Geography: Geographies of Popular Culture

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GEOG 1760 or GEOG 1780 or ENVS 1500 PACE students with permission and override Special Topics courses cannot carry CC designations

For centuries in Western society, ‘popular’ was considered a dirty word; it denoted a lack of refinement and discrimination. A recently as century ago, “culture” was also a politically charged and unsettling term. As the academy slowly embraced the wide umbrella of “popular culture,” it remained a taboo subject for intellectuals. Anything associated with leisure (itself a relatively recent concept) was not taken seriously in the field of scholarly study. However, this has changed in a big way, and that’s where this class comes in. This course will discuss that diffusion and changing understandings of Pop Culture in the United States and beyond over the past two centuries, focusing on music, film, television, religion, fashion, food, sports, and more. Students are expected to meet rigorous course objectives and participate in interactive seminar discussions and high impact educational practices that may include collaboration, exploration of primary sources, presentation of work, and learning that takes place outside the formal classroom.

After successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Reflect upon the individual and social consequences of American popular culture, recognize political and ideological dimensions of popular culture, analyze social constructs (e.g. race, gender, nationality, etc.) as they relate to popular culture, develop critical reading and thinking skills that can be applied to both scholarly and popular texts.

Students will complete eight (8) weekly discussion boards on a topic relevant to that module (30%), complete two exams with written and oral components (15% apiece), write one critical review of a cultural outing (15%), and conduct an interview with an artist/cultural producer of their choice (20%). Participation (in various potential forms) will factor toward the remaining 5%.