Department of Literature (Cultural Studies), University of California, San Diego (Summer 2003)
Department of Critical Studies, Parsons School of Art & Design (Fall 2004)
Course Description:
In this class, we will explore the meanings of "The Everyday," and how this word has been used to refer to the banal, the quotidian, the average, the inconspicuous and the invisible. We will question the transparency of the term, “the everyday,” and try to uncover what this everyday word conceals every day. There will be many questions, such as "What is everyday language?" and "What is an everyday image or sound or taste?" Does calling something "everyday" make it banal or somehow spectacular? Such questions were central to a number of social, political and artistic movements throughout the twentieth century: Psychoanalysis, Marxism, Feminism, the Situationists, Surrealism, to name just a few. Using a range of theoretical, ethnographic, poetic and artistic texts as our guides, we will attempt to reclaim, recover, transform and discover "the everyday.” In the course of the semester we will use all five senses to explore, examine and document everyday life. Students will be encouraged to explore a range of documentation and performance, using visual, textual, sonic and other everyday materials.