Popular Culture Studies

Popular culture is familiar and omnipresent, but not simple. Students enrolled in this class study popular culture artifacts and events not as ends in themselves, but as means of examining the underlying cultural mindset which those artifacts and events both reflect and mold. Dr. Seuss, Superman, Barbie dolls, The Walking Dead, shopping, cars, cell phones… what hidden messages do they carry, and what do they teach us about ourselves? The instructor uses a variety of materials and activities to guide and support students in their quest for meaning.