Sociology of Popular Culture Syllabus/Assignments

Abstract

AREA EDITOR EXAMPLE RESOURCE: This course brings students to critically consider how popular cultural forms in modern society change individuals, shape social relations, and contribute to the environmental challenge. The "hegemonic standardization" and "creative localization/hybridization" perspectives are emphasized in this course. An exercise of film...

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Details

Subject Area(s):

Cultural Sociology

Resource Type(s):

Assessment, Assignment, Syllabus

Class Level(s):

College 100

Class Size(s):

Any

Usage Notes

Selected parts of the films--Karate Kid 2, Kill Bill 1 & 2, and Once Upon a Time in China--are shown in class. Instructors may substitute these films with other choices; it would be helpful to select films that can be matched with academic articles that specifically analyze those films.

Learning Goals and Assessments

Learning Goal(s):

1. Understand the "hegemonic standardization" and "creative localization/hybridization" perspectives of popular culture.
2. Gain experience in "de-coding" potentially hegemonic themes in popular cultural texts.
3. Understand the material and cultural basis of modern popular culture and consider adopting better alternatives in light of social, mental, and environmental ecologies.

Goal Assessment(s):

1. Assignments (#1 & #2) ask students to develop a "McDonalidized" and "De-McDonaldized" (and "De-Disneyize") popular cultural institution. Midterm and final papers are on the same theme but center on academic theories and empirical studies.
2. Assignment (#3) asks students to analyze the ideologies of race/ethnicity, gender, and the nation embedded in three martial arts films shown in class: Karate Kid, Kill Bill, and Once Upon a Time in China. An optional final exam question is also assigned.
3. Assignment (#4) asks students to imagine a "new way of popular culture" based on a simplistic, authentic lifestyle. An optional final exam question is also assigned.