Popping Culture: Research Methods for Studying the Popular

Welcome to Pop Culture 2! Whether you're officially registered or just checking out the site, you're now part of the class! You'll soon think more deeply about everything that was once "obvious" or "common sense." Then, after your childhood innocence is shattered, you'll be more critically reflective about media representations and everyday practices. By the end, you'll be engaging with popular culture more deeply than ever.

Week 01

READ ME.

Week 01 - Introduction

What's your name?

Two Truths and a Lie (Pop Quiz Edition)

What's something you enjoy within popular culture?

What's something else you enjoy within popular culture?

What's something you don't enjoy within popular culture? Remember to keep all answers within the same realm (e.g., bands, authors, or films).

Don't forget to send a short introductory video with this information. To see what's in store, click here to see last term's "Pop Quiz"

Introduction to Popular Culture

When it comes to culture, what is Matthew Arnold's main concern in Culture and Anarchy?

What was Stuart Hall's contribution to the study of popular culture?

What is the one-sentence definition of "popular culture" that pretty much every scholar agrees upon?

What is your email address?

Week 02

Week 02 - Method

What's your name?

Two Truths and a Lie (Pop Quiz Edition)

First, meet some classmates and guess which item is the one they're lying about.

How well were you able to guess the lie in the "Pop Quiz" and why do you think you did or didn't have much success?

Michel Foucault - Method

What do you think the most important passage was from the this week's reading and why?

What was the most difficult passage in the reading and what specific questions did it raise for you?

Choose any major concept from the reading (it can be "power-knoweldge" if you want). Can you think of a popular show or franchise where we can see this concept in action?

What was the most beautiful passage in the reading for you and why?

What is your email address?

Week 03

"How to Write a Love Song"

Country Song Mashup

Week 03 - On Popular Music

What's your name?

What did you come up with when asked to create your own pop song in this week's video?

Do you agree with Adorno's critique of the culture industry? Be sure to provide details.

What was the most difficult passage in the reading and what specific questions did it raise for you?

Choose any popular genre (e.g., hip-music, action-adventure films, etc.) and explain how you might go about supporting or challenging Adorno's ideas through your examples.

What was the most beautiful passage in the reading for you and why?

What is your email address?

Week 04

Sam Cooke, "A Change is Gonna Come" (1963)

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, "The Message" (1982)

Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon, "The History of Rap"

Week 04 - Race and Music

What's your name?

How would you 'take the pulse' of American culture using popular music today?

What are some similarities/differences with the artists Gilroy mentions and musicians today that come to mind?

What was the most difficult passage in the reading and what specific questions did it raise for you?

How might you use Gilroy, or any other reading we've done so far, to start to unpack the signification of Fallon and Timberlake's "History of Rap" performance?

What was the most beautiful passage in the reading for you and why?

What is your email address?

First Assignment

Pop Music Analysis

500-700 words + works cited

Building on the readings and discussions from this section of the course, students will critically assess a popular song, artist, or series of songs/albums. Students will develop a thesis, suggest an appropriate use of at least one of the assigned readings for understanding the text(s) in question, and provide a bibliography of no less than 3 additional academic sources to support their claims. When forming a thesis, students may wish to consider one or more of the following questions: Does the song/artist help support or negate the claims made by Adorno or other theorists? How can listeners better understand the structure(s) of this music? Where does power exist within this music and how can we critically interpret it? What makes this music “good” or “bad” and how can we justify such claims?

Week 06

Week 06 - Postmodern Practices

What's your name?

In what ways does Childish Gambino's "This is America" music video relate to the West's ideas in "Black Postmodernist Practices"?

In what ways does Cardi B's "WAP" music video relate to the West's ideas in "Black Postmodernist Practices"?

Using either music video, what are some of the ways you could read this cultural text as a "palimpsest" that combines multiple meanings or ideas?

Both videos seem to incorporate stereotypes. How might that be read through a postmodernist lens?

Choose any element from one of the videos and explain the explicit and implicit properties you think are most important to recognize if one were to further analyze the video.

What is your email address?

Week 07

Week 07 - Genre

What's your name?

In what genre would you place The Mandalorian based on the trailer? What conventions inform that decision?

What elements of Wright's structure of the Western do you see appearing in the Mandalorian (be sure to explain your answers)?

In what genre would you place WandaVision based on the trailer? What conventions inform that decision?

Using either trailer, where do you see possible conflict when it comes to traditional genre categories (e.g., maybe the presence of an object seems to put it into one category but the style or form places it in another)?

Based on the trailer (feel free to elaborate if you've watched the show), in what ways might WandaVision be postmodern?

What is your email address?

MORE ABOUT POP CULTURE

Upon successful completion of this course, you'll be able to:

define "popular culture" and related terms while elaborating upon their significance in contemporary and historical settings
recognize the major theoretical and methodological approaches to studying popular culture
situate popular culture within larger social, economic, and political contexts
critically evaluate contemporary claims and debates about popular culture
design and conduct analyses of popular culture artefacts and practices

Readings

There will be some linked readings, but these are the two books you should have:

Popping Culture: Research Methods for Studying the Popular

Ask Me Anything

Week 01

Week 01 - Introduction

Two Truths and a Lie (Pop Quiz Edition)

Introduction to Popular Culture

Week 02

Week 02 - Method

Two Truths and a Lie (Pop Quiz Edition)

Michel Foucault - Method

Week 03

Week 03 - On Popular Music

Week 04

Week 04 - Race and Music

First Assignment

Pop Music Analysis

500-700 words + works cited

Week 06

Week 06 - Postmodern Practices

Week 07

Week 07 - Genre

MORE ABOUT POP CULTURE

Upon successful completion of this course, you'll be able to:

Readings