Political Consumerism
Political Consumerism and the Consumerization of Politics In the United States, we fashion our identities through the purchases we make. We form communities based on shared loyalty to particular brands and consumer lifestyles. Political campaigns are commercialized and voters choose among prepackaged candidates. For many, the way to participate in social activism is to buy something. But can we solve problems such as globalization, environmental degradation, and excessive consumption through more or different consumption? Our study of current issues in U.S. consumer culture will include culture jamming, boycotts, and the anti-sweatshop and Fair Trade movements, as well as greenwashing, cause branding, and other corporate practices.
Political Consumerism and the Consumerization of Politics In the United States, we fashion our identities through the purchases we make. We form communities based on shared loyalty to particular brands and consumer lifestyles. Political campaigns are commercialized and voters choose among prepackaged candidates. For many, the way to participate in social activism is to buy something. But can we solve problems such as globalization, environmental degradation, and excessive consumption through more or different consumption? Our study of current issues in U.S. consumer culture will include cultu …Read more
This FYSE was very relaxed in terms of homework and grading, yet had interesting and relevant material. Professor Allen was always accommodating for extensions on projects/presentations. The course had short and easily understandable readings for each class - attached were four discussion questions for each reading and every student had to complete six over the course of the semester (about a paragraph each). You were supposed to respond to only one prompt per reading but for the last two she allowed everyone to respond to as many as needed to complete this. Class often had a slideshow synthesizing the readings and then students would share what they wrote. All the topics connected to the current political landscape / American political traditions and everyday life. We talked a lot about social media and most topics were relatable for an incoming freshman. She was very encouraging on students to share their ideas and often brought in treats. We had a few low stakes group presentations and no more than three short papers. This seminar was great - not a lot of out of class reading, interesting and culturally relevant topics in class, and I feel like I actually learned at lot and can now confidently manage the current landscape of the ever increasing intersection of politics and consumption. Would recommend!!
This FYSE was very relaxed in terms of homework and grading, yet had interesting and relevant material. Professor Allen was always accommodating for extensions on projects/presentations. The course had short and easily understandable readings for each class - attached were four discussion questions for each reading and every student …Read more
The course was very informative and especially useful in our modern society. Professor Allen is very accommodating to students needs and is quite flexible with office hours. She is very approachable and if something in the course is difficult to understand she is there to help.
This course was super interesting! It opened my eyes to many problems with America’s consumeristic culture and how this is harming democracy. For work, we had readings between each class. For each set of readings, there were four questions assigned. Over the course of the whole semester, we had to respond to six questions in total with paragraph responses. We had two essays and three group presentations. We also watched a few films for this course. Overall, the workload was light and Professor Allen was a very fair grader. This course was not writing intensive as it claimed to be. Professor Allen was clearly very knowledgeable and passionate about this subject. She was able to engage the class very well, encouraging great discussions each class. Each class, we reviewed ideas from the readings and Allen brought up new questions to discuss. Professor Allen was very accommodating and the requirements for the course were clear. However, as a freshman seminar teacher, she didn’t know a lot about course registration. She was willing to answer questions though. I would highly recommend taking this course or another course with Professor Allen!
This course was super interesting! It opened my eyes to many problems with America’s consumeristic culture and how this is harming democracy. For work, we had readings between each class. For each set of readings, there were four questions assigned. Over the course of the whole semester, we had to respond to six questions in total w …Read more