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GHUM 1180

POP CULTURE: 

Politics of Media Literacy

GHUM 1180 will be active, Winter 2010.  

• CREDIT HOURS: 42 hours
• PREREQUISITES: None
• COREQUISITES: None
• EFFECTIVE DATE: January to April, 2010
• GENERAL EDUCATION: Yes ( X ) or No (    )
• PLA ELIGIBLE: Yes (  ) or No (X)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This interdisciplinary course, designed by Reeves Medaglia-Miller, explores North-American popular culture and its effects on the world. The student's perspective is that of a cultural researcher, an observer seeing the Northern way of life for the first time. Through a political study (gender, race, and class analyses) of film, television, computer technologies, music, and advertising, students learn connections between these media and their political, historical, social, and economic contexts. Also studied will be the idea of popular iconography, which is the idea that numerous icons and symbols have their own unique and powerful political, social, or ethical connotations and influences.

Computer access is essential to the successful completion of this course {access is available in the St. James Learning Resource Center).  With Internet access, students will contact the course's exciting web site, and print out readings, assignments, and other resources. Students on-line will also be able to use 'Links' to gain access to fascinating websites related to the course's content.

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

• Critique North American popular culture, its roots, its major icons, and its present effect on the world;
• Assess the wide range of effects, both positive and negative, that American ideologies (e.g. individualism, consumerism, technology, Hollywood, television, and ‘pop’) have had on the world;
• Demonstrate an understanding of a wide variety of popular culture issues, showing how each issue is related to and interdependent upon others;
• Develop an ‘iconographic consciousness’ of popular culture that is based in psychology, showing how major popular culture icons (e.g. rugged men, father figures, "dumb blondes," the Madonna/Jezebel dichotomy, etc.) are examples of a human need to externalize familial and psychic symbols. 

Readings will be available on the course website. Other materials will be used and/or distributed as appropriate.

• Essay assignment 30%
• Exam 30%
• Mid-term test 30%
• Participation 10%

GENERIC SKILLS DEVELOPED IN THE COURSE                                           

Communication

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

• Demonstrate the ability to identify main concepts and ideas in the verbal and written content of course.
• Further the ability to communicate clearly in verbal and written form.
• Demonstrate sensitivity to issues of diversity in oral and written skills.                                                                  

Analytical Reasoning

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

• Identify and assess underlying assumptions in theory and research.
• Use information from course materials as well as personal experience in order to support appropriately a position.
• Distinguish fact from opinion.

• Contextualize personal experience and its relationship to universal experience.

Interpersonal Skills

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

• Develop strong active listening skills in their interactions with all other classroom participants.

• Dialogue and debate about controversial issues in constructive and respectful ways.

• Participate fully in a collaborative learning environment.

GENERAL EDUCATION GOALS

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

• Develop an understanding of the sociohistorical context of North American popular culture and practice.
• Build an understanding of the complex interdependence and interconnections between sociopolitical/historical trends and the popular culture phenomena generated at given moments in modern history.
• Acquire an understanding of popular culture movements both in North America and worldwide and their impact on contemporary problems.
• Develop an understanding of how each popular culture movement is similar to all the others expressed at a given moment in history, and how widespread and successful pop culture trends are.
• Formulate a culturally-sensitive analysis of popular culture as a tool of socioeconomic and cultural proliferation.
• Develop an awareness of the semiotics of a wide variety of popular culture icons, their meanings (both manifest and latent), and their impacts.

• Foster the capacity to initiate action and concrete change in the community.

• Question the basis and the source of information that is provided through all forms of media.

GENERAL EDUCATION LEARNING OUTCOMES

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

• Utilize, in the course of their work, an understanding of the socio-historical context of North American popular culture and practice to further their art (e.g. culinary arts, graphic arts, etc.)
• Use their understanding of the complex interconnections between 'trends' and current popular culture phenomena to anticipate successfully the next wave of art or business.  
• Apply their understanding of popular culture movements (both in North America and worldwide) and their impact on contemporary problems, in order to make their art relevant and socially conscious.
• Understand their own place in the world of art using their knowledge of how each popular culture movement is interconnected with its contemporaries and of how widespread successful pop culture trends are.
• Exercise, in their work ethics, a culturally-sensitive analysis of popular culture as a tool of socioeconomic and cultural proliferation.
• Apply, in their work and art, an awareness of the semiotics of a wide variety of popular culture icons, their meanings (both manifest and latent), and their impacts.

• Effect action and concrete change in the community through positive use of their media literacy skills.

• Utilize their critical skills to expect reliability and substance in all of their learning experiences. 

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