Readings are drawn from a wide range of writings, and are selected for their liveliness, contemporaneity, and insight. Updated readings better address the diverse media culture of the 1990s. Journalists, writers, cultural historians, critics, philosophers, and anyone interested in popular culture, the media, and cultural studies. The readings speak to contemporary issues in pop culture and avoid academic jargon. The writers include literary theorists, TV critics, rock journalists, feminists, philosophers, ethnographers, cultural historians, political essayists, semioticians, and more.
Assignments ask students to draw on their own experience with popular culture.
A Day in the Life. Keeping in Touch. Identifying with Music. Connecting with Celebrities. Forming a Style.