American Popular Culture and Beatles

Catalog description

Explores the relationship between American popular culture and the Beatles from the perspectives of the disciplines of History and Communication, with a special emphasis on cultural studies, political economy, issues of authenticity, and reception theory. In this course, students will examine the ways in which American popular culture influenced the life and times of the Beatles and, in turn, the impact the Beatles had upon American popular culture. The course will trace not only the American musical influences on the Beatles, but also the role played by television, films, and the mass media both on the Beatles and the changing cultural landscape in the United States and Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. This course fulfills the Interdisciplinary Perspectives General Education Requirement.