TITLE: FAME AND INFAMY
MWF  2:30-3:20 BH 208
We live in a society saturated with the names and images of famous and
infamous people.  Every day we confront them in ads, on billboards, on
newspaper and magazine racks, in conversation, and on the evening news.
But despite our continual contact with the famous, the nature of fame
and its impact on our daily lives remains unclear.  If we achieve the
fifteen minutes of fame that Andy Warhol once promised, what would such
a brief stint in the public light mean in the context of our lives and
our relations with the rest of society?  This course will move beyond
the commonplaces about fame as an idle form of wishing and instead try
to achieve a deeper understanding of the workings of fame and its
meanings.  Some of the topics we will consider include:  Why are we
fascinated with fame?  Why do some of us strive to become famous?  What
are the effects of fame (or infamy) on our perceptions of ourselves and
each other?  And is fame a necessary part of society?