American dream: using storytelling to explore social class in the united states

Lectures: 1 session / week, 3 hours / session

There are no prerequisites for this course.

The mythic idea of the “American Dream” – or the ability for all individuals and groups to “make it” through hard work and determination – has historically been at the center of U.S. national self-understandings. In class, we’ll discuss both the hopes and challenges wrapped up in ideas of the “American Dream” – including decreasing rates of mobility, growing inequality, and changing patterns of immigration in the United States in more recent years. The focus of this class, however, is on storytelling. We will use storytelling, as found in oral histories, memoirs, novels, or “auto-ethnographies,” to explore something Americans are often uncomfortable discussing - social class. Through this focus on storytelling, students will gain a deeper sense of how social class is experienced in people’s day-to-day lives as well as how it intersects with other dimensions of social experience like race, ethnicity, and gender. This class also puts an emphasis on hands-on research projects and class assignments. Students will learn how to conduct oral histories and interviews. They will also work in groups to analyze “stories” found in the archival records of a community-based museum located in a formerly industrial region with a large immigrant population. These archival records include: primary documents, home movies, photos, and oral histories.

Hurston, Zora Neale. Dust Tracks on a Road: An Autobiography. Harper Perennial, 2006. ISBN: 9780060854089. [Preview with Google Books]

Rodriguez, Richard. Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez: An Autobiography. Dial Press Trade Paperback, 2004. ISBN: 9780553382518. [Preview with Google Books]

Walley, Christine J. Exit Zero: Family and Class in Postindustrial Chicago. University of Chicago Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780226871806. [Preview with Google Books]

Aldrich, Jr., Nelson W. Old Money: The Mythology of Wealth in America. Allworth Press, 1997. ISBN: 9781880559642.

Eribon, Didier. Returning to Reims. Semiotext(e), 2013. ISBN: 9781584351238.

Class participation

Note: Attendance at class is crucial given that this class meets only once a week. (Please note: If you miss more than 1 class session without permission of the instructor, your grade will be lowered [½ of a letter grade for every two classes]).

For detailed information on the activities above, see the Assignments section.

Don't show me this again

This is one of over 2,200 courses on OCW. Find materials for this course in the pages linked along the left.

MIT OpenCourseWare is a free & open publication of material from thousands of MIT courses, covering the entire MIT curriculum.

No enrollment or registration. Freely browse and use OCW materials at your own pace. There's no signup, and no start or end dates.

Knowledge is your reward. Use OCW to guide your own life-long learning, or to teach others. We don't offer credit or certification for using OCW.

Made for sharing. Download files for later. Send to friends and colleagues. Modify, remix, and reuse (just remember to cite OCW as the source.)

Learn more at Get Started with MIT OpenCourseWare