Saturday, January 18, 2014

A Notebook on Emily Nussbaum & Alyssa Rosenberg

This semester, a group (actually groups) of us will take a look at articles by Emily Nussbaum, who writes about television for The New Yorker, and Alyssa Rosenberg, who writes about mass culture (movies, television, prominent cultural figures, politics, etc) for Think Progress (update: now she writes for the Washington Post).

In the past, I've coordinated online reading groups featuring Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit, Kathryn Schulz's Being Wrong, and Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow among others. We'll run discussions of Sheena Iyengar's The Art of Choosing and Ta-Nehisi Coates's The Beautiful Struggle. But some of us are also venturing out into the wide, wide world beyond books.

Notations
Why we're covering Alyssa Rosenberg & Emily Nussbaum

Public Thinking Events:
A total dream gig
Seeing a version of yourself in popular culture

Reading and discussion schedule:
Why I Care So Much About Mass Culture, Including Superhero Movies re: article Alyssa Rosenberg (Jan. 29)
Emily Nussbaum and changes in the field - (February 5)
What impact do women have on the pop culture they create re: article by Alyssa Rosenberg (Feb. 12)
Color Commentary: the shape-shifting masterminds of Key & Peele re: article by Emily Nussbaum (Feb. 19)
Selfies, instagram videos, and why posted images are as revealing as candids re: article by A. Rosenberg (Feb. 26)
Difficult Women re: article by Emily Nussbaum (March 5)
• Spring Break (March 10 – 14)
Drama and the absence of women & people of color re: article by Maureen Ryan (March 19)
Drama and absence (con't) re: article by Maureen Ryan (March 26)
Color Commentary: on Key & Peele re: article by Emily Nussbaum (April 2)
Involvement of women in popular culture production Pt. 2 re: article Alyssa Rosenberg (April 9)
Television & Difficult Women Pt. 2 re: article by Emily Nussbaum (April 16)
Selfies & Selves by Alyssa Rosenberg (April 23)
Reflections (April 30)

[*Our conversations between January and March will shape our next selections for March 19 - April 30.]

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