COURSE OVERVIEW:  This course examines the media's role in conveying cultural meaning through popular culture. It analyzes the histories and theories underlying media and popular culture; focusing on print, film, radio, television, the internet and social media. Additionally, it critiques contemporary popular culture through music, movies, tv programming, advertising, sports, fashion, celebrity culture, language, and collective public expression.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:  This course is designed to inspire students to apply critical thinking in the examination of media production, distribution, and consumption, as well as the media's impact on shaping popular culture. More specifically, learning outcomes include critical appraisal of the media's agency function in the creation and development of popular culture; historical and theoretical perspectives from which to undertake an in-depth study into the media; a clear understanding of how media operate within the framework of daily life to inform social reality; and consideration of media as agents of social and cultural change.

ASSESSMENT COMPONENTS: Students' progress will be assessed through a literature review, essay proposal and final research essay; creating celebrity dossiers; completing individual and group in-class online research; presenting a final team project; midterm and final exams; and classroom participation.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK:  Danesi, Marcel.  Popular Culture: Introductory Perspectives.  Lanham: Rowan & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., Second Edition, 2012.  [ISBN:  978-1-4422-1783-6 – PAPERBACK]

REQUIRED SUPPLEMENTAL TEXTS AND TECHNICAL COMPONENTS: Additional readings include up to 20+ texts from scholarly journals, textbooks, readers and the popular press. All supplemental readings are posted as pdfs under the UVaCollab "Resources" tab.

CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS: This course is an in-person class with up to two asynchronous online class periods conducted through the UVaCollab Blackboard Bridge. Therefore, students are required to bring a laptop computer (or other in-class device with internet access) to class, as well as having access to the internet outside the classroom.