Social Inequality in America: Debates Around _The Wire_
The popular HBO TV series, The Wire (2002-2008), created and mainly written by former Baltimore police reporter David Simons, comprehends over 60 episodes broadcast in 5 seasons. The TV series has been addressed by main newspapers such as The New York Times, and The Guardian (UK). Pop culture media have rated it as “the best show ever broadcast on American television” (Slate), “the greatest TV drama of the past 25 years” (Vulture), “the greatest TV show of all time” (Complex, Pop Culture). The Wire has also been the main subject of abundant academic essays published in prestigious journals, such as Cultural Inquiry from Harvard University and Critical Inquiry from the University of Chicago, to name a few. It has also been used for teaching purposes, as it is the case in Harvard University (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/10/AR2010091002676.html), UC-Berkeley, Duke University, and Middlebury College (http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2010/03/this_will_be_on_the_midterm_you_feel_me.html). Furthermore, it has also been the central theme of scholarly and teaching publications, such as The Wire in the College Classroom; Pedagogical Approaches in the Humanities (Eds. Karen Dillon & Naomi Crummey, McFarland, 2015). The HBO series explores in depth issues of urban life, discrimination, poverty, social inequality and systemic failure of the institutions to address the lack of opportunity in impoverished neighborhoods in the United States.
This session calls for essays on poverty and lack of opportunity, urban life, and pedagogical approaches on teaching the above-mentioned themes based on the premises proposed by this provocative TV series.
This debate is important because concentration of wealth in few hands, discrimination, and impoverished urban life continue to be a societal issue in contemporary United States. Thus the themes proposed by the HBO TV series are still relevant in our society.
Paper Title: 100 words max.
Paper Abstract: 300 words max.
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