Fame—celebrity, notoriety, renown—confers both recognition and immortality. It is the most enduring and desirable form of social power; a uniquely human ambition and a central force in social life. Culture, commerce, politics, and religion all proffer promises of fame, whether for fifteen minutes or fifteen centuries. Drawing on texts from history, anthropology, sociology, literature, philosophy, and contemporary media, this course will reflect on the ethics, erotics, pragmatics and pathologies of fame. We will compare fame to other forms of recognition (reputation, honor, charisma, infamy, etc.), and look at how fame operates in various social and historical circumstances, from small agricultural communities to enormous, hyper-mediated societies such as our own. How does the fame of the oral epic differ from the fame of the printed book or the fame of the photograph? We’ll consider the enduring question of fame as it transforms across space, time, social boundaries, and technological conditions.
Media, Culture & Communication (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 14 Weeks
Sections (Spring 2025)
MCC-UE 9346-000 (2307)01/21/2025 – 05/01/2025 Mon2:00 PM – 5:00 PM (Early afternoon)at NYU Los Angeles (Global)Instructed by Kolodezh, Samuel