Summer Seminar for College Teachers
Summer 2014
What Does it Mean to be Human in Consumer Culture?
Implications for the Church and Christian Scholars
Revised Tentative Schedule of Topics and Required/Supplementary Readings
The schedule provides a tentative listing of the following:
1) Descriptions of sessions.
2) The required reading(s) to introduce the topic and around which the conversation will be based.
3) A number of supplementary references are presented for each topic area to facilitate participants’ research and development of pedagogical components. (Obviously, participants are not expected to read all of the supplementary readings).
With the exception of the discussions on the first day of the seminar and discussions led by the guest speakers, discussions will be led by seminar participants. Seminar participants will be assigned discussion topics for which they will be responsible to lead. Discussion leaders will be strongly encouraged to lead their discussions with a focus on how the topic speaks to and through their individual disciplinary areas.
4) Discussion questions to continue an informal discussion during meals are also included.
2
Week 1
Monday July 7
Morning – Introduction (Section 1).
Topics: Introduction of participants.
Introduction to the seminar and discussion of expectations.
Explore library resources.
Goals: Build community.
Address requirements and expectations.
Build awareness of other’s disciplines and research interests.
Gain a working knowledge of available electronic resources for research.
Required Readings: None.
Lunch – Discussion: What led us to participate in this seminar?
Afternoon – Introduction to Consumer Culture (Section 2). Discussion led by Seminar Leader.
Topics: Explore the rise of consumer culture.
Identify the effects of consumer culture on individuals and on individual spirituality/religion.
Goals: Obtain an understanding of consumer culture.
Begin to become aware of how consumer culture developed and diffused.
Explore the effects of consumer culture on individuals.
Recognize the existence of alternatives to consumer culture.
Required Readings: 1-Roberts, James A. (2011), Shiny Objects: Why We Spend Money We Don’t Have in Search of Happiness We Can’t Buy. New York: HarperOne, chapter 1.
2-Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm (2001), The Gay Science. New York: Cambridge University Press, 109-123.
3-Zacharias, Ravi K. (2008), The End of Reason. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 39-79.
Supplementary Readings: S1-Twitchell, James B. (2003), “The Liberating Role of Consumption and the Myth of Artificially Created Desires,” in Voluntary Simplicity: Responding to Consumer Culture, Daniel Doherty and Amitai Etzioni, eds. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 183-191.
S2-Ni, Zhang (2011), “Modern Consumption under Consumer Culture Context and Its Social Function,” Sino-US English Teaching, 8 (March), 206-210. (http://www.davidpublishing.org/show.html?5165).
S3-Gay, Craig M. (1998), “ Senualists Without Heart,” in The Consuming Passion: Christianity & the Consumer Culture, Rodney Clapp, ed. Downers Grove IL: InterVarsity Press, 19-39.
S4-Rodgers, Daniel T. (2011), Age of Fracture. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
Evening – Welcome Dinner (includes family).
Tuesday July 8
Morning – Identity in the Consumer Culture – The Transformation of Who We Are (Section 3). Discussion led by Group #1
Topic: Examination of what it means to be human in consumer culture.
Goals: Understand the basis of identity in consumer culture.
Recognize how identity affects individual choices.
Explore the connections between spirituality/religion and identity.
Required Readings: 1-Burns, David J. (2002), “Identity through Consumption Activities: A Review and Critical Analysis.” Unpublished draft manuscript.
2-Newholm, Terry and Gillian C. Hopkinson (2009), “I Just Tend to Wear What I Like: Contemporary Consumption and the Paradoxical Construction of Individuality,” Marketing Theory, 9 (4), 439-462.
Supplementary Readings: S1-Berger Jonah and Chip Heath (2007), “Where Consumers Diverge from Others: Identity Signaling and Product Domains,” Journal of Consumer Research, 34 (August), 121-134.
S2-Stillman, Tyler F., Frank D. Fincham, Kathleen D. Vohs, Nathaniel M. Lambert, and Christa Philips (2012), “The Material and Immaterial in Conflict: Spirituality Reduces Conspicuous Consumption,” Journal of Economic Psychology, 33 (February), 1-7.
S3-Thompson, Debora V. and Michael J. Norton (2011), “The Social Utility of Feature Creep,” Journal of Marketing Research, 48 (June), 555-565.
S4-Chaudhuri, Himadri Roy and Sitanath Majumdar (2010), “Conspicuous Consumption: Is That All Bad? Investigating the Alternative Paradigm,” Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, 35 (October-December), 53-59.
S5-Tiliopoulos, Niko and Chris McVittie (2010), “Aspects of Identity in a British Christian Sample,” Mental Health, Religion & Culture. 13 (November/December), 707-719.
S6-DeLillo, Don (1986), White Noise. New York: Penguin.
S7-Ghasemi, P., F. Pourgiv, and M. Ghafoori (2010), “The Catcher in the Rye: Holden vs. Consumer Culture,” The Journal of Teaching Language Skills, 2 (1, Spring), 27-43.
S8-Bowlby, Rachel (1985), Just Looking: Consumer Culture in Dreiser, Gissing, and Zola. New York: Methuen.
S9-Bowlby, Rachel (2001), Carried Away: The Invention of Modern Shopping. New York : Columbia University Press.
S10-Hankiss, Elemér (2006), The Toothpaste of Immortality: Self-Construction in the Consumer Age. Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins Press.
S11-Cameron, Kenneth Neill (1985), Marxism: The Science of Society. Boston MA: Bergin & Garvey.
S12-Roemer, Nils H. and Gideon Reuveni (eds.) (2010), Longing, Belonging and the Making of Jewish Consumer Culture. Leiden Netherlands. IJS Studies in Judaica.
Lunch – Discussion: How have we constructed our identities?
Wednesday July 9 – Research time. The seminar director will be available to individually work with seminar participants on their projects.
Lunch – Discussion: How would our purchasing differ if it was not connected to our identities?
Thursday July 10
Morning –Time in the Consumer Culture – The Temporal Transformation (Section 4). Discussion led by Group #2.
Topics: Examination of what it means to be human in consumer culture, cont.
Transformation of the meaning and use of time.
Goals: Understand the effect of consumer culture on the availability and use of time.
Required Readings: 1-Anderson, Kerby “Time and Busyness.” http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4218335/k.AF9C/Time_and_Busyness.htm
2-Schor, Juliet (1994), “Decline of Leisure Time in America,” Vital Speeches of the Day, 60 (October 1), 748-752.
Supplementary Readings: S1-Leete, Laura and Juliet B. Schor (1994), “Assessing the Time-Squeeze Hypothesis: Hours Worked in the United States, 1969-1989,” Industrial Relations, 33 (January), 25-43.
S2-Bettany, Shona and Catherine Gatrell (2009), “The Present Location of Temporal Embeddedness: The Case of Time Linked Consumption Practice in Dual Career Families,” Advances in Consumer Research, 36, 293-299.
S3-Mason, John D. (1998), “Stewardship, Sabbath and Time,” in The Consuming Passion: Christianity & the Consumer Culture, Rodney Clapp, ed. Downers Grove IL: InterVarsity Press, 107-117.
S4-Cross, Gary S. (1993), Time and Money: The Making of Consumer Culture. New York: Routledge.
S5-Weber, Max (2001), The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York: Scribner.
Lunch – Discussion: How are we using our time?
Afternoon, pt. 1 – Branding in the Consumer Culture – The Transformation of the Role of Branding (Section 5). Discussion led by Group #3.
Topic: Investigation into the meaning and role of branding.
Goals: Understand the role of brands in consumer culture.
Explore how identity is developed/communicated through brands.
Required Reading: 1-Elliott, Richard and Kritsadarat (1998), “Brands as Symbolic Resources for the Construction of Identity,” International Journal of Advertising, 17 (2), 131-144.
Supplementary Readings: S1-Belk, Russell and Gülnur Tumbat (2005), “The Cult of MacIntosh,” Consumption, Markets, and Culture, 8 (September), 205-217.
S2-Beaudoin, Tom (2003), Consuming Faith: Integrating Who We Are with what We Buy. Lanham, MD : Sheed & Ward, 1-13.
S3-Sinclair, Stéfan and Geoffrey Rockwell (2012), “Consumer Culture and Fifty Shades of Grey,” http://demandnothing.org/consumer-culture-and-fifty-shades-of-grey/.
S4-Paharia, Neeru, Anat Keinan, Jill Avery, and Juliet B. Schor (2011), “The Underdog Effect: The Marketing of Disadvantage and Determination through Brand Biography,” Journal of Consumer Research, 37 (February), 775-790.
S5-Perez, Maria Eugenia, Raquel Castraňo and Claudia Quintanilla (2010), “Constructing Identity through the Consumption of Counterfeit Luxury Goods,” Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 13 (3), 219-235.
S6-Chernev, Alexander, Ryan Hamilton, and David Gal (2001), “Competing for Consumer Identity: Limits to Self-Expression and the Perils of Lifestyle Branding,” Journal of Marketing, 75 (May), 66-82.
S7-Batra, Rajeev, Aaron Ahuvia, and Richard P. Bagozzi (2012), “Brand Love,” Journal of Marketing, 76 (March), 1-16.
S8-Berger Arthur Asa (2010), The Objects of Affection: Semiotics and Consumer Culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Afternoon, pt. 2 – Branding in the Consumer Culture – Branding as Religion? (Section 6). Discussion led by Group #3 (continuation of discussion on branding).
Topic: Exploring brands as the religion of consumer culture.
Goals: Understand the role of strong brands
Examination of worship as a response to strong brands.
Required Reading: 1-Burns, David J. and Jeffrey K. Fawcett, Jeffrey (2012), “The Role of Brands in a Consumer Culture: Can Strong Brands Serve as a Substitute for a Relationship with God,” Journal of Biblical Integration in Business, 15 (Fall), 28-42 (http://www.cbfa.org/JBIB_Volume_15-2.pdf).
Supplementary Readings: S1-Shachar, Ron, Tülin Erdem, Gavan J. Fitzsimons, and Keisha Wells (2011), “Brands: The Opiate of the Non-Religious Masses?” Marketing Science, 30 (January/February), 92-110.
S2-Taylor, Mark Edward (2012), Branding Obamessiah: The Rise of an American Idol. Grand Rapids MI: Edenridge Press.
Dinner – Discussion: What brands do we own? What do they mean to us?
Friday July 11
Morning – Producer versus Consumer Consciousness (Section 7). Discussion led by guest speaker.
Topic: Discussion with guest speaker Dr. Homer B. Warren.
Required Readings: 1-Barber, Benjamin (2007), Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilizes Adults, and Swallows Citizens Whole. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
2-Gibson, Andrew (2011), “Ideas and Practices in the Critique of Consumerism,” Environmental Philosophy, 8 (2), 171-188.
3-Curtis, Adam (2002), “Century of the Self” BBC Documentary, http://vimeo.com/67977038 (episode 3 will be the focus).
4-Warren, Homer B. (2014), “Replacing Consumer Consciousness with Producer Consciousness.”
Lunch – Discussion: How would life look differently with a producer consciousness?
Week 2
Monday July 14
Morning, pt. 1 – Relationships in the Consumer Culture – The Transformation of Personal Interactions (Section 8). Discussion led by Group #4.
Topic: Exploration into the changing nature of personal relations.
Goals: Understand the nature of relationships in a consumer culture – with whom or with what?
Explore the interchangeability of products and people.
Required Reading: 1-Lastovicka, John L. and Nancy J. Sirianni (2011), “Truly, Madly, Deeply: Consumers in the Throes of Material Possessive Love,” Journal of Consumer Research, 38 (August), 323-342.
Supplementary Readings: S1-Rindfleisch, Aric, James E, Burroughs, and Frank Denton (1997), “Family Structure, Materialism, and Compulsive Consumption,” Journal of Consumer Research, 23 (March), 312-321.
S2-Peiss, Kathy L. (1998), “American Women and the Making of Modern Consumer Culture,” Journal of MultiMedia History, 1 (1).
S3-Scanlon, Jennifer (1995), Inarticulate Longings: The Ladies' Home Journal, Gender and the Promise of Consumer Culture. New York: Routledge.
S4-Lambert, Nathaniel M., Frank D. Fincham, Tyler F. Stillman, and Lucas D. Dean (2009), “More Gratitude, Less Materialism: The Mediating Role of Life Satisfaction,” Journal of Positive Psychology, 4 (1), 32-42.
S5-Sullivan, Oriel and Jonathon Gershuny (2004), “Inconspicuous Consumption: Work-Rich, Time-Poor in the Liberal Market Economy,” Journal of Consumer Culture, 4 (March), 79-100.
S6-Putnam, Robert D. (2000), Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Morning, pt. 2 – Children in the Consumer Culture – The Transformation of Childhood (Section 9). Discussion led by Group #5.
Topic: Exploration into the changing nature of children.
Goals: Understand the roles filled by children in a consumer culture.
Explore the effects of the change in the activities of Children.
Required Reading: 1-Hill, Jennifer Ann (2011) “Endangered Childhoods: How Consumerism is Impacting Child and Youth Identity,” Media, Culture & Society, 33 (3, April), 347-362.
Supplementary Readings: S1-Levine, Madeline (2007), Has Materialism Hurt Our Kids Privilege,” Tikkun, 22 (January/February), 33-60.
S2-Kelly, Katy and Linda Kulman (2004), “Kid Power,” U.S. News and World Report, (September 13), 46-52.
S3-Tyre, Peg, et al (2004), “The Power of No,” Newsweek, 144 (September 13), 42-51.
S4-Hamilton, Kathy (2012), “Low-Income Families and Coping through Brands: Inclusion or Stigma,” Sociology, 46 (1), 74-90.
S5-Buckingham, David (2011), The Material Child: Growing up in Consumer Culture, Cambridge UK: Polity.
S6-Jacobson, Lisa, ed. (2007), Children and Consumer Culture in American Society: A Historical Handbook and Guide. New York: Praeger.
S7-Epp, Amber M. and Linda L. Price (2012), “Family Time in Consumer Culture: Implications for Transformative Consumer Research,” in Transformative Consumer Research for Personal and Collective Well-Being, David Glen Kick, Simone Pettigrew, Cornelia Pechman and Juli L. Ozanne, eds. New York: Routledge, 599-622.
Lunch – Discussion: What is the quality of our personal relationships?
Afternoon – Happiness in the Consumer Culture – The Transformation of the Perceived Source of Happiness (Section 10). Discussion led by Group #6.
Topic: Investigation into the sources of happiness.
Goals: Understand happiness and its origins.
Explore short-term happiness versus lasting happiness. .
Required Reading: 1-Myers, David G. (2003), “Wealth and Happiness: A Linked Relationship,” in in Voluntary Simplicity: Responding to Consumer Culture, Daniel Doherty and Amitai Etzioni, eds. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 41-51.
Supplementary Readings: S1-Cherrier, Héléne and Caroline Lego Munoz (2007), “A Reflection on Consumers’ Happiness: The Relevance of Care for Others, Spiritual Reflection, and Financial Detachment,” Journal of Research for Consumers, 12, 1-19.
“Oh, Our Aching Angst,” (1992), Forbes 150 (September 14). A set of articles from the 75th anniversary issue.
S2-Paper 1: Michaels, James “Oh, My Aching Angst,” 47-52.
S3-Paper 2: “You’d Cry too if it Happened to You,” 58-69.
S4-Paper 3: “Where is the Space to Chase Rainbows,” 72-84.
(These are the first three of a large series of papers on the lack of happiness today).
S5-Makant, Mindy G. (2010), “The Pursuit of Happiness: The Virtue of Consumption and the Consumption of Virtue,” Dialog: A Journal of Theology, 49 (Winter), 291-299.
S6-Green, Morgan and Marta Elliott (2010), “Religion, Health, and Psychological Well-Being,” Journal of Religion & Health, 49 (June), 149-163.
S7-Myers, David (1998), “Money & Misery,” in The Consuming Passion: Christianity & the Consumer Culture, Rodney Clapp, ed. Downers Grove IL: InterVarsity Press, 51-75.