Concrete Modernities, Concrete Modernisms - Single View

In this seminar, we will concern ourselves with concrete matters.

Late 2019 sees the 30^th anniversary of the fall of a well-known concrete structure in our near vicinity, the “Berlin Wall”; 2019 is also the 100^th anniversary of Bauhaus. Beyond such anniversaries, concrete pervades our daily existence in many ways: buildings and infrastructures (like highways, bridges, pipelines), for example.

In this seminar, we will primarily investigate and probe the concrete matters of our daily lives. We will also discuss ideas of modernisms (esp. Bauhaus) and modernities in this conjunction. Material Culture (new materialisms, vibrant materiality (Bennett), etc.), infrastructures, and environmental concerns (resource use, waste) will provide the theoretical frameworks for a discussion-intensive seminar. Students will need enthusiasm for (re-)thinking through cultural and literary studies along these lines, as well as the time for doing the set readings.

The seminar is open to students who require credits for cultural or literary studies, although the focus will be on the former. Specifics on assessment will be presented in the first session.

Required texts will be announced in the first session, and a reader will be made available on moodle.