Identity & Popular Culture Summer Scholars Session I

Do you know your Hogwart’s house? Have you ever thought about how the media you consume influences your views on race, politics, or sexuality? Do you want to play video games, share your favorite songs, and analyze representations in your favorite TV shows? Do you have the ability to critique something you love? If so, then this class is for you.

This class introduces students to cultural studies frameworks such as critical race theory, intersectionality, and theories of representation to address questions like:

• What is popular culture? How does it impact how we see ourselves, others, and the world around us? 

• Do representations matter? 

• What is identity and how is it formed?  

• What is “the media” and how does it impact our understanding of different aspects of identity such as race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class? 

• How do our own personal values and ideas influence the kinds of media we consume and what we take from it? 

• Can the popular culture transform the values of a person or society?

• Can we love something and still be critical of it?

As a class, we will consume, discuss, analyze, and create examples of popular culture in order to explore the relationship between what we often see as “just entertainment” and the very systems and beliefs that make up society and culture as we know it. Students will have the opportunity to collaborate, research, and share examples and experiences with their peers.  

Course Schedule

This course will be offered during Summer Scholars Session I (June 8-June 22, 2024) on campus.

Academic Director