Dimensions of Culture

OFFICE: 132 Sequoyah Hall, Marshall College
http://doc-tmc.ucsd.edu

Program Director

Abraham Shragge, Ph.D.

Assistant Program Director

Pamela S. Wright, Ph.D.

Courses

The Dimensions of Culture program (DOC) is an introductory three-quarter social science sequence that is required of all students entering Thurgood Marshall College as freshmen. Successful completion of the DOC sequence satisfies the UC writing requirement. The course is a study in the social construction of individual identity in contemporary America and it surveys a range of social differences and stratifications that shape the nature of human attachment to self, work, community, and a sense of nation. Central to the course objective is the question of how scholars move from knowledge to action.

DOC 1, offered each fall, revolves around the central theme of diversity; in particular, the study of social differences and commonalities among individuals and groups. Students review contemporary theories of diversity and identity in the United States, reading an array of texts drawn from sociology, philosophy, ethnic studies, political science, journalism, mass media, and other sources.

In winter quarter, DOC 2 presents justice as its core theme, with special focus on the political and constitutional implications of publicly significant social differences such as race, class, gender, and ethnicity—the main issues taken up in DOC 1. Course readings include numerous original sources, especially Supreme Court opinions, as well as pieces drawn from the rich field of American history.

DOC 3 examines how Americans have imagined and re-imagined social difference and change, and how these issues have been represented in American culture since World War II. Students analyze a wide variety of texts, including films, novels, photographs, paintings, and music, drawn from popular culture and avant-garde expressions. Returning to the concepts of identity and diversity, the third course investigates how such works have imagined the diverse and conflicting interests that characterize American culture and its changes over time.

Perhaps unique among the UCSD college programs, DOC also provides its students with a full menu of academic and cultural enrichment opportunities, which have included visits to the Veterans Museum in Balboa Park to learn the rudiments of oral history with a group of former prisoners of war; meeting Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists in an intimate setting; attending talks given by a MacArthur fellow and a former prime minister of Norway and Director General of the World Health Organization; participating in a DOC Film Festival; and attending the premier of a play commissioned by the Thurgood Marshall Institute.

To enroll in DOC 2 or 3, students must satisfy the UC Entry Level Writing requirement, formerly called the Subject A requirement. Transfer students should also see their college academic adviser regarding the appropriate course requirements.

For further details on Marshall College requirements, see “Marshall College, General-Education Requirements.”