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What is popular culture? How does popular culture communicate with us through media? Out of what historical, commercial, and creative contexts does popular culture emerge? These broad questions fuel our work in this course. Communication and Popular Culture presents an introduction to U.S. popular culture, with an emphasis on its forms and functions in our society. First, we engage four key domains that construct popular culture’s meanings in order to empower students with the critical skills to understand cultural texts. Second, we consider how popular culture has both shaped and reflected broader social power dynamics in the United States. Finally, we analyze popular culture in detailed written arguments and cogent oral presentations. Because this is an All-University Core Curriculum course, we have specific objectives: to place the history of popular culture within a broader context of U.S. history; to analyze a variety of texts that loosely fall into the category “arts and humanities,” and to suggest particular methods of critical thinking.
Course Objectives
This course meets the All-University Core Curriculum (AUCC) requirements for Arts/Humanities (Category 3B) and is approved under gtPathways in the content area of Arts and Expression (GT-AH1).
Course utilizes group projects for some assignments.
Section 801
Required
Section 802
Required
Textbooks and materials can be purchased at the CSU Bookstore unless otherwise indicated.
Mark earned his Bachelor of Science at Southern Illinois University in speech communication. He spent the next five years as a human resources manager for a real estate investment trust. Subsequently, he enrolled at Colorado State University and received his Master of Arts in communication studies. He currently teaches Public Speaking and Public Argumentation. In conjunction with teaching Public Argumentation, he works with the Center for Public Deliberation at Colorado State University. Also, he enjoys researching the portrayal of masculinity in popular culture.
After having completed a B.A. in Speech Communication at Nebraska Wesleyan University in 2002, Amanda was excited to move to beautiful Fort Collins, Colorado to pursue an M.A. in Communication Studies from Colorado State University. Her Master's Thesis was titled, "The Presentation and Mediation of Winona LaDuke's Political Identity During the 2000 United States' Presidential Campaign," which was chaired by Dr. Karrin Anderson. Amanda has taught full-time as a Special Instructor/Lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies since earning her M.A. in May of 2004. She enjoys teaching Evaluating Contemporary Television, Communication and Popular Culture, Political Communication, Professional Communication, Public Speaking, and Advanced Public Speaking classes at CSU and has taught Interpersonal Communication and Public Speaking classes part-time at Front Range Community College.