Commodifying Difference

An interdisciplinary examination of how racial, ethnic, and gender differences are negotiated through media and popular culture, and how racial, ethnic, and gendered communities use cultural forms to express identity and difference. Among the theroetical questions explored in the course are the politics of respresentation, ethnic/racial authenticity, cultural commodification, and transnational pooular culture. Some of the cultural forms examined are the cultural fesitval/parades, ethnic/race-based beatuy pageants, cinematic and televisual texts and musical forms such as hip-hop and salsa.