RUSS 38.12 History of Attention

The course will trace a broad outline of the social and cultural history of human attention. We will begin by establishing a firm foundational understanding of attention as a neuroscientific and cognitive phenomenon. We will then proceed to attention in preliterate societies (hunter-gatherers’ attention, attentional strategies in oral literary genres, such as the epic narrative); modern forms of attention in literature, music, pictorial art, and film; attention in the context of religious and spiritual practices; and finally, the current state of attention, including the social and political implications of the generalized ‘attention deficit disorder’ induced by the media and the internet.

Instructor

Gronas/Tse

Cross Listed Courses

COCO 028

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:TMV

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Offered

• Fall