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NEWS
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News Release |
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Popular culture pioneer edits two new books BOWLING GREEN, O.—Pinocchio and NASCAR don’t often come up in the same discussion, but in a new book titled “Profiles of Popular
Culture: A Reader,” the two otherwise disparate subjects are both at home.
Dr. Ray B. Browne, the book’s editor and a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of popular culture at Bowling Green
State University, employs essays about Pinocchio and NASCAR fans as part of explorations of myths and heroes, respectively.
He similarly uses other essays, from both scholarly and mainstream media, to help illustrate broader topics from A (advertising)
to V (vacationing and sightseeing), with food, fads and fashion among those in between.
While “Profiles of Popular Culture” serves as both an academic book and a reference for a general audience interested in popular
culture’s role in contemporary society, a second new volume edited by Browne is specifically subtitled “Essays for Educators.”
That book, “Popular Culture Studies Across the Curriculum,” emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary mingling and explores
ways in which popular culture studies can deepen inquiry in particular fields. The 18 essays span campus curricula, including
the humanities, social sciences, geography, women’s studies, business and economics. The importance of popular culture courses
in community colleges and high schools is also addressed.
McFarland & Company Inc. is the publisher of “Popular Culture Studies Across the Curriculum,” while “Profiles of Popular Culture”
is published by the Popular Press, an imprint of the University of Wisconsin Press.
After coming to Bowling Green in 1967, Ray Browne established a center for the study of popular culture and the Journal of
Popular Culture. Often credited with coining the term, he also co-founded the Popular Culture Association, BGSU’s Department
of Popular Culture—the first academic department of its kind in the nation—and the University’s Popular Culture Library, which
is now named in his and his wife’s honor.
Named a Distinguished University Professor in 1977, he created the Journal of American Culture the following year and remained
a full-time teacher until retiring in 1992. He has continued to work as a writer and editor, with more than 70 books and hundreds
of articles to his credit.
(Posted July 21, 2005 )
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