This class meets with CULS-C 701

There are many ways that historians might write the history of
American media in the twentieth century, but this course will
concentrate on the intersection of media, advertising, and consumer
culture.  Changing structures of the commercial marketplace and
patterns of mass consumption have exerted a tremendous influence on
the evolution of American media, which in turn have played a crucial
role in fostering a culture of consumption.  The goal of this course
will be to understand the historical origins and subsequent
evolution of the interdependent relationship between media,
advertising, and consumer culture.  Students will be expected to
participate in class discussion and to write a seminar paper based
on historical research.

Course Readings (will be selected from):
Lizabeth Cohen, A Consumer’s Republic:  The Politics of Mass
Consumption in Postwar America.  New York: Knopf, 2003.

Gary Cross, An All-Consuming Century:  Why Commercialism Won in
Modern America.  New York:  Columbia University Press, 2000.

Stephen R. Fox, The Mirror Makers: A History of American Advertising
and Its Creators.  Champaign:  University of Illinois Press, 1998.

Jackson Lears, Fables of Abundance: A Cultural History of
Advertising in America.  New York: Basic Books, 1994.

Roland Marchand, Advertising the American Dream:  Making Way for
Modernity, 1920-1940.  Berkeley:  University of California Press,
1985.

Kathy Peiss, Hope in a Jar:  The Making of America’s Beauty
Culture.  New York: Metropolitan Books, 1998.

Lawrence R. Samuel, Brought to You By:  Postwar Television,
Advertising, and the American Dream.  Austin:  University of Texas
Press, 2001.