American Studies 230 - Tarot, Enneagram, Astrology: Manufactured Enchantments in the 20th-Century Americas

(AMST 230/LLAS 230) This course traces the history and migration of three forms of enchantment—the tarot, the enneagram, and astrology—through twentieth-century Europe, North America, and South America. By studying histories, theories, manuals, and literature featuring these systems and taxonomies, we will ask, why did so many methods of codifying the self emerge or become popular in the twentieth- century hemispheric West? We will consider the rise of tarot, the enneagram, and astrology in relation to global fascism, World War I, World War II, the development of psychological warfare, and the spread of bloody dictatorships throughout South America during the Cold War. In their movement across different sociopolitical contexts, what qualities have rendered these tools seductive to people as techniques of social control, tools for liberation, or strategies of endurance? Assigned texts will include works by Mariana Enríquez, Clarice Lispector, H.P. Lovecraft, Alexander Chee, Samuel Delany, Carl Jung, and Theodor Adorno. 

Students can expect small weekly assignments and a final paper engaging course readings. In each unit, we will also approach the classroom as a factory in which to produce enchantments of our own, creating tarot cards, enneagram, and astrology guides in order to ask the same questions of ourselves that we ask of the people in our readings. What can understanding the twentieth-century history of these practices teach us about the ways we tell stories about ourselves in moments of crisis today?

Enrollment 20. Fall semester. Professor Ortiz.

How to handle overenrollment: Dean handles over-enrollment.

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Students can expect small weekly assignments and a final paper engaging course readings.