Honors Celebrity Studies

Catalog description

This course explores the emerging field of celebrity studies, an interdisciplinary exploration of the mechanisms of fame, stardom, and infamy operating in particular historical contexts. Drawing from current research in media, fashion, literature, anthropology, political science, and sociology, as well as performance, gender, race, and queer theory, the class will trace the origins of modern celebrity from the eighteenth-century to contemporary culture. We will focus specifically on varied technologies of image making across time periods from early modern portraits, miniatures and prints to photography, film, television, you tube, and social media. Students will have the opportunity to design a final project that relates to their own field of study.