+ Popular Culture

108 Popular Culture, 419-372-2981

The Department of Popular Culture studies the forms of creative expression we use in everyday life. Courses focus on the impact various aspects of popular culture (such as television, movies, rock music, popular books and magazines, sports, holidays, festivals and folklore) have on our culture and how they reflect the values of our society. While studies of contemporary culture are an important part of the program, historical material is emphasized as well.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the baccalaureate degree, students in popular culture are expected to:

• Apply critical analysis to the popular culture environment, both in the present and in its various historical manifestations, in order to discuss such matters as how popular culture shapes/reflects our personal and social experiences, how popular culture shapes/reflects diversity in a multicultural society and how popular culture shapes/reflects American culture's relationship to global culture(s);
  
• Explicate ways in which the materials of popular culture are shaped by aesthetic, social history and cultural forces, and how the materials of popular culture influence these forces as well;
  
• Describe basic theories and methodologies relevant to popular culture scholarship, and apply those theories and methodologies in research;
  
• Recognize the existence of alternative aesthetic systems, varying from genre to genre or from medium to medium, and that they are not intrinsically good or bad, but that each one is based on its own set of standards and has its own challenges;
  
• Convey ideas orally and in writing.
  

Major, Bachelor of Arts—minor required (36 hours)

Required courses:

• POPC 160 or 165 (credit for both may not be used toward the major)
• POPC 170
• POPC 260
• POPC 300
• One of: POPC 250, 270, 280 or 290 (Students who wish to minor in Folklore and Folklife must select two courses from this list)
• One of: POPC 220, 320, 321, 325 or 424 (Students who wish to minor in Folklore and Folklife may not select from this requirement—see above)
• One of: POPC 350, 370, 380 or 460
• One of: POPC 365 or 426
• POPC 480
• Electives in popular culture: Select three additional POPC courses, two of which must be at the 300 or 400 level. (9 hours)

Note: No more than 3 hours of POPC 490 Problems in Popular Culture may be counted toward the major.

Note: No more than 3 hours of POPC 395 Workshop may be counted toward the major.

Minor (21 hours)
Required courses: POPC 160 or 165; 170, 260; one of POPC 220, 250, 270, 280 or 290; two of POPC 350, 365, 370, 380 or 426, and one additional course offered by the department.