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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

‘Mad Men’ class examines consumerism, why ‘Mad Men’ is so awesome

Mad-Men-WaldorfImage Credit: AMCYou’d think a class about Mad Men might focus on the art of seduction, better living through structured undergarments, or how to win over attractive women and influence drunks. But no! Northwestern University’s MM class is about history and commercialism. Well, that sounds good too.

Professor Michael Allen’s course, Consumerism and Social Change in Mad Men America 1960-1965, is a freshman seminar, and he told the Northwestern Newscenter that he likes teaching history and politics “from the ground up.” “Mad Men provides a good understanding of how ordinary people participated in history and produced change in politics broadly conceived,” he said. “In class we’ll discuss the ways women got involved in second-wave feminism, how they decided to enter the workplace, as well as the emergence of civil rights activism, which often occurred in commercial settings, such as lunch counters and drug stores.”

So … I want to take this class really badly. I want to think about how choices of what to buy inform and are informed by how we see ourselves in a changing society! What was I thinking taking Medieval Women’s Religious Writing instead of stuff like this? (Just kidding — I actually loved that class so hard.)

Shall we sign up for this together or what, PopWatchers?

Read more:
‘Mad Men’ Central
‘Ken Cosgrove’ stars in new ‘L.A. Noire’ trailer
Clip du jour: Don Draper says what?


View the original article here

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