Rutgers SASN
POPULAR CULTUREProf SiebertRob.e.Siebert@Note: Due to the virus, I will not be holding office hours in my office. I will respond to emails of course and if it is truly and absolutely needed, we can either do a one on one video chat or a phone call. I will try to rectify any of your issues via email before we go further.This course is intended to introduce the rich and elaborate field of Popular Culture Studies. There are several angles with which to explore popular culture, such as: from the point of view of capitalism and how that creates and affects culture; how issues of race, class, gender, disability are represented in popular culture; how are conceptions of these issues are shaped by popular culture; how popular culture both blurs and hardens class distinctions; how pop culture is becoming global and how the meanings of popular culture may be shaped by local culture—to name a few! We will do our best to touch on all of these things and perhaps a few others. We will certainly be talking about modern popular culture, but due to your professor’s age, I run the risk of sounding very inauthentic (trying to identify what is hip and cool with you kids today! Groovy). It is important to recognize that we are dealing with the history of popular culture as much as we are dealing with what is popular today. You folks had Harry Potter as kids. I was 9 when Star Wars first came out. I was 10 when Fonzie Jumped the Shark.I will be posting various clips from You Tube from significant movies and Television from the past. These will often be grouped as genres. You will be required to write short reaction papers to the clips, though in some cases Im just going to ask you to post in the discussion board.Overall, we really want to utilize “Critical Theory” to understand popular culture. We can’t be blinded by the parts we like from the problems popular culture may reinforce. As a final assignment, you will be asked to take a piece of pop culture and analyze it. Preferably you will tear it apart. GOALSTo gain a basic understanding of the Sociology and Anthropology of Popular Culture To understand what “Cultural Studies” are and to be able to identify theoretical approaches in that fieldTo develop our skills in critical thinkingTo be able to deconstruct pieces of popular culture and to analyze the meanings within said pieceRequired BooksAshby, LeRoy2012With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture since 1830 Lexington: University of Kentucky PressKidd, Dustin2018Pop Culture Freaks: Identity, Mass Media, and Society, 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge Additional Readings posted on BlackboardSelections from Danesi, Marcel2015Popular Culture, Third Edition New York: Rowman&LittlefieldSelections by Theodor Adorno--“On Popular Music”Video links to be providedRequirements8 Discussion boards1 point for post 1, 2 points for the rest. 15%4 video assignments7.5 points each30%1 essay15 points15%Exams 1&210 points20%Exam 320 points20%I CANNOT ACCEPT FILES AS .pages I cannot open them, it is an Apple only format. Schedule—WE DO NOT MEET IN PERSON. The dates listed below are just guidelines. I will always post materials for you on Tuesdays, but grading and other things can happen all week long. If we feel like we should have a zoom meeting, we can consider that later in the semester. Week 1: September 1—Introduction/what is pop cultureLook over this syllabus and get the books!Start Reading Chapter 1 in the book by KiddPost in discussion Board 1Week 2: September 8—what is Pop CultureKeep Reading Chapter 1 in Kidd. Read Chapter by Denesi on blackboardI will post some notesVideo Response Assignment 1 posted.Week 3: September 15—the business of pop cultureRead the article by Adorno posted online. Discussion Board Two—Will be about AdornoVideo Response Assignment 1 due.Week 4: September 22—“The Western”Watch videos about “The Western”Discussion Board Three—WesternExam 1 posted. Kidd Chapter 1, Denesi, and AdornoWeek 5: September 29--Race in Popular CultureChapter 2 in KiddRead Chapter one in AshbyI will post some notesWeek 6: October 6--Continuing with Race(note: be sure to read the section about popular culture efficacy)Video Assignment 2 postedDiscussion Board 4Week 7: October 13--Class in Popular CultureRead Chapter 3 in KiddVideo Response Assignment 2 dueWatch video on Class and TelevisionWeek 8: October 20—Continuing with class. Will start Ashby book to consider how popular culture was used to form the American middle class in the 1800s. Brief discussion on Bourdieu Read Ashby BookDiscussion Board 5Week 9: October 27—Discussion on first half of Ashby Book: “Blackface” PT Barnum and TheaterFinish Ashby BookExam 2—Kidd Chapter 2 and 3Video Assignment 3 posted Week 10: November 3 -Discussion on second half of Ashby book. Will do power point presentation on emerging pop culture in the 30s and 40s. Discussion Board 6 (on the power point)Video Assignment 3 dueWeek 11: November 10– Gender and Sexuality in Popular CultureRead Chapter 4&5 in KiddRead additional Notes and Critique of BeyonceEssay on Ashby Book dueWeek 12: November 17—More on Gender and SexualityVideo Assignment 4 postedDiscussion Board 7Week 13: November 24—Thanksgiving WeekVideo Assignment 4 dueWeek 14: December 1Harry Potter and the Globalization of Popular CultureChapter 7 in KiddDiscussion Board 8Additional NotesWeek 15: December 8Read Chapter 8 in KiddThere will be a final exam on chapter 4,5,7&8 in Kidd and probably aome things we would have talked about all semester long. ................
................
In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.
To fulfill the demand for quickly locating and searching documents.
It is intelligent file search solution for home and business.