Topics in American Culture Studies: Dad Culture Studies

"Dad." It's a name, it's an identity, but, more than that, in the twenty-first century, "dad" is a style. Dad Jokes, Dad Rock, Dad Hats, Dad Bod, even Dad History - dad style is a little clueless, but maybe a little wise. Affable but bumbling, dorky, possibly dangerous. To embody dad style is to be embarrassing but not embarrassed. It's to wield the power of the patriarchy, of course, but casually, almost by accident. How did this happen? In this class, we'll examine the roots of "dad" from its rise in the early twentieth century to the present. We'll read scholarship about the evolution of fatherhood and about the role the "dad" has played in social discourses around race, gender, sexuality, and class. And we'll look to the popular culture that helped define this idea: domestic sitcoms from Leave it to Beaver to The Cosby Show, the "dad cinema" of Steven Spielberg, the speeches of Barack Obama, the "girl dad" turn of Kobe Bryant, and, of course, the "dad" fashions of the 2010s.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU Hum; BU BA; AS HUM; FA HUM; AR HUM

Topics in American Culture Studies: Dad Culture Studies

AMERICAN CULTURE STUDIES 359

Section 01