CMCL-C 336: Using Popular Culture
(Topic: The Superhero in America)
Class Number: 11386
Summer Session I

MTuWThF, 2:35 PM-3:50 PM, SY 004
Required film screenings: Tu and Th, 7:00 PM-10:00 PM, BH 005

Fulfills COLL S&H Requirement


Instructor: Matt Yockey
E-Mail: myockey@indiana.edu
Office: Mottier Hall 250
Phone: 855-7707

This course will examine the distinctly American figure of the
superhero, primarily through representations in comics, film and
television.  Starting with cartoon shorts and serials of the 1940s
and leading up to the most recent blockbuster releases, we will look
at how the superhero has functioned to reinforce and/or address
contemporary national issues.  We will place the superhero in the
context of the American heroic tradition that has often located the
hero outside the margins of the very society she/he is said to
protect.  We will give serious attention to the vigilante role the
superhero embodies and the often blurred boundaries between hero and
villain.

Questions that will guide us over the course of the semester
include: What exactly makes superheroes “super” and in what way are
they heroic?  How do superheroes, a distinctly American creation,
reflect prevailing concepts of citizenship?   Who “gets” to be a
citizen, according to these terms?  Who decides this, and how (and
why) should these designations be resisted?