Race, Satire, and the Black Aesthetic

Catalog description

This is an upper division course on race in American satire in relation to the Black aesthetic as exemplified in film and other forms of mass media in the twentieth century. Spike Lee films are a major focus in this class within the larger framework of U.S. history, society and culture. Lee is one of the major architects of the Post-Soul Aesthetic and sledgehammer satire. This class will consider various Spike Lee films from multiple disciplinary perspectives including history, film studies, sociology, and gender studies with an emphasis on the disciplines of history and media studies. We will critically examine Lee's work within the broad historical framework of African American intellectual history and in terms of his engagement with controversial social, political, and economic issues in American society within his work. These films will also be analyzed for the aestheticization of larger historical, cultural, and social aspects of U.S. society. The two main disciplines utilized in this course include: African American intellectual history and media studies.