Semester:
Offered:
Instructor: Angela Allan
Meeting time: Wednesday, 9:45-11:45 am
Studying popular culture reveals much about the society that creates, consumes, and critiques it. How do ideas circulate in mass media? Can popular culture create social change? Who determines what counts as serious or frivolous culture? Is popular culture a democratizing force to be cheered or a tool of social control to be feared? This course will introduce students to theories of popular culture; provide the skills for formally analyzing sources like film, television, music, advertisements, and more; and teach students how to historically contextualize works of culture. Using case studies from the postwar United States ranging from Bob Dylan to Barbie dolls and sitcoms to sci-fi, we will consider how ideas about race, gender, sexuality, and class were mediated by popular culture. We will also explore how ordinary individuals participate in the shaping of popular culture and public discourse via fandom, youth subcultures, and consumerism. As we consider the role popular culture plays in our daily lives, we will examine how these debates surrounding its influence and value continue to inform intellectual discourse today.