n times of post-truth politics, this course focuses on imposter tales, analyzing performances of social roles and national identities across multiple media and genres. Considering classic tales of “clothes make the man” from H. C. Andersen and F. Kafka, films such as Imitation of Life and Catch Me If You Can, as well as acts of posing and exposing on TV, YouTube, and digital social media platforms, students learn to think critically about rank and power, authenticity and artifice, staging and acting. Theories on the presentation of self and framing social interaction will guide our analyses. Epitomized by the word “selfie,” “selling the self” is an all-encompassing social practice that governs life and politics.