Reality TV

Catalog description

This course is a critical examination of the ever-growing roster of reality television programs. It is impossible for us to consume and analyze every reality television show or sub-genre this term. Instead, we will study the contours of the genre and critically engage with a sample platter of reality televisual offerings. Through scholarly readings, lectures, group discussions, in-class and at-home episode screenings, and creative projects, we will study reality television's history; its deep ties to neoliberalism and surveilance culture; its role as a celebrity-making apparatus; and the voyeuristic experience of watching and being watched. Moreover, we will pay particular attention to the intersection of gender, race, class, sexuality, and citizenship in reality TV representations and reception, as well as depictions of New Orleans and Louisiana culture on reality TV.