Introduction To Consumer Society

CVA2059 Introduction to Consumer Society
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits

This course addresses both long-standing and emerging debates about consumer society: Who is in control, consumers or advertisers and producers? How has the role of consumers changed in the digital era and with social media? How does consumption help us structure and communicate our identit(y/ies)? In what ways does consumption affect the environment and how does this then changed consumption patterns? How does the consumption of social media shape our lives? Special attention will be paid to the ways in which consumer culture structures division by class, status, gender, and race. Readings will include pieces by Adorno and Horkheimer, Bourdieu, Veblen, Sherman, Khan, Pittman, Duffy, and others.

Prerequisites: (FCI1000 or AHS1000) and (WRT1001or RHT1000)