Instruction
Cultural Studies is about understanding and reading the world around us, so for your first essay, Id like you to read this event for me, located as it is in its particular moment and in its particular space. During our tour of Dodger Stadium, you should observe, listen, and take careful notes about what you see and learn. Then, you will compose a 4 page cultural analysis of the Dodger Stadium tour.
Since Cultural Studies is also about recognizing the processes of interaction between history, media texts, spectators, institutions, and the ambient culture, you should think about how these relationships and how the Dodger Stadium tour reflects these interactions. To that end, youll likely want to consider Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story and/or Fernando Nation as you develop a framework for your analysis of the event.
Finally, you will need to use one of the following readings to support your analysis:
Barthes, Myth Today
Hall, Encoding/Decoding
Althusser, Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses
Horkheimer and Adorno, The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception
This essay is not a review of the tour I dont care whether or not you enjoyed it or would recommend it to someone else. These essays should be thesis-driven and analytical in nature, and they should mindfully use ideas/concepts/arguments from class readings to support your position.
Papers should be typed and double-spaced with 12-point font and 1-inch margins. Multiple pages should be stapled together. Sources should be cited properly (I dont care which style you use, just be consistent).
These essays will be due at the beginning of class on September 13th.