Welcome to "Places, spaces, and posers"

This blog is for LBST 499- places, spaces and posers. It will serve as an asynchronous discussion for students to reflect on class readings, activities, cultural events, and discussions as it relates to your lives. As you contribute, you may raise questions, consider responses, and generate possibilites for follow-up activities in class. There is no maximum or minimum length.

Blog #4: To "Binary" or not to "Binary" that is the question

In class, we discuss how our realities have been constructed by forces far beyond our control by politics, social norms and mores, gender roles, decorum, etc. When we fall into these binary constructs, how does that impact our identities? Is it possible to live outside of the binary and be socially accepted? How do we straddle the divide and also stay inwardly true to oursevles?

Blog #3: Moving ourselves into new contexts

At this juncture, we have covered material as it relates to our developing subjectivities in different spaces. 'Apparate' or secondspace yourself into a context that has yet to exist and consider how your subjectivity would be vulnerable to either stabilizing or destabilizing in this context. In brief, invent a context you've never been in, describe based on what you know about yourself, how you might respond, and describe the visible and invisible sociopolitical messages that the given space tries to inscribe onto you. You can use each others' contexts if you like em'. Go play!

911 and monuments

Please feel free to contribute any thoughts to today's class here. I know it was quite emotional for many people.

Thoughts on Eminem, Girl Like Me, Whiteness

Today's class was intense for many of us. Unpacking our own sense of privilege is never easy and can make us angry. A student and I spoke after class about some of the negative impacts that Eminem has on youth especially when some of his lyrics are mysoginist and homophobic. Feel free to respond to thoughts about class today or anything that it touched upon. Bonus points for respondents.

Blog #2- due 2/12: Reflect on how your current identities have been influenced by any particular popular culture...read below

Applying concepts from Baudrillard, Visual Rhetoric, class discussions, observations, your WIKIS and course readings, reflect, by selecting one popluar culture that has "SUCKED" you in and describe how your identity has been infleunced. Consider the space(s) you inhabit when you participate in that popluar culture(such as a sporting event, or a dance club...), the logos present, colors, your senses, presence, and the tools that rhetors have used to seduce and construct identity. What sociopolitical ideologies impact those spaces and how does that impact you?

Observational reflection #1

When you present your WIKIS, you are also expected to submit your reflection. Your reflections should be 1-2 pages and reflect on how your identity was impacted by the sociopolitical messages in the social space you visited. In other words, how did you experience the simulacra that you visited? Please reflect through Hall's preferred readings: did you have a dominant reading, oppositional or negotiated experience? Your write-up must also consider class discussions, readings, and notes. Citations matter- please have a works cited page.