Syllabus
Layered Looks
Fashion and Cultural Memory in 20th -21st centuries
SUMMER 2020 SESSION I
COLIT-UA.302.001
MTW 3:30 - 5:40
OFFICE HOURS Thursday 2pm-3pm or by appointment
EMAIL tne215@nyu.edu
Fashion is the epitome of our yearning for the new and yet it always repeats itself. What is at stake in these repetitions? This course explores fashion as a means of processing history and time, a vehicle both activating and producing cultural memory. Building on Diana Taylor’s idea of the archive and the repertoire, we will see how the history of fashion is just as much about novelty as it is about a negotiation between the present and the past and the performance of cultural memory. Starting from Coco Chanel’s project of styling the nation and the not-so-new Dior’s New Look we will move to contemporary reflections on the 60s and sartorial obsessions with retro and vintage in the age of Instagram. While the vogue has been deliberately constructed as a quintessentially French phenomenon, we will transit from Paris to New York, Nubia, and Delhi, making a few stops in post-Soviet Moscow and Tbilisi. Rather than a depository of styles, fashion will be approached as an arena for performance and reinvention of nationhood and gender, local memory and practices of international consumption. The class has a Digital Humanities component and will challenge you to present content on the publishing Internet platform Scalar. You will learn to annotate images and videos online, will write weekly blog posts, and will also have a choice of presenting your final paper in the form of a multimedia digital piece.
Course Objectives
After completing this course students will:
1. Have developed their ability to present independent and reasoned analysis of primary and secondary sources relevant to the study of fashion and cultural memory, both verbally and in writing, adopting appropriate academic conventions;
2. Be familiar and able to evaluate a variety of theoretical approaches to the study of fashion, as well as situate primary sources in a wider historical and cultural context;
3. Be able to present their work in the digital form and acquire skills of Internet publishing.
In the beginning of the course, the students will set up an account with Scalar and familiarize themselves with the platform by submitting weekly blog posts using the platform. Towards the end of the course, they will be given a choice of either producing a traditional final paper on a topic related to the course or a project involving analysis and annotation of multimedia content published on Scalar.Grading
Attendance/Participation (+ comments) 15%
Weekly Blogposts 35%
Final Project 50% (15% presentation + 35% finished draft)
ATTENDANCE/PARTICIPATION
Although I am generally understanding about various circumstances (and especially so in the midst of the pandemic), you should keep in mind that absences will impact your attendance and participation grade. The class is small so, please, email me if you have to miss a session. The class is small so, please, be prepared to contribute to the discussion every session. You can meaningfully participate in class only if you have done the reading. Being absent at 5 or more sessions results in failing the class.
BLOGPOSTS/ COMMENTS
Every week you will be writing a blogpost (500-700 words) synthesizing ideas from the reading and discussion and developing them further. There is a total of 5 blogposts each worth 20 points. To get maximum points your blogpost has to:
1. Reference BOTH the readings for the week and the discussion
2. Develop the points coming from the reading and discussion further (summary is not enough)
3. Use at least one example (image or video) and offer its close analysis in the form of an annotation
4. Be submitted by 5pm every week's Friday
In addition to a blogpost you are expected to write two comments on the blogposts of your peers every week. These comments may engage with the ideas you thought were interesting in the post, provide more examples, ask questions. The comments are not graded but they are factored into your participation grade. Make sure that your comments are posted by Monday, 11 am of every week.
THE FINAL PAPER
You have an option of writing a traditional final paper (8-10 pages) or present your final project in the form of a Scalar book (appr. 3,000 words). In you final paper, you can build on the ideas from (1 or 2) blogpost(s) that you made over the course of the semester (but it cannot be JUST a combination of your blogposts). You can choose your topic on your own, in consultation with me, or respond to a prompt. You should be ready to present on your topic by the final class. The final version of the paper/Scalar book is due July, 3rd, 5pm. Late work will be graded down by 1/2 of a letter grade every 24 hours.