Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

A study of the counter-traditions within western civilization. Compares and contrasts diverse traditions within western culture that critique its central value systems. It will focus on the attempts of great artists and thinkers to break with tradition, and the subsequent creation of new ideas and forms of experience and expression. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.

COURSE DETAILS:

The Crisis of Masculinity

Drawing upon contemporary films such as The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), Wall Street (1987), Falling Down (1993), Fight Club (1999), this course will examine what has been referred to as the “crisis of masculinity.” This means that with the socio-economic transformations we have witnessed over the past four decades, in particular, the shift from an industrial to a service-based economy, the role of men and masculinity have gone through a striking transformation. This transformation includes declining levels of participation in higher education relative to women, rising suicide rates and the rise of the alt-right. A major symptom of this crisis is the rise of “manosphere” figures such as Jordan Peterson, Andrew Tate and Joe Rogan. While taking into account the feminist critique of “toxic masculinity,” the course will pose the question of what a healthy form of masculinity looks like.

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

REQUIRED READING NOTES: