Offered Fall and Spring terms.

This course is an introduction to the study of various forms of media as they relate to Popular Culture Studies. This course is aimed at the general student who wishes to learn about the history and development of such media forms as television, film, popular music, radio, internet, advertising and how they reflect and influence American culture. This course will also introduce students to cultural studies approaches of examining the media to learn how to think critically about the mass media and its connection/relation to popular culture. A variety of readings, television programs, films, sound recordings/music videos, radio programs, websites, advertisements and other cultural forms will be analyzed from a historical and cultural point of view. As this is an introductory course, this course will hopefully inspire you to take other courses related to these topics in the Department of Popular Culture. At the end of this course, you should have a keen grasp of the historical, cultural, and theoretical issues surrounding media scholarship and popular culture. It should be noted that some of the material in this course may be adult in nature.

Offered Fall and Spring terms.

This course is an introduction to the topic of popular film. From cinema’s earliest days, movies delighted, entertained, dismayed, or sometimes shocked audiences – but always reflected something of the world in which they were made and the people who made them. Popular films are artifacts of their time and studying these films from a cultural and critical perspective offers students the opportunity to be part film critic, part cultural studies scholar, and part historian. The purpose of this course is to explore the development of film as a medium that incorporated current events, technological advances, social movements, cultural trends, and often critiques into reflections of society. This purpose will be fulfilled through lecture, discussion, the assigned materials, and film viewing. It should be noted that some of the material in this course may be adult in nature.

Offered Spring 2022/Fall 2022. Advanced topics courses typically change subject on a regular basis, but this course will be offered again in the near future.

The history of animation is most often examined from an American-centric point of view, given the primacy of cinematic animation from Warner Bros., Disney, and others in the early years of the field. However, cinematic animation developed on nearly every continent during the twentieth century and in this course we will explore how animators developed genres, styles, and techniques that reflected the history, culture, and lived experiences in their home countries.

The purpose of this course is to explore the development of animated film as a medium that incorporated current events, technological advances, social movements, cultural trends, and often critiques. This purpose will be fulfilled through lecture, discussion, reading of the assigned materials, and film viewing. It should be noted that some of the material in this course may be adult in nature.

ACS 2000: Introduction to American Culture Studies

ACS 2500: Cultural Pluralism in the United States

ACS 3000/POPC 4600: American Consumer Culture (online)

HIST 2600: Modern America, 1867-Present (in person and online)

HIST 4260: The American Civil War and Reconstruction (team-taught)

POPC 3500: Advanced Topics in Film: Time Travel

POPC 3500: Advanced Topics in Film: Science Fiction

POPC 3500: Advanced Topics in Film: American Mythologies on Film