Course Syllabus

Syllabus Fall 2015.docxSyllabus Fall 2015.docx

 

Fall 2015

Tad Davies, Ph.D.

vdavies@fas.harvard.edu

Harvard Extension School Writing Program

Expository Writing E-25 Section 2:

Representations of American Democracy and Government

T 3-5 PM

Office: One Bow Street, Office 221

Course website: https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/4372

Adobe Connect Link: http://continuinged.adobeconnect.com/expo_e25_s02_2016-01/

 

Course Description:

Beyond the abstraction of American democracy as government of, by and for the people, what does democracy look like in its physical manifestations? What can we glean about our definitions of and faith in American democratic governance from historical and artistic representations of it? This course will examine what U.S. democracy looks like—its electoral mechanics, its collective bodies, its buildings, and its personality—when brought to life in campaign commercials, architecture, and films. We will ask what these representations of government suggest about the political ideals they ostensibly embody. How do the depictions of government in these works shape our understanding of the possibilities and constraints of democratic action? In what ways can citizens participate (or not) in these figurations of government? Our first unit will explore presidential television advertisements from 1952 to the recent salvos of the 2012 campaign. With an eye to uncovering how their narratives, imagery, rhetoric, and stagecraft imply particular assumptions about democratic governance, we will examine how such commercials ask us to consent to a particular version of “government by the people.” In our second unit we will be studying the architecture of a few of Washington, D.C.’s federal buildings—the Capitol, the White House, the Supreme Court Building, the Mall (a combination of monuments and landscape architecture), and the Library of Congress. Analyzing architectural drawings, photos, paintings, and online tours of these buildings, we hope to uncover not just the symbolism of their styles but the effect that their shape and allocation of space have on individual and collective behavior. We will examine, in our final unit, conceptions of government in several conspiracy-theory films: The Manchurian Candidate (1962), All the President’s Men (1976), Wag the Dog (1997), and State of Play (2009). We will consider how each of these films reflects fears commonly held at the time of its creation—fears of communist infiltrations, presidential abuses of power, or corporate manipulations of government officials, among others. How do the respective fears depicted in these films challenge our definitions of democracy? How do such narratives reinforce our relationship with government?

In each unit, we will explore these questions and issues through response exercises, essay drafts, in-class workshops, and a finished essay built upon all of the previous activities. For the first essay, you will practice close reading as you create an original argument in response to one of the presidential campaign commercials. In the second essay, you will analyze, through a theoretical lens, one of the works of government architecture we study. In the final essay, you will continue to practice the elements of academic argumentation while analyzing multiple texts—your chosen film and relevant research materials. You will create a compelling thesis that engages academic arguments being made about these films or their subject matter. Through all of these assignments, you will become familiar with the messy yet rewarding process of reading, questioning, writing, rethinking, and rewriting.

Required Readings and Sources:

Unit 1

John Locke, from The Second Treatise on Civil Government

Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence

Constitution of the United States

James Madison, “Federalist 10”

Walt Whitman, from Democratic Vistas

Mouffe, from The Democratic Paradox

Karen S. Johnson-Cartee and Gary A. Copeland, from Manipulation of the American Voter: Political Campaign Commercials

Arthur Asa Berger, from Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture

Campaign commercials from “The Living Room Candidate”( www.livingroomcandidate.org )

 

Unit 2

James F. O’Gorman, from ABC of Architecture.

Michel Foucault, from Discipline and Punish

Charles T. Goodsell, from The Social Meaning of Civic Space

Assorted architectural drawings, paintings, and online tours

 

Unit 3

Gordon B. Arnold, from Conspiracy Theory in Film, Television, and Politics

Several academic and journalistic articles pertaining to a research topic that you develop

 

Grading:

Essay 1 (4-6 pages) 20%

Essay 2 (6-8 pages) 30%

Essay 3 (8-10 pages) 40%

Other assignments 10%

 

Completion of Work:

Because this writing course is a planned sequence of writing, you must write all of the assignments to pass the course and you must write them within the schedule of the course--not in the last few days of the term after you have fallen behind. If you fail to submit work when it is due, you will receive a letter from me reminding you of these requirements. The letter will specify the new due date by which you must submit the late work. If you fail to submit at least a substantial draft of the piece of writing by this new due date, you are eligible to be excluded from the course and failed.

 

Participation:

Because Writing Program courses proceed by sequential writing activities, your consistent participation in our web seminars is essential. Failure to log in to our seminar, without a medical excuse, more than twice makes you eligible to be officially excluded and failed. On your second unexcused “absence,” you will receive an email letter from me warning you of your peril.

 

Format for Written Work:

1) Standard MLA format for the first page of a student essay, which included the following information left justified, double spaced, and in this order (each item on a separate line): your name, my name, the course name and number (EXPO E-25, Section 2), the date (e.g., 23 February 2011)

2) A clear and creative title, centered, one double-spaced return after the identification material above. (Note that in MLA formatting you should not underline, italicize, or bold-face your title.)

3) Double-spaced text in a standard font no larger than 12-point

4) One-inch margins on all sides

5) Header with your name and page number (e.g., Doe 2) in the upper right-hand corner

6) Parenthetical citation for attribution of ideas, opinions, statistics, and quotations

7) A “Works Cited” page with bibliographical entries for all sources cited in the essay. (Use standard MLA formatting for entries—which should be in alphabetical order. Do not number your sources)

8) Correction of all typographical, grammatical, and punctuation errors

 

Plagiarism:

You are responsible for understanding Harvard Extension School policies on academic integrity (www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/student-conduct/academic-integrity) and how to use sources responsibly. Not knowing the rules, misunderstanding the rules, running out of time, submitting “the wrong draft,” or being overwhelmed with multiple demands are not acceptable excuses. There are no excuses for failure to uphold academic integrity. To support your learning about academic citation rules, please visit the Harvard Extension School Tips to Avoid Plagiarism (www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/resources/tips-avoid-plagiarism), where you’ll find links to the Harvard Guide to Using Sources and two, free, online 15-minute tutorials to test your knowledge of academic citation policy. The tutorials are anonymous open-learning tools.

 

If you have questions about what constitutes plagiarism, speak with me.

 

Resources:

Extension School Writing Center (Grossman Library, Sever Hall)—you may schedule a meeting with a tutor at the Extension School Writing Center up to a week in advance (sign up online). For those living outside of the Cambridge area, you can also set up an “email tutorial.” For updated hours for the writing center, as well as detailed instructions for preparing for a tutorial, see the center’s website:

http://www.extension.harvard.edu/resources/writing.jsp . For more information, call (617) 495-4163

 

“Office Hours” (One Bow Street, Office 221) –I am happy to have a virtual conference with you to discuss course readings and assignments. To set up an appointment, please contact me by email. If you have questions or concerns at any point during the term, I encourage you to meet with me.

 

Harvard Guide to Using Sources—http://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do . We will be using this guide throughout the semester as we discuss finding, using, and properly citing sources. The sooner you become familiar with it, the better.

 

The Extension School is committed to providing an accessible academic community. The Disability Services Office offers a variety of accommodations and services to students with documented disabilities. Please visit www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/resources/disability-services-accessibility for more information.

 

 

Rough Schedule

 

The following is a tentative schedule of due dates for assignments. Consult the unit packets—distributed at the beginning of each unit—for definitive dates and more details. All work will be submitted electronically unless otherwise noted.

 

Unit 1:

Response Exercise 1-1 due Friday, 11 Sept.

Response Exercise 1-2 due Friday, 18 Sept.

Draft due Friday, 25 Sept.

Revision due Friday, 9 Oct.

 

Unit 2:

Response Exercise 2-1 due Friday, 16 Oct.        

Response Exercise 2-2 due Friday, 23 Oct.

Draft due Sunday, 1 Nov.

Revision due Wednesday, 11 Nov.

 

Unit 3:

Response Exercise 3-1 due Monday, 16 Nov.     

Response Exercise 3-2 due Monday, 23 Nov.

Draft due Friday, 4 Dec.

Revision due Friday, 16 Dec.