Instructor: Kristin Scott, MFA, A.M.
Office Hours: Room 307 / T & TH – 1:00 – 2:00 PM
or during other times by appointment
E-mail:
Required Text: Common Culture, 5th ed., by Petracca & Sorapure
* All other reading assignments will be provided to you via handout or online at the class blog.
Class Blog Site: http://popculture08.wordpress.com/
See Course Description
Reading & Assignment Schedule:
Week One: What is Popular Culture?
Tuesday, January 15th
- Introduction and overview of the course.
- Discussion of culture, popular culture, and high versus low culture.
Thursday, January 17th
Readings/Viewings:
- Read: “Popular Signs: Or, Everything You Always Knew About Culture (but Nobody Asked)” Signs of Culture (handout)
Response Assignment #1 (due next class & in response to readings for next class): See and respond to assignment online at class blog.
Week Two: Reading and Interpreting “Signs” of Popular Culture
Tuesday, January 22nd
Response Assignment #1 DUE online at class blog.
Readings/Viewings:
Thursday, January 24th
Readings/Viewings:
- Read: Omi, Michael. “In Living Color: Race and American Culture” Signs of Culture (handout)
Response Assignment #2 (due next class & in response to readings for next class): See and respond to assignment online at class blog.
Week Three: American Idols & Icons
Tuesday, January 29th
Response Assignment #2 DUE online at class blog.
Readings/Viewings:
- Read: “American Icons: The Mythic Characters of Popular Cultures,” (721-728) Signs of Culture (handout).
- Read: Brennan, Jake. “Celebrities Who Aren’t Really Celebrities,” (729-733) Signs of Culture (handout).
- Watch: “I Got a Crush . . . on Obama”
Thursday, January 31st
Readings/Viewings:
* Case Study Focus: William Hung
Response Assignment #3 (due next class & in response to readings for next class): See and respond to assignment online at class blog.
Weeks Four & Five: Advertising
Tuesday, February 5th
Response Assignment #3 DUE online at class blog.
Readings/Viewings:
Thursday, February 7th
Readings/Viewings:
Response Assignment #4 (due next class & in response to readings for next class): See and respond to assignment online at class blog.
Tuesday, February 12th – NO CLASS (HOLIDAY) / Lincoln’s Birthday
Thursday, February 14th
Response Assignment #4 DUE online at class blog.
Readings/Viewings:
- Read: Calfee, John. E. “How Advertising Informs to Our Benefit” (91-104) Common Culture Reader.
- Read: Pozner, Jennifer L. “Images of Women In Advertising” (105-114) Common Culture Reader.
- Watch: Jean Kilbourne, “Killing Us Softly 3: Advertising’s Image of Women”
Response Assignment #5 (due next class & in response to readings for next class): See and respond to assignment online at class blog.
Week Six: Food Culture
Tuesday, February 19th
Response Assignment #5 DUE online at class blog.
Readings/Viewing:
Thursday, February 21st
Readings/Viewings:
- Read: Kaufman, Frederick. “Debbie Does Salad: The Food Network at the frontiers of pornography,” Harpers Magazine, Vol. 311, Issue 1865, Oct, 2005. (handout)
- View: Food Porn photos from Flickr.
Response Assignment #6 (due next class & in response to readings for next class): See and respond to assignment online at class blog.
Week Seven: Urban Legends & Mythical Characters
Tuesday, February 26th
Response Assignment #6 DUE online at class blog.
Readings/Viewings:
Case Study Essay Assigned:
Proposals DUE (next class) Thursday, February 28th.
Essays DUE Tuesday, March 11th.
Thursday, February 28th
CASE STUDY PROPOSALS DUE! (1-2 paragraphs)
Readings/Viewings:
Response Assignment #7 (due next class & in response to readings for next class): See and respond to assignment online at class blog.
Week Eight: Popular Music (not to be confused with Pop-Muzik)
Tuesday, March 4th
Response Assignment #7 DUE online at class blog.
Readings/Viewings:
- Sullivan, Rachel. “Rap and Race: It’s Got a Nice Beat, But What About It’s Message?” Common Culture Reader.
- Chang, Jeff. “IT’S A Hip-Hop World,” Foreign Policy, Nov/Dec. 2007 (handout).
- View: bell hooks, Pt8 Cultural Criticism (rap music)
Thursday, March 6th
Readings/Viewings:
FINISH CASE STUDY ESSAYS: DUE NEXT CLASS!
Week Nine: Sports
Tuesday, March 11th
CASE STUDY ESSAYS DUE!
Readings/Viewings:
- Read: Marqusee, Mike. “World Games: The U.S. Tries to Colonize Sport,” (473-480) Common Culture Reader.
- Read: Ciociola, Laura. “Hints of Pop Culture: From Nike to Disney, U.S. brands are becoming household names and influencing tastes,” The St. Petersburg Times International Journalism Practicum.
Thursday, March 13th
Readings/Viewings:
- Read: Roberts, Paul. “Sports, Stars, and Society” (481-491) Common Culture Reader.
- Read: Dowell, William “Life on the Edge,” (491-499) Common Culture Reader.
Week Ten: SPRING BREAK
Tuesday, March 18th & Thursday, March 20th: NO CLASS!
Weeks Eleven & Twelve: Films & Television
Tuesday, March 25th
Readings/Viewings:
- Read: Seger, Linda. “Creating the Myth,” (317-326), Signs of Life (handout).
- Read: Pollack, Sidney. “Film and American Culture: The Way We Are,” (523-533) Common Culture Reader.
Thursday, March 27th
Readings/Viewings:
- Read: Ang, Ien. (2005) Multiculturalism.
- Read: Minh-Ha Pham, “The Asian Invasion (of Multiculturalism) in Hollywood (543-564) Common Culture Reader.
Response Assignment #8 (due next class & in response to readings for next class): See and respond to assignment online at class blog.
Tuesday, April 1st
Response Assignment #8 DUE online at class blog.
Readings/Viewings:
- Read: Ehrenreich, Barbara. “The Cultural Influences of Television: Spudding Out” (146-149) Common Culture Reader.
- Read: Connolly, Marisa. “Homosexuality on Television: The Heterosexualization of Will and Grace,” (287-299) Signs of Life (handout).
Thursday, April 3rd
Readings/Viewings:
Group Presentation Topics Assigned
Response Assignment #9 (due next class & in response to readings for next class): See and respond to assignment online at class blog.
Weeks Thirteen & Fourteen: Video Games & Cyberculture/s
Tuesday, April 8th
Response Assignment #9 DUE online at class blog.
Readings/Viewings:
- Read: Cowlishaw, Brian. “Playing War: The Emerging Trend of Real Virtual Combat in Currrent Video Games” (385-398). Common Culture Reader.
- Watch: “Grand Theft Auto IV – Trailer”
Thursday, April 10th
Readings/Viewings:
Response Assignment #10 (due next class & in response to readings for next class): See and respond to assignment online at class blog.
Tuesday, April 15th
Response Assignment #10 DUE online at class blog.
Readings/Viewings:
Thursday, April 17th
Readings/Viewings:
Work on Group Presentations
Extra Credit Blog Response – Due next week (Tuesday)
Weeks Fifteen & Sixteen: Semester Review & Group Presentations
Tuesday, April 22nd:Review of Semester
Thursday, April 24th: Group Presentations (2-3 groups)
Tuesday, April 29th: Group Presentations (2-3 groups)
Thursday, May 1st:Group Presentations (2-3 groups) |
