The Jazz Age: an era of modernism, sexual liberalism, the Charleston, mass consumer culture, racial identity, silent film, and of course, jazz music. This interdisciplinary course takes a Cultural Studies approach to explore key aspects of the 1920s through its literature, film, art, advertising, and music. The storytellers, media makers, artists, musicians, and other creators of culture perceived that they were experiencing a “revolution in manners and morals;” they articulated and shaped the enormous cultural shift from a Victorian producer ethic to a modern consumption ethic. We will use a range of methods of inquiry and critical processes to understand the connections between and influences among different artistic forms, media, aesthetics, and cultural ethics.

Some common themes emerge in the poetry, fiction, drama, non-fiction essays, magazines, advertising, silent film, art, music, and dance that we will explore: the relationship between the individual and the crowd, the duplicity of modern life, mechanization, alienation, breaking artistic and social conventions, tension between nostalgia and progress, interest in perception, conflicting ideals of femininity, and the construction of modern identity.

We will enhance our in-class activities with online resources and assignments. Students are required to check their berklee.net e-mail accounts at least twice a week (before each class) and have access to the Course Companion site on http://my.berklee.net

“The Jazz Age” is a section of GCOR 112 College Writing 2: Literary Themes. This course reinforces the principles and practices of GCOR-111 College Writing 1: Structure and Style, emphasizing critical and creative thinking through literary analysis and creative writing projects. Students apply the skills of synthesis, interpretation, and evaluation in speaking and writing about fiction, drama, poetry, and creative nonfiction. You will explore basic concepts of literary analysis, such as plot, point of view, character, tone, genre, symbolism, themes, motifs, and style. You will demonstrate an understanding of these concepts in frequent and substantial writing assignments.