A. Global Humanities Forum: "Mind Games: How Memories Shape Our Past, Present, and Future" (4 units)
Gustavo Segura Chavez
MTW 12:10-1:50P
101 Olson Hall
CRN 72208
Note: HUM 002A can be repeated one time for credit if topic differs.
Course Description: Why are we so fascinated by memories of the past? What is the allure of bringing the past back to the present? When a show like Stranger Things premiered, many viewers and critics praised how it represented the Reagan years through many references to 80s movies, music, and questionable fashion choices. Stranger Things’ popularity, and other shows and movies like it, has exemplified our fixation with memories of the past. Where did this sudden nostalgia come from? Is it just a fad? Are we fleeing to the past to run away from the present? Or are we looking for answers that can shape the future?
In this course, we will examine how film represents the past and challenges the methods through which we remember it. We will focus on films that reveal how memory works, how it fails, and how it can be enhanced or altered. We will study a diverse group of films: blockbusters and art house, fictional and non-fictional, animated and live-action, and US and foreign films. Through these films, we will tackle questions such as: Whose memories am I really remembering? What if the past returns to haunt the present? How do memories of the past affect our present?
Prerequisite: None.
GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, World Cultures and Writing Experience.
Format: Lecture; Writing.
Textbooks:
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None (all films and readings will be provided through Canvas).
About the Instructor: Gustavo Segura Chavez is a graduate student in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese.