The premise of our course presupposes an intellectual and analytical stance that is open to meaning. We will work to understand how a range of things--material, affective, and conceptual—come to represent value and values though diverse modes of exchange and consumption practices. This is not a course in economics, so the instrumentality of money (as a unit of account) and exchange (as monetary instruments) will not be paramount. Instead, we will focus on the ways that people act and what they say about participating in the exchange of goods and services. The Thinginess of Value indexes the socio-cultural plasticity involved in expressing self- and communal interests through commodities.
- Teacher: Kim Cameron-Dominguez