2017-19 Class Presentation (a series of classes) for a University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain 4th year undergraduate course: CULTURAL ASPECTS OF ENGLISH_SPEAKING COUNTRIES by Prof. Anuradha Mitra Ghemawat UB Dept. of Language & Literature

1. Culture & Social
Movements
USA
Anuradha Mitra Ghemawat
UB 2018-19
05 and 08 March 2019

2. CW: mid-course discussion
1. What are your expectations for this course?
2. How do you think this course will help you as a teacher?
— To understand and be aware of some other cultures with their traditions – similar and different from yours
3. What does teaching culture in the primary classroom mean to you?
— To understand students and for them to understand each other
— To pass on the awareness of diversity that exists in the classroom and/or school and also for the environment
outside of school
4. What things do you take into consideration when teaching culture?
— Stories, folklore
— News clips and headlines
— Geography game – interactive – to place countries on the world map
— Songs and nursery rhymes relevant to different cultures
5. What does the phrase ‘culture of English-speaking countries’ mean to you?
— English is the common language but with several differences
— Pronunciation, accent -- obvious
— Ambient environment influences the use and practice of English
— Literature, theatre and visual arts

3. ELEMENTS of Cultural Study
of Social Movements
— social movement cultural texts like protest songs or
community murals,
— and
— movements as unique subcultures in themselves.

4. Protest Songs
— Beethoven’s Ode to Joy (originally Ode to
Freedom) against oppression and slavery
— (1795): Women’s Rights Rights of Women
set to tune of God Save the Queen.
— (1939): Civil Rights Billie Holliday’s
Strange Fruit
— (1960s): Woody Guthrie and The
Weavers with guitar sticker ‘This Machine
Kills Fascists’
— (1967) Female Empowerment Aretha
Franklin: Respect
— (1968) Black Pride James Brown: Say It
Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud

5. Protest Songs (continued)
— Joan Baez (USA):
Prison Trilogy (1972): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwU7fkPnEOI
Diamonds and Rust (1975): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ST9TZBb9v8
— Bob Dylan (USA):
The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlPV4wtZ6HE
Blowin’ in The Wind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G58XWF6B3AA
— Rhiannon Giddens (USA):
Cry No More (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU3cGLtULeI&list=PLIKc6xQNl0lQme4kzkCOsV4YjiGRzodyx
— Janelle Monae, et al(USA):
Hell You Talmbout (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHIUve8V2zo&list=PLIKc6xQNl0lQme4kzkCOsV4YjiGRzodyx&index=2
— Rhiannon Giddens (2015): ‘’Julie’’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYuqnUs9gP8

6. Social Movement
Cultures & Sub-Cultures
Constituted by (among other aspects):
— rituals and symbolically charged actions;
— works of art and other expressive forms;
— unique ideologies and value systems;
— idiolects, jargons, and other special language forms;
— material culture objects (buttons, t-shirts, etc.) peculiar
to the movement

7. Mass Protests in the US
HOW HAVE MASS PROTESTS CHANGED IN THE US?
A Hundred Years of American Protest, Then and Now
(New Yorker, 05 Nov 2018)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8T51lWGrh0
This video clip gives us a glimpse at protests over the
past 100 years in USA.

8. US Social Movements 1
— Abolition of Slavery
— Anarchist Movements:
— 19th c. Marxist (issue of state power) e.g.
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
— Anti-Aids Activism
• Anti-Nuclear Movements
•
• Environmental Movement

9. US Social Movements 2
Asian American Movement
(1960s-70s)
Black Nationalism & Black Arts
BLACK PANTHERS; Malcolm X
Chicano/a Latino/a
Movements
(1970-80s Washington State)
Civil Rights Movement
• Black Lives Matter
Native American Activism (1970s+)

10. US Social Movements 3
— Gay/ Lesbian/ Bi/ Trans/ Queer
Movements
— Women’s Rights
e.g. Planned Parenthood (1992)
— Women’s Liberation
(1970s)

11. US Social Movements 4
— Media Activism
Alternative media to critique mainstream media
— Occupy Wall Street

12. US Social Movements 5
— Vietnam War (Late 1960s)
— Afghanistan War (2001)
— Iraq War (2003+)
Peace Symbol
originally designed
by the British
Campaign for
Nuclear
Disarmament
movement.

13. DAY8: US Social Movements
6
Black Lives Matter (2013+)
https://blacklivesmatter.com/about/
Womens March 2017+
— The article:
http://www.BreakingNewsEnglish.com/1702/17020
1-womens-march.html
— REF: www.BreakingNewsEnglish.com

15. Culture and EDUCATION/ SOCIAL
MOVEMENT news article
— Culture and EDUCATION/ SOCIAL MOVEMENT resource:
— Georgetown students have voted in favor of reparations (reimburse
slaves sold to fund Geiretown University in 1838). Will America? by
Christine Emba (21 April, 2019)
— -Two-thirds of undergraduates who took part in a
campuswide referendumApril 11 (2019) voted “yes” on a student fee,
of exactly $27.20 each semester, to create a reparations fund for the
descendants of Georgetown’s slaves. The number is in remembrance
of the 272 slaves sold in 1838 by Georgetown’s Jesuit leaders to
resolve the school’s debt at a critical point in its history, essentially
saving the school.
— https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/georgetown-students-have-
voted-in-favor-of-reparations-will-america/2019/04/21/a419e4da-
62d5-11e9-9412-
daf3d2e67c6d_story.html?utm_term=.4f401bfb1880&wpisrc=nl_opini
ons&wpmm=1

16. LISTENING In-class
— What do you think Toni Morrison is talking about when
she associates ‘Blackness’ in the US to criminality?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvcJ1YyQCkA&list=P
Lk56kkU3eJxuIbhtqNLXK12Kne5NZ3Ek_&index=4
— Black Lives Matter by Beth Richter (YouTube,
14Dec2014)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJb5U7
3PrYo
— How student Activism could potentially impact American
politics. (National Public Radio, 14 March
2018)https://www.npr.org/2018/03/14/593609837/ho
w-student-activism-could-potentially-impact-american-
politics

17. CW: News article on
Women’s March 2017
— Breaking News170201-Womens-March
— Also see: http://fortune.com/2018/01/22/womens-
march-2018-numbers/

18. HW (optional)
1. What do you understand about the Occupy Wall Street
movement (USA)? How is it linked to Occupy Together?
How did this movement influence similar cultural and
social movements in Europe, especially in Spain? Write
your opinion in class today on this topic.
2. See either video related to Black Lives Matter. Comment
on it in 100 words or less in class. Do you know of a
culturally similar issue that has led to a social
movement in another English-speaking country?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSoT2xFshSshttps://ww
w.youtube.com/watch?v=CU8joBRqwyo

19. References
1. Social Movements and Culture.
http://culturalpolitics.net/social_movements
2. Anti-War Movement
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-
war_movement#Vietnam_War
3. Protest Songs of 1960s
(USA)http://hubpages.com/entertainment/The-
Protest-Movement-The-10-Best-Protest-Songs-of-
the-60s
4. http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/forms-civil-
society-protest-1960s-and-1970s-grade-12