Anthropology 272 - Colloquium on Anthropology of Popular Cultures and Social Movements
Colq: Anthr-Pop Cult, Soc Movem
Fall
2021
01
4.00
TRI PHUONG
TU TH 10:50 AM - 12:05 PM
Smith College
ANT-272-01-202201
Seelye 107
tphuong@smith.edu
This course explores conjunctures of popular culture and social protest at a time when digital
technologies have come to saturate everyday life. From the Arab Spring to youth-led revolutions in
Hong Kong and Taiwan and populist outbursts across Iran, Lebanon, Cuba, Russia, and the US, social
media has been hailed as turnkey in catalyzing confrontations between people and states. But play
could turn political, the political could turn playful, or messages could go awry. Building from theories
of mass media and youth subcultures, this course interrogates media, mediation, and meaning at the
nexus of pop cultures and popular dissent.
technologies have come to saturate everyday life. From the Arab Spring to youth-led revolutions in
Hong Kong and Taiwan and populist outbursts across Iran, Lebanon, Cuba, Russia, and the US, social
media has been hailed as turnkey in catalyzing confrontations between people and states. But play
could turn political, the political could turn playful, or messages could go awry. Building from theories
of mass media and youth subcultures, this course interrogates media, mediation, and meaning at the
nexus of pop cultures and popular dissent.