AMS 2975 - SEX, POWER, AND COVER-UPS: POLITCLAND AMERICAN POP CULTURE

credits: 3.0
Crosslisted/Same As: PSC 2975
AMS 2975-PSC 2975 Will examine the recent history of political scandals at least as far back as Watergate. Is recent bad behavior by elected officials something new or are we just more aware of such behavior because of technology and social media? One measure of the crossover into pop culture is the prevalence of scandal-based humor into contemporary comedy. As such, the course will examine the treatment of scandals by comedians with particular attention to the work of David Frye about Watergate to Saturday Night Live to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert about everything. A number of well-known scandals from Watergate through Monica-gate, Hooker-gate, and Weiner-gate will be examined for their historic and political meaning as well as their comedic value. Objectives: A) Define political corruption, abuse of power, and scandal in general; B) Describe ways in which scandal impacts our pop culture, particularly in comedy; C) Understand other impacts of scandal on pop culture; D) Make connections between scandal and public views of politics and politicians; E) Evaluate news coverage of scandals and alleged misconduct as they occur; F) Analyze and think critically about such news coverage and pop culture references to behavior by elected officials. Method of Instruction: Readings, video and audio clips, lecture, and class discussion. Method of Evaluation: Weekly journals or reaction papers, a term paper on how one scandal (selected by each student) affected either politics or pop culture. Meets *WEP Distribution Requirement.