ENG 3880 - Michael Jackson: Reading the King of Pop as Cultural Text

Credits: 4

As a pop star who reached unprecedented levels of fame, artistic success, and wealth in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, and who was subsequently ridiculed, criminalized, and vilified by the very society that elevated him to such heights, Michael Jackson constitutes a most complex and revealing cultural text. This course will “read” Michael Jackson’s work as a musician, songwriter, dancer, and visual artist in order to explore the ways in which Jackson’s artistic production and cultural presence intersect with and comment on late twentieth-century ideas of gender, race, sexuality, media/celebrity culture, and the role of the popular artist in society. The primary objects of study in the course are Jackson’s short musical films, but course materials will also include popular culture theory, recent scholarship on Jackson, and selections from Jackson’s recorded music, filmed concerts, television appearances, autobiographical writings, interviews, public statements, and press coverage. After 1800.
Prerequisite(s): ENG 1050
Fulfills: AL and D in LS Core
Three hours a week.