Communication and Popular Culture

Catalog description

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. COURSE OVERVIEW. Explores the study of popular culture as a site of communication and meaning-making. Examines how media forms such as television, film, music, sports, fashion, games and digital platforms shape and reflect social values, identities, ideologies and/or collective experience. Surveys critical and rhetorical approaches used to analyze cultural texts, social practices, conceptual maps and media industries. Attention to how popular culture communicates meaning in everyday life and contested topics surrounding such concerns as gender, sexuality, race, class and technology. Engagement with real-world issues and diverse perspectives may arise through topics connected to politics, culture, ethics and/or lived experience. RELEVANCE AND APPLICATION. Applies to careers in media, communication, journalism, entertainment and content creation. Develops skills in critical interpretation, message analysis, meaning-making, media literacy and understanding impact on audiences, communities and publics. Informs work in marketing, storytelling, strategic communication and public culture. Supports engagement with cultural discourse in civic, professional and institutional settings. DEEPENING UNDERSTANDINGS. Highlights how popular culture operates as ideology, expressive activities and a form of social communication. Clarifies how everyday media production, representation and consumption relate to questions of influence, identity, community and belonging. Encourages examination of familiar cultural texts with greater attention to context, meaning and interpretation. TOPICS AND THEMES. May include study of cultural theory and media criticism; analysis of television, music, film, sports, fashion, games and/or digital culture; exploration of representation and identity in media; consideration of politics, fandom, celebrity, persuasion, technology and leisure; examination of how popular culture shapes and responds to public discourse. Course material may include content ranging from light entertainment to content involving violence, gender, race, sexuality, religion or contested social issues as relevant to understanding communication and popular culture. Prerequisite: Junior or senior classification or approval of instructor; also taught at Qatar campus.