No Chicago Writing Today Either
Today has been so busy, that I have not really had a chance to sit and write. I think the Chicago stuff is on hold until tomorrow. No need to frustrate myself now. Thank you to all of you who had suggestions.

I did come up with a description for the summer course I am proposing to teach.

Would you take this course?

Politics, Culture, and Identity

Why do politicians kiss babies in the US? Does what we eat or how we pray determine how we vote? What do we mean when we say that all politics are local? Do politicians make us feel that we are part of a particular group just to gain power?

This seminar will utilize multidisciplinary approach (anthropology, sociology, cultural history, and political science) to investigate how political identities are constructed. It will address how people come to identify themselves with states, nations, ethnic groups, political parties, and other collective identities. The course will investigate how particular cultural issues such as race, ethnicity, nationalism, community, gender, religion, tradition, food, and art are employed to create and maintain political identities across various arenas – from the local to the global. It will also explore the manner in which symbols and ritual are employed to exert and maintain power in the political realm.

These issues will be covered through discussion of scholarly and popular texts (including films, magazines, TV, and newspapers), journal writing, fieldwork, fieldtrips, and other assignments intended to develop and promote critical thinking, writing, and speaking skills. There are no pre-requisites for this course other than an open mind and willingness to participate.

First it needs to get accepted by the summer studies program and then people need to enroll for it to be offered. I need for it to make it past all these hurdles because I really need the $$$ after I graduate because right now the future is a big question mark. So any feedback is more than welcome.