Week One
August 24th
Course Introduction
August 26th
What is Nostalgia?
Week Two: Psychology of Nostalgia
August 31st
Nostalgia Throughout Life
Read:Clay Routledge, Nostalgia: A Psychological Resource, Ch. 1-3 (iCollege)
September 2nd
Nostalgia as Resource
Read:Clay Routledge, Nostalgia: A Psychological Resource, Ch. 4-5 (iCollege)
Introduce Essay #1
Week Three: Psychology of Nostalgia
September 7th
Collective Nostalgia
Read: "Collective Nostalgia and Domestic Country Bias" (iCollege)
September 9th
Collective Nostalgia and Xenophobia
Read: "Nostalgia for America's Past Can Buffer Collective Guilt" (iCollege)
"Collective Nostalgia Is Associated With Stronger Outgroup-Directed Anger and Participation in Ingroup-Favoring Collective Action" (iCollege)
Week Four: Marketing of Nostalgia
September 14th
Consumed Nostalgia
Read: Gary Cross, "Our Nostalgic Novelty Culture," Consumed Nostalgia (iCollege)
September 16th
Nostalgia and Consumption Patterns
Read: "Nostalgia Marketing and (re-) enchantment" (iCollege)
"Moderating Role of Consumer Self-Concept on the Effectiveness of Two Nostalgia Appeals" (iCollege)
Week Five: Politics of Nostalgia
September 21st
Making American Great(ness)
Read: Edoardo Campanella and Marta Dassù, Introduction and Chapter One, Anglo Nostalgia: The Politics of Emotion in a Fractured West (iCollege)
September 23rd
Politics of Emotion
Read: Edoardo Campanella and Marta Dassù, Chapter Two and Three, Anglo Nostalgia: The Politics of Emotion in a Fractured West (iCollege)
Week Five: Two Types of Nostalgia
September 28th
Two Types of Nostalgia
Read: Svetlana Boym, Introduction, Chapter One and Two, The Future of Nostalgia (iCollege)
September 30th
Two Types of Nostalgia (continued)
Read: Svetlana Boym, Chapter Three, Four, and Five, The Future of Nostalgia (iCollege)
Due: Essay #1 to iCollege by 11:59pm
Introduce Essay #2
Week Seven: Postmodern Nostalgia
October 5th
Postmodern Nostalgia
Read: Fredric Jameson, "Nostalgia for the Present," Postmodernism, Or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (iCollege)
October 7th
Hyperrealism and Nostalgia
Read: Jean Baudrillard, "History: A Retro Scenario," Simulacra and Simulation (iCollege)
Week Eight: Nostalgia in the 1980s
October 12th
“Let’s make America great again”
Read:James Scott, “The Right Stuff at the Wrong Time: The Space of Nostalgia in the Conservative Ascendancy” (iCollege)
October 14th
“Ronald Regan? The actor?!”
Watch: Back to the Future (1985)
Week Nine
October 19th
“Where we’re going, we don’t need roads”
Read: David Wittenberg, “Oedipus Multiplex, or the Subject as a Time Travel Film: Two Readings of Back to the Future” (iCollege)
October 21st
1980s Nostalgia
Read: Jen Chaney, “It’s 2016. Why Are We Still Obsessed with the ‘80s?,” Vulture (Web)
Week Ten: Nostalgia in the 1990s
October 26th
“Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone”
Read: Mark White, “Son of the Sixties: The Controversial Image of Bill Clinton,” History (iCollege)
October 28th
“What’s outside Pleasantville?”
Watch: Pleasantville (1998)
Week Eleven
November 2nd
“Nobody is happy in a poodle skirt and a sweater set”
Read: Daniel Dufournaud, “Our Common Community:” Third Way Cultural Work in Pleasantville and October Sky” (iCollege)
November 4th
1990s Nostalgia
Read: S. Atkinson, “Why ‘90s Kids Can’t Get Over the ‘90s And Are Still So Nostalgic About the Decade,” Bustle (Web)
Due: Essay #2 to iCollege by 11:59pm
Introduce Essay #3
Week Twelve: Nostalgia in the 2000s
November 9th
Introduce Group Presentation
Group Presentation Planning Period
November 11th
Group Presentation Planning Period
Week Thirteen
November 16th
“I can’t remember anything without you”
Watch: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
November 18th
“Technically, it is brain damage”
Read: Goc Murat, “Forgetting to Re-member: Politics of Amnesia and Reconstruction of Memory in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Everything is Illuminated, and Memento” (iCollege)
Week Fourteen: Nostalgia in the 2010s
November 30th
“People come to the Oasis for all the things they can do, but they stay for all the things they can be”
Watch: Ready Player One (2018)
Read: Anthony Sacramone, “The Toxic Nostalgia of Ready Player One” (iCollege)
December 2nd
The End(s) of Nostalgia
Read: Richard Lawson, “Too Soon? Welcome to ‘00s Nostalgia,” The Atlantic (Web)
Jia Tolentino, “The I in Internet,” Trick Mirror (iCollege)
Due: Essay #3 to iCollege by 11:59pm
Week Fifteen: Group Presentation
December 7th
Group Presentation Work Period
Final Exam Period (2:30:00)
Group Presentations
August 24th
Course Introduction
August 26th
What is Nostalgia?
Week Two: Psychology of Nostalgia
August 31st
Nostalgia Throughout Life
Read:Clay Routledge, Nostalgia: A Psychological Resource, Ch. 1-3 (iCollege)
September 2nd
Nostalgia as Resource
Read:Clay Routledge, Nostalgia: A Psychological Resource, Ch. 4-5 (iCollege)
Introduce Essay #1
Week Three: Psychology of Nostalgia
September 7th
Collective Nostalgia
Read: "Collective Nostalgia and Domestic Country Bias" (iCollege)
September 9th
Collective Nostalgia and Xenophobia
Read: "Nostalgia for America's Past Can Buffer Collective Guilt" (iCollege)
"Collective Nostalgia Is Associated With Stronger Outgroup-Directed Anger and Participation in Ingroup-Favoring Collective Action" (iCollege)
Week Four: Marketing of Nostalgia
September 14th
Consumed Nostalgia
Read: Gary Cross, "Our Nostalgic Novelty Culture," Consumed Nostalgia (iCollege)
September 16th
Nostalgia and Consumption Patterns
Read: "Nostalgia Marketing and (re-) enchantment" (iCollege)
"Moderating Role of Consumer Self-Concept on the Effectiveness of Two Nostalgia Appeals" (iCollege)
Week Five: Politics of Nostalgia
September 21st
Making American Great(ness)
Read: Edoardo Campanella and Marta Dassù, Introduction and Chapter One, Anglo Nostalgia: The Politics of Emotion in a Fractured West (iCollege)
September 23rd
Politics of Emotion
Read: Edoardo Campanella and Marta Dassù, Chapter Two and Three, Anglo Nostalgia: The Politics of Emotion in a Fractured West (iCollege)
Week Five: Two Types of Nostalgia
September 28th
Two Types of Nostalgia
Read: Svetlana Boym, Introduction, Chapter One and Two, The Future of Nostalgia (iCollege)
September 30th
Two Types of Nostalgia (continued)
Read: Svetlana Boym, Chapter Three, Four, and Five, The Future of Nostalgia (iCollege)
Due: Essay #1 to iCollege by 11:59pm
Introduce Essay #2
Week Seven: Postmodern Nostalgia
October 5th
Postmodern Nostalgia
Read: Fredric Jameson, "Nostalgia for the Present," Postmodernism, Or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (iCollege)
October 7th
Hyperrealism and Nostalgia
Read: Jean Baudrillard, "History: A Retro Scenario," Simulacra and Simulation (iCollege)
Week Eight: Nostalgia in the 1980s
October 12th
“Let’s make America great again”
Read:James Scott, “The Right Stuff at the Wrong Time: The Space of Nostalgia in the Conservative Ascendancy” (iCollege)
October 14th
“Ronald Regan? The actor?!”
Watch: Back to the Future (1985)
Week Nine
October 19th
“Where we’re going, we don’t need roads”
Read: David Wittenberg, “Oedipus Multiplex, or the Subject as a Time Travel Film: Two Readings of Back to the Future” (iCollege)
October 21st
1980s Nostalgia
Read: Jen Chaney, “It’s 2016. Why Are We Still Obsessed with the ‘80s?,” Vulture (Web)
Week Ten: Nostalgia in the 1990s
October 26th
“Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone”
Read: Mark White, “Son of the Sixties: The Controversial Image of Bill Clinton,” History (iCollege)
October 28th
“What’s outside Pleasantville?”
Watch: Pleasantville (1998)
Week Eleven
November 2nd
“Nobody is happy in a poodle skirt and a sweater set”
Read: Daniel Dufournaud, “Our Common Community:” Third Way Cultural Work in Pleasantville and October Sky” (iCollege)
November 4th
1990s Nostalgia
Read: S. Atkinson, “Why ‘90s Kids Can’t Get Over the ‘90s And Are Still So Nostalgic About the Decade,” Bustle (Web)
Due: Essay #2 to iCollege by 11:59pm
Introduce Essay #3
Week Twelve: Nostalgia in the 2000s
November 9th
Introduce Group Presentation
Group Presentation Planning Period
November 11th
Group Presentation Planning Period
Week Thirteen
November 16th
“I can’t remember anything without you”
Watch: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
November 18th
“Technically, it is brain damage”
Read: Goc Murat, “Forgetting to Re-member: Politics of Amnesia and Reconstruction of Memory in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Everything is Illuminated, and Memento” (iCollege)
Week Fourteen: Nostalgia in the 2010s
November 30th
“People come to the Oasis for all the things they can do, but they stay for all the things they can be”
Watch: Ready Player One (2018)
Read: Anthony Sacramone, “The Toxic Nostalgia of Ready Player One” (iCollege)
December 2nd
The End(s) of Nostalgia
Read: Richard Lawson, “Too Soon? Welcome to ‘00s Nostalgia,” The Atlantic (Web)
Jia Tolentino, “The I in Internet,” Trick Mirror (iCollege)
Due: Essay #3 to iCollege by 11:59pm
Week Fifteen: Group Presentation
December 7th
Group Presentation Work Period
Final Exam Period (2:30:00)
Group Presentations