| The economic, social, and political landscapes of American culture are fraught with tensions between those that are wealthy and those that are just getting by. There are tensions between those that occupy the center of privilege as a result of their sex, their relational preference, their physically able bodies, the color of their skin and those that are stationed on the margins. The realities of the inequities that dichotomize Americans are the motivation for this dissertation and for deconstructing the American hyper-individualism that I believe is at the root of our ills.; Individualism has always marked the American mindset. Hyper-individualism, as argued in this dissertation, is the expansion of the ideology of individualism to an extreme by attempting to fulfill the needs of the individual at the expense of others. The belief that if one just works hard enough he/she will get ahead is now clouded with feelings of competition with those around us for limited resources and access. It is no longer simply about individual pursuit; it is about pursuit in competition with those that might beat us. The hyper-individual recognizes that there is an economic divide and that he/she must focus on his/her own needs rather than caring for those that are suffering.; In this dissertation I argue that within everyone there is a pull between fulfilling individual desires in a culture that is motivated by consumption and the recognition of the needs of the collective. The social and political ills plaguing our culture generate a dissonance within each of us as we increasingly feel the tension between these two needs. Hyper-individualism results when we attempt to reduce the dissonance by focusing on messages that justify and support individualistic pursuit and simultaneously, abandon the needs of the other. This dissertation explores the causes of hyper-individualism, how it shapes our culture, and how the cultural tools of the media, communication, and education impact our focus on individualistic pursuit at the expense of others. Specifically, Communication Across the Curriculum (CAC) as an interdisciplinary pedagogical initiative impacting colleges and universities across the country is explored by using Earnest Borman's Fantasy Theme Analysis to conduct a rhetorical analysis of the rhetorical messages that unite and motivate the movement. CAC serves as a site for exploring the cultural messages that impact the tension between individual desires and collective needs. CAC also serves as a site for the possibility of messages of empowerment, connection, and commitment.; The purpose of this dissertation is to arrive at the possibilities, the alternative to cultural messages that perpetuate hyper-individualism by focussing on the attainment of individual success and the fulfillment of individual desires. To reduce the economic, social, and political inequities in our culture, we must move toward interconnectedness. To move toward interconnectedness, the ultimate goal of this project, we must reduce the cultural messages of individualistic pursuit and increase the cultural messages that emphasize responsibility, connection and cultural transformation. |
