Semester.ly

Johns Hopkins University | AS.061.370

Theorizing Popular Culture

3.0

credits

Average Course Rating

(4.5)

This course examines popular culture's role in everyday life, tracing its path from its origins to the present. It explores the aesthetics, politics and theory of cinema, television, popular music and internet culture, as well as the study of subcultures and fandom. The endpoint of the experience is to draw students into a more complex and conscious relationship to the mediascape that surrounds them. It also encourages the cultivation of an active practice of cultural critique. Students will debate issues central to a long history of dealing in popular culture, including the potential "dumbing down" of mass culture, the use of artistic formulas in the creation of popular works, the celebration of the popular in the notion of "popular art," representations of race, gender, and sexuality in media, power and the question of the popular, and the basis of taste in media. It will apply it to a range of media as diverse as films, television programs, the punk and "pop" movements, and internet phenomena. A background in writing on media is encouraged. Lab fee: $40

Fall 2013

(4.22)

Fall 2014

(4.78)

Fall 2013

Professor: Meredith Ward

(4.22)

Students praised this course for giving a new view to students on pop culture and for not only focusing on films but television and popular music. Some students thought time should have been better managed in the class with some noting that some student presentations and some group discussions would go on too long. Suggestions for improvement included a request that the instructor better utilize technology by improving her PowerPoint slides. Prospective students should know that students found that the course was focused on in-class discussion and that it offered a new view on pop culture to students.

Fall 2014

Professor: Meredith Ward

(4.78)

Students thought this class was engaging and entertaining, centered on discussions, and led by an enthusiastic instructor. The material presented was relevant and held student’s interest while also sparking theoretical and lively discussions. Many students gave the final exam low marks and would have liked more feedback on assignments. Though a few students thought no improvements were needed, some suggested changing the final exam to an essay assignment. Prospective students should know this class is strongly recommended. It requires a good deal of reading but will make you a better student and thinker, students said.