CSP 62 Discourse Analysis and Institutional Power: Schools, Prisons, and Media

This seminar introduces students to Discourse Analysis as the ontological and epistemological deconstruction of everyday language. With schools, prisons, and media as the focus, students will analyze how hidden politics in "texts" are conditioned and inscribed within institutional discourses. Using discourse analysis, the class will pose questions such as: Why do students and prisoners walk in lines? How are particular? Why do we raise our hands to answer questions? What does it mean to wear a uniform? Why do windows in some schools have bars? What does safety mean? How do youth experience different institutional contexts? What happens if you do not follow the rules? Why do we spend more money on prisons than schools? To approach such questions we will deconstruct and interrogate language collected from a variety of textual resources.