46-3120 Taste and Consumption in French History

This advanced Cultural Studies seminar and history course explores how taste developed as an important category of national, gender, and class identity in France from ca. 1650-1900. France, and especially French women, remain closely associated in the public mind with good taste. This is due to a long historical development in which the state and social groups struggled to define French taste against a background of dramatic economic, political, and cultural change. The challenging course provides historical insight to help understand modern classed and gendered consumption regimes and is designed for highly motivated students. It is strongly recommended that students taking this course have taken at least two prior courses in European history, Women’s and Gender studies, or Cultural Studies; ideally, at least two of these different subject areas will have been studied. At least one such course is a prerequisite for registration for all students.

3 Credits
Requisites PREREQUISITES: 46-2100 Cultural Theories