How do we know who we are? Identity is a story that we tell ourselves, and that is told to us, and about us, and is made up of many strands that continue to unfold in and around us. In this course we will draw upon elements of popular and folk cultures to examine some of the stories that contribute to American identities. Our materials will range from traditional sources such as “classic” literature to the immediacy of graffiti, and we will bring as many voices into conversation as we can.
The course will be inside a prison, thus access to some types of media will be restricted, but our class will be far more diverse than a campus class in many ways. This will give us an opportunity to consider issues such as authenticity, authority, inclusion, and exclusion, as we try to discern the processes and forces at work in the “construction” of the American sense of self (selves).
In keeping with the pedagogy of Inside-Out, our time in the prison will be devoted primarily to dialogue and exploration, and we will draw upon academic readings and song, poetry, film and television, art, architecture, religion, politics, landscape, food, and on our accumulated impressions about this country and its many facets and communities. Each participant in the course will be expected to draw upon their own experiences to inform our conversations.
This is an Inside-Out class: half the students (“inside” students) will be those who live inside OSCI and the other half (“outside” students) will be from UO’s main campus.