Kirsten McAllister Fall 2004

RCB 6147; 604-268-6917 Harbour Centre Day

(SPECIAL TOPICS)

COMMUNICATION, COLONIALISM AND CULTURAL IDENTITY: ISSUES AND INTERVENTIONS

Prerequisites:

75 credits including either CMNS 221 or 223 and two upper level CMNS courses and permission of the instructor

Course Description:
Designed as a seminar, this course explores why identity has been a central area of concern for artists, activists and theorists from diasporic communities and former colonies. The course introduces different theories of “racial” subjugation that draw on the work of Gramsci (ideology and hegemony) and Foucault (disciplined subjects) as well as psychoanalytic texts (the Other) and concludes by questioning the significance of identity in the context of globalization. The course does not just focus on “negative” representations of “racialized” groups as inferior, primitive threats to civilization or on the constitution of passive, disciplined subjects through anthropological discourses. You will also critically explore debates and innovative cultural strategies specific to People of the First Nations, the Black diaspora, Asian/Canadian communities and survivors of the Jewish Holocaust. Special attention will be paid to their contributions, especially by feminists, concerned with changing configurations of domination, the cultural effects of violence and challenging normative conventions in the areas of voice, sexuality and language.

Required Reading:

A courseware reading package is available from the SFU bookstore. There will also be a number of on-line articles.

Recommended:

Aschcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin (eds) (1995) The Post-colonial Studies Reader. London: Routledge.

Assignments:
Tutorials participation 10%

Seminar Presentations 10%

1st Written Assignment (1,250 words: Week 5) 20%

2nd Written Assignment (1,250 words: Week 10) 20%

Research Plan for Essay (1-2 pages: Week 8) 05%

Essay (3,000 words; December 8) 35%

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices with respect to both levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will follow Policy T10.02 with respect to "Intellectual Honesty," and "Academic Discipline" (see the current Calendar, General Regulations Section).