SO311 (EX17) CA - Online w/ Web. Conf.

Help

About This Course

Get help using 'About This Course'
This course has an assignment that is due by 11:55 pm Central Standard Time on Wednesday night of the first week of class.  Failure to complete this assignment will result in your removal from the course for non-participation. 

Textbooks

Required Text
 
Grazian, David. 2017. Mix It Up: Popular Culture, Mass Media, and Society. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN: 978--0-393-60279-1
 
Book Review Options (you only need to procure the one book you intend to review)
 
Baker, Kelly J. 2013. The Zombies are Coming! The Realities of the Zombie Apocalypse in American Culture. New York: Bondfire Books.
**E-Book only: Available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iTunes
 
Postman, Neil. 2005 (revised edition). Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. New York: The Penguin Press. ISBN: 978-0143036531
 
Johnson, Steven. 2006. Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter. New York: Riverhead Trade. ISBN: 978-1594481949
 
Johnson, Victoria. 2008. Heartland TV: Prime Time Television and the Struggle for U.S. Identity. New York: NYU Press. ISBN: 978-0814742938
 
McGonigal, Jane. 2011. Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. New York: The Penguin Press. ISBN: 978-0143120612

Course Description

This course examines contemporary popular culture and its significance in our lives. Students will study sociological perspectives on music, mass media, and ideology, and the distinctions between cultural forms including food, fashion, reading habits, status symbols, issues with identity, and intersectionality. This course also examines cultural issues surrounding contemporary forms of entertainment with a specific focus on gaming. Prerequisite: SO101 or SO102

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of the course, each participant should be able to:

  1. Define, outline, and write about issues of popular culture, including such issues as debates between low-brow and high-brow, theories of identity, and theories of class reproduction.
  2. Distinguish between personal experiences of popular culture and trends in popular culture.
  3. Demonstrate understanding of popular culture through critical and evaluative written exercises.
  4. Differentiate current theories and research methods used in the study of popular culture.
  5. Combine and evaluate research on a single subject.
  6. Be able to critique and judge the current social order in terms of social inequality.