Faculty First Year Seminars 197EDU16 - Popular Culture and Literacy

What is popular culture? Is it driven by youth culture? Is youth culture monolithic? In other words, how does a study of youth culture intersect with a study of race, identity, class, and power? Also, what counts as literacy? What power, if any, is ascribed to particular types of literacy practices? Imagine if your professors studied and taught what you considered to be popular. In this seminar, we critically explore links between popular culture and literacy in and out of school contexts. As a class, we define and redefine popular culture and literacy. Much of the course is spent considering representations of popular culture in mass media, music, art, marketing, comics, movies, and more. Additionally, we think about implications of the commodification of popular culture and consider the possibilities of using popular culture in classrooms as a tool for developing academic skills.

Freshmen Only