CES 286 - Popular Culture, Identity and Social Change

5 CR

Previously AMST 286.
Critically analyze popular culture that surrounds us every day and learn about the racialized, classed, and gendered messages we consume. Examine how popular culture reinforces and challenges race, class and gender norms and what pop culture representations say about the lived realities of marginalized groups. Specific topics may include social media, blogs, reality television, consumerism, advertising and images, current social issues, film, and music.

Course Outcomes

Demonstrate an understanding of how popular culture reflects, reinforces, and/or disrupts social norms
Critically analyze how race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability function in popular culture and the impact that these messages have on individual and group experiences
Critically “read” popular culture artifacts and events and investigate pop culture consumption, production, and resistance
Reflect on how one consumes and resists popular culture in one’s own life

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