Maricopa Community Colleges  AIR122   19912-19915 

Official Course Description: MCCCD Approval: 11-24-2009

HUM225  2010 Spring – 2011 Summer II

LEC   3.0 Credit(s)   3.0 Period(s)   3.0 Load   Acad

Introduction to Popular Culture

Introduction to major topics in the field of popular culture studies. Includes basic theories, methods, and concepts used to analyze popular culture texts and practices.

Prerequisites: None.

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MCCCD Official Course Competencies:

 

HUM225  2010 Spring – 2011 Summer II

Introduction to Popular Culture

 

1.         Define popular culture and what it entails. (I)

2.         Compare and contrast the production and consumption of popular culture. (I)

3.         Summarize the importance of the production and consumption of popular culture. (I)

4.         Describe what production and consumption of popular culture entails. (I, III)

5.         Explain how popular culture works on the local, national, and global levels. (I, III)

6.         Explain the role of power in popular culture. (I)

7.         Describe major forms of identity reflected in and influenced by popular culture. (I)

8.         Compose critical analyses of popular culture texts and practices. (II)

9.         Explain how images, artifacts, amusements, physical space, technology, and media involve and work as popular culture. (III)

10.       Demonstrate how popular culture texts and practices reflect and influence beliefs and values. (I, III)

11.       Explain how popular culture reflects and influences the ways that individuals within societies understand their relationships with one another. (I, III)

12.       Illustrate how power relations can be seen within popular culture texts and practices. (II, III)

13.       Analyze representations of the major forms of identity in popular culture. (I, II, III)

14.       Analyze the use of formulaic elements in popular culture. (I, II, III)

 

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MCCCD Official Course Outline:

HUM225  2010 Spring – 2011 Summer II

Introduction to Popular Culture

 

I.          Overview of Popular Culture

            A.        Definition

            B.        Relationship to Other Categories of Culture

            C.        Significance

                        1.         Reasons for Studying Popular Culture

                        2.         Values and Beliefs in Popular Culture

            D.        Production and Consumption

                        1.         Production

                        2.         Consumption

            E.         Globalization

            F.         Power

                        1.         Ideology

                        2.         Hegemony

                        3.         Agency

            G.        Major Forms of Identity

                        1.         Gender

                        2.         Race, Ethnicity, and National Identity

                        3.         Social Class

                        4.         Age

                        5.         Religion

                        6.         Other

            H.        Relationships

                        1.         Effects on Popular Culture

                        2.         Defined by Popular Culture

            I.          Formulas

                        1.         Myths

                        2.         Genres

II.        Analysis of Popular Culture

            A.        Reading About Popular Culture

                        1.         Active Reading

                        2.         Context

                        3.         Texts

                        4.         Semiotics

            B.        Writing About Popular Culture

                        1.         Rhetoric

                        2.         Critical Analysis

                        3.         The Process of Writing

III.       Major Forms of Popular Culture

            A.        Media

                        1.         Advertising

                        2.         Television

                        3.         Literature

                        4.         Film

                        5.         Music

            B.        Popular Amusements

                        1.         Sports

                        2.         Games

                        3.         Other Amusements

            C.        Appearance

                        1.         Fashion

                        2.         Hairstyles

            D.        Physical Objects

                        1.         Art

                        2.         Artifacts

            E.         Physical Space

                        1.         Place and Space

                        2.         Time and Space

                        3.         Public and Private Space

            F.         Technology

                        1.         The Internet

                        2.         Communities and Technology

 

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