1
Name: ______
Student Learning Outcomes:
You will
- Understand and engage with current scholarly debate about popular culture in a variety of media
- Understand and engage with the history of popular culture studies, and various scholarly methodologies of engaging with popular culture
- Develop nuanced critical and/or creative analyses of popular culture texts/genres/media/artists and their audiences
- Understand the political and other stakes in teaching, studying, creating, and consuming popular culture in a global context
Required Texts:
Course Reader.
Doty, Alexander. Making Things Perfectly Queer: Interpreting Mass Culture.
Eminem. The Marshall Mathers LP. (CD.)
Radway, Janice. Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature.
Roth, Eli, dir. Hostel. (DVD.)
Strinati, Dominic. An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture. 2nd ed.
Course Requirements and Grade Distribution:
- Collaborative oral presentation:20%
- 5 WebCT Discussion posts:50%
- Mini-Ethnography:30%
A+ / A / A- / B+ / B / B- / C+ / C / C- / D+ / D / D- / F
99-100% / 93-98% / 90-92% / 87-89% / 83-86% / 80-82% / 77-79% / 73-76% / 70-72% / 67-69% / 63-66% / 60-62% / 0-59%
Participation
Since this is a discussion-based course, I expect you to read/view all assigned texts carefully and critically, and participate vigorously in class discussions, including small group paper workshops. Obviously you need to be prepared for class in order to participate effectively, and you cannot participate effectively if you miss class, arrive late for class, or leave class early. I expect you to attend all class meetings (including online classes, if applicable). If you miss more than two class meetings, your final course grade will be adversely affected due to your inability to participate effectively in the class.
Collaborative Oral Presentation
Each class member will work in a collaborative group to develop an oral presentation in response to one of the three prompts below. Your presentation should include time for questions and discussion (be ready to solicit discussion if class members don’t ask questions). The presentation should last about 15 minutes (including discussion). Each group member must be an active participant in the preparation and execution of the presentation, though all group members don’t need to speak during the presentation. I will give you time in class to meet with your group members, but you will also need to meet outside of class to prepare and practice your presentation. In addition, all groups will meet with me in class to get feedback on their presentation plans. I will post your presentation score and evaluation on WebCT the class period after your presentation. My evaluation of your presentation will be based on the quality of your ideas, how well you present your material, how well your group members work together, and how well you handle discussion/questions.
- Using as models Doty’s text, our in-class discussion ofWallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbitand other texts, and the sample student projects, develop a queer reading of a popular culture text or queer a popular culture text. Popular culture texts might include contemporary films, television shows, singers, comic books, etc. You should show/explain the purpose or significance of what you are doing, and the presentation should demonstrate your understanding of the debates around queer theory and popular culture. If you are presenting a queer reading of a text, be sure to support your reading with examples from your text.
- Using our discussion of Hostel as an model, present an analysis of a popular contemporary horror film. Your presentation should demonstrate your engagement with scholarly debates around contemporary horror films. You should show brief clips from your chosen film to support your analysis.
- Using our discussion of Eminem and other rap artists as a model, present an analysis of a contemporary rap song, album, or artist. Your presentation should demonstrate your understanding of scholarly engagement with rap music. You should play brief excerpts from your song/album/artist to support your analysis.
WebCT Discussion Posts
The discussion posts are designed to enable you to reflect on and write about course materials before class, to get a sense of how your colleagues are responding to the materials, to dialogue with other class members about the readings, and to help you to develop your oral presentation and mini-ethnography. The posts also help me to prepare for class meetings by indicating what members of the class find interesting, difficult, or problematic about the material.
I will evaluate Discussion Posts #1-4 (excluding the Creative Project option) using the guidelines listed below, and the following three criteria: level of engagement with the assigned material and with colleagues’ responses; insightfulness of comments and questions; quality of writing. I will award you a score out of 10 for each discussion post. I will not write comments as part of the evaluation, but we will discuss sample discussion posts in class in order to help you to improve and evaluate your posts. Since discussion posts serve as preludes to class discussions,I will deduct points for late posts.
Position Papers
- are your opportunity to assert a position on/comment on/analyze/respond to/articulate your difficulties with a text before class discussion and to see how other members of the class have responded to the text
- may be informal, but should be thought-out and revised
- should make specific references to the text(s) you are discussing
- don’t have to be authoritative; may reflect your ambiguities, ask questions, or identify problems you have with the texts
- should not merely summarize the texts
- should be 250-500 words each
Responses to Colleagues’ Position Papers/Responses
- give you the opportunity to engage with other class members’ responses to class texts and to generate dialogue about your own responses
- should be thoughtful and substantial
- should each be at least a paragraph long
How to Post:
1) Log on to the class web page at <
2) Click the “Discussions” button on the left of the page
You may use the “Main” discussion heading any time during the semester (anonymously if you wish) to discuss issues related to the course, pose questions, refer class members to other resources, reflect on class texts and discussions, etc. Note that WebCT email is sent to your CSUN email account. If you don’t check this account, be sure to forward your CSUN email.
Discussion Post # 1: Position Paper (discuss what you find difficult to understand about the Horkheimer and Adorno essay) due by 11:59 p.m. on 9/2; Responses to at least two group members’ Position Papers and/or Responses due by 11:59 p.m. on 9/3. Please use your Position Paper to try to figure out the source of difficulties, not to complain about the authors or their writing! You might want to try asking a series of questions, each question building off of the previous one, as a way of developing your discussion of your difficulties with the text.
Discussion Post # 2: Position Paper (what do you see as the strength’s of Doty’s argument? the weaknesses? support your discussion with specifics from the assigned reading) due by 11:59 p.m. on 9/16; Responses to at least two group members’ Position Papers and/or Responses due by 11:59 p.m. on 9/17.
Discussion Post # 3: Position Paper (discuss any aspect of the assigned reading from Radway) due by 11:59 p.m. on 10/28; Responses to at least two group members’ Position Papers due by 11:59 p.m. on 10/29.
Discussion Post # 4: Position Paper (discuss the connections you see between Chapters 4-5 in Strinati and Radway’s text) OR Creative Project (create acritically-informed popular culture text--e.g., a song, video, story; your creation should demonstrate your understanding of theories of popular culture and could include a brief discussion of why you have created the particular text that you have) due by 11:59 p.m. on 11/11; Responses to at least two group members’ Position Papers and/or Responses and/or Creative Projects due by 11:59 p.m. on 11/12.
Discussion Post # 5: Post a complete draft of your mini-ethnography by 11:59 p.m. on 11/24; respond to your assigned group members’ drafts by 11:59 p.m. on 11/26. I will evaluate this discussion post on the completeness of the draft and the quality of your feedback to group members, using the criteria listed in the workshop response guidelines. Each response should be about 250 words long.
Mini-Ethnography
Using Radway’s text as a model, create an individual or collaborative mini-ethnography in any medium about the consumers of a particular popular culture genre/text/icon/trend/figure. You will need to do field work to research on a significant number of subjects (who should not all be people you know) and find out and engage with what has been written on the topic as you develop your mini-ethnography. Try to develop a complex and nuanced a view of your subjects and of popular culture. You might find yourself (as Radway does) resisting common assumptions about your subjects; or you might find yourself ultimately agreeing with these assumptions; or you might develop a mix of these two positions. In any case, don’t just say what is obvious about your subjects; have something interesting to say about them. Be sure that your mini-ethnography has a thesis and is not merely a description of your subjects or a series of unconnected points about them. Cite sources appropriately. This assignment is designed to encourage you to practice the three highest orders of Bloom’s taxonomy of learning skills--application, analysis, and synthesis--as you reflect critically on our class texts and discussions, and on your own work throughout the course. You will receive peer feedback on a draft of your mini-ethnography before you turn in the final version.
Course Policies:
- Disability Issues:Please see me early in the semester if you require academic accommodations based on a documented disability.
- Email:I usually acknowledge all email messages within 24 hours. If you email me but don’t get a response, I haven’t received your email. Feel free to email me concerning any questions you have about the course or about your work. Be sure to include a salutation, signature, and appropriate subject heading in your email message. Do not email your assignments to me for feedback; I’d be happy to discuss your work with you in person.
- Recording Of Classes: I do not permit recording of class sessions.
- Plagiarism:Plagiarism is a contested and context-specific topic. We will discuss effective ways of using sources and issues around plagiarism in class.
Some Other Resources:
Boyd, Todd. Am I Black Enough for You? Popular Culture From the `Hood and Beyond.
---. The New H.N.I.C.: The Death of Civil Rights and the Reign of Hip-Hop.
Clover, Carol J. Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film.
Freccero, Carla. Popular Culture: An Introduction.
Grant, Barry Keith. The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film.
hooks, bell. “Gangsta Culture--Sexism, Misogyny: Who Will Take the Rap?” and “Ice Cube Culture: A Shared Passion for Speaking the Truth: bell hooks and Ice Cube in Dialogue.” In Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations.
Johnson, Steven. Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today’s Pop Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter.
Potter, Russell A. Spectacular Vernaculars: Hip-Hop and the Politics of Postmodernism.
Pough, Gwendolyn D., et al, eds. Home Girls Make Some Noise: Hip Hop Feminism Anthology.
Rose, Tricia. Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America.
Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction.
Tomasino, Anna. Discovering Popular Culture.
Wood, Robin. “The American Nightmare: Horror in the 70s.” In Hollywood From Vietnam to Reagan... And Beyond.
Workshop Guidelines:
Discuss the following questions. Don’t just give yes/no answers. Give specific examples to support your points, and specific revision suggestions.
- What is the strongest aspect of the mini-ethnography? What is the weakest?
- Does the mini-ethnography fulfill the assignment? Explain.
- Does the mini-ethnography have a thesis (whether explicit or implicit)? If so, what is the thesis? Could the thesis be improved? How? If the mini-ethnography doesn’t have a thesis, suggest a possible thesis.
- How well developed is the mini-ethnography? Are all points fully explained? If points could be more fully developed, explain which ones and say how they might be more fully developed. Has anything important been left out? Is any material irrelevant to the mini-ethnography’s main focus?
- How well are sources used? Did the author do enough research? Are sources cited appropriately and is the format of the bibliography correct? If not, give specific revision suggestions.
- How well is the mini-ethnography organized? If its parts don’t follow from one another, explain how they might be reordered.
- How effective is the mini-ethnography’s title? What about the introduction and conclusion? If they are effective, explain why. If not, explain why not, and give specific revision suggestions.
- What are the two most important revision suggestions you have for this mini-ethnography?
Tentative Schedule
Tuesday, 8/28/07
Introduction to the course: debates about popular culture; popular culture in the K-12 classroom
Discussion of syllabus
In-class writing
Watch and discuss Madonna music video(s)
Homework:
Read Horkheimer and Adorno, “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception” (in Course Reader)
WebCT Discussion Post #1
Tuesday, 9/4/07
Discuss reading and WebCT Discussion Post #1
In-class debate on Horkheimer and Adorno
Homework:
Read Strinati Introduction, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2
Tuesday, 9/11/07
Discuss reading
Politics and popular culture: South African sitcoms and soap operas
Discuss sample WebCT discussion posts
Homework:
Read DotyIntroduction, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2
WebCT Discussion Post #2
Bring Course Reader
Tuesday, 9/18/07
Discuss reading and WebCT Discussion Post #2
Assign presentation
Discuss sample student projects
Homework:
Read Doty Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, and Afterword
Tuesday, 9/25/07
No class
Homework:
Read Doty Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, and Afterword
Tuesday, 10/2/07
Discuss reading
Watch and discuss Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Assign presentation groups; meet with group members
Homework:
Watch Hostel
Bring a review of a horror film to class
Work on group presentation
Tuesday, 10/9/07
Discuss the horror film genre and reviews
Discuss Hostel
Meet with presentation group members
Homework:
Read articles by bell hooksin Course Reader
Listen toThe Marshall Mathers LP
Bring a rap song to class
Work on group presentation
Tuesday, 10/16/07
Discuss readings
Listen to and discuss rap music
Mid-semester evaluations of course
In-class group conferences on presentations
Homework:
Work on group presentation
Tuesday, 10/23/07
Group oral presentations
Discuss mid-semester evaluations of course
Homework:
Read RadwayIntroduction and Chapters 1-3
WebCT Discussion Post #3
Tuesday, 10/30/07
Discuss reading and WebCT Discussion Post #3
Assign mini-ethnography
Homework:
Read RadwayChapters 4-6, Conclusion, and Appendices
Work on mini-ethnography
Tuesday, 11/6/07
Discuss reading
Work on mini-ethnography
Homework:
Read Strinati Chapters 4-5 (Chapter 3 optional)
WebCT Discussion Post #4
Work on mini-ethnography
Tuesday, 11/13/07
Course evaluations
Discuss reading and WebCT Discussion Post #4
Work on mini-ethnography
Homework:
Read Strinati Chapter 6 and Conclusion
Work on mini-ethnography
Tuesday, 11/20/07
Discuss reading
Work on mini-ethnography
Homework:
Work on mini-ethnography
WebCT Discussion Post #5
Tuesday, 11/27/07
Group workshops on mini-ethnographies (bring your paper draft and responses)
Discuss zines
Homework:
Work on mini-ethnography; post on WebCT by 3 p.m. on 12/4/07
Bring party supplies?
Tuesday, 12/4/07
Present mini-ethnographies
Course synthesis/rupture
Party?
Notes: