HIST 118A — The History of American Advertising
[ dl ss ]Considers American advertising from the eighteenth century to the present to understand the growing role of consumerism in our lives. We will begin by examining how the professionalization of advertising and a rise of a new occupation, the advertising agent, created the national market and assisted in the transition of American society from a rural to urban society in the nineteenth-century U.S. We will follow this discussion by identifying the role of advertising in shaping the normative foundations of American identity in terms of race, class, and gender. Finally, we will use advertising as a starting place for researching the ways popular protests emerge under consumer and corporate capitalism. This course will foster the development of incisive analysis and advanced digital literacy skills by exploring a range of primary sources, engaging in structured forum discussions, and conducting independent research. Usually offered every year.
Nataliia Laas