Description
In this course we will study American culture through the lens of work. Since the puritans, the “gospel of work” has been central to American morality and indeed to the American dream. But does America have a special relationship to work compared to other countries? How does the fact that so much of American society was founded on unpaid or unrecognized work (slavery, domestic labor) fit with the idea that Americans are a particular hardworking people? What is the future of work and are robots coming to take American jobs?The course is divided into four sections that each combine the theme of work with another central topic: 1. work and American identity, 2. work and race, 3. work and gender and 4. new workers. While interacting with these topics, we will engage with a range of cultural genres like theatre, novels, movies and comedies and a range of characters like the self-made man, the salesman, the white-collar worker, the zombie and the unemployed.