SHUM 4663 - [Utopia Lost? Failure and its Aftermaths]

(crosslisted) ANTHR 4493, NES 4663
(CA-AS, ALC-AS)

Fall. Not offered: 2020-2021. Next offered: 2021-2022. 4 credits. Student option grading.

Co-meets with ANTHR 7493/NES 6663/SHUM 6663.

S. Golestaneh.

What does it mean to consider something a failure? What happens when a movement or campaign never quite gets off the ground, never got the traction they wanted, when a dream never comes to fruition? This class will consider the question of failure through analyzing thwarted sociopolitical, artistic, religious movements across disparate global sites and historical moments, with a particular focus on what comes after, and how failure is determined, and by whom. Case studies will include diverted leftist campaigns, millenarian movements past and present (what happens when the end of the world never comes), artistic initiatives that came and went, and filmic and literary interpretations of failures. For longer description and instructor bio, please visit the Society for the Humanities website.