HON 365 - Copyright/Copywrong

Prerequisite, acceptance to the University Honors Program. Warnings about plagiarism continue to inundate the Chapman campus, academia as a whole, and the larger US culture. Why this plagiarism panic? Why did Los Angeles high school students sue turnitin.com? Why does an African novelist get accused of stealing a French author’s text, whereas Western artists are praised for their appropriations of African art? How important is vaccine trademark protection in the face of global pandemics? How do concerns about intellectual property shape understandings of inventions, ownership, authorship, intellectual collaboration, and writing tutoring? How are these understandings inflected by discourses of capital, nation, gender, sexuality, disability, and celebrity? What does “originality” mean amidst postmodern/postcolonial aesthetics and poststructuralist conceptions of subjectivity? This course will pursue these and other questions by engaging with a growing body of critical writing on issues around copyright and plagiarism, as well as court cases about trademark infringement and artistic theft, and artwork, films, rap music, music videos, and novels by artists who have been accused of plagiarism or have made fun of or otherwise responded to such charges. Students will have the opportunity to produce critical and creative projects as part of their own work for the course. The course topic crosses genres and disciplinary boundaries, addressing issues around intellectual property relevant to many fields of study. Letter grade. (Offered as needed.) 3 credits