Spring Break
The Daily OrangeCampuses nationwide offer new courses in pop culture
By Kelsey Bennett
Posted: 4/9/08, 10:47 PM EST Section: News
Star Trek, The Simpsons and YouTube are now in the classroom. In a new trend, universities across the country have attempted to bridge the gap between college courses and pop culture with classes targeted toward specific icons.
At Georgetown University, students can take a course titled "Philosophy and Star Trek." "The Simpsons: Sitcom as Political and Social Satire" is available at UC Berkeley and "Learning from YouTube" is now a course at Pitzer College in California.
Anne Patron, a freshman at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Md., said she's heard of some literature courses about topics on Harry Potter.
"I've heard of people here that have had to read the Harry Potter books for a British literature class, and there is even a class based on Harry Potter that you can get credit for," she said.
Frostburg students enrolled in "The Science of Harry Potter" have daily quizzes, three big tests with essays and a final paper to complete. And while UC Berkeley students taking "The Simpsons: Sitcom as Political and Social Satire" course get to watch reruns of the show in class, their final paper is to write their own 22-minute-long episode.
Here at Syracuse University, a new group of pop culture classes is being added for the fall semester in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. The class is open to all upperclassmen.
The television, radio and film department has added TRF 530, a series of classes covering Walt Disney, classic films, reality television and sports on television.
Carolyn Davis, a doctoral student and adjunct professor who will be teaching the reality TV course, said these courses are to ensure that the curriculum stays relevant to students so they are participating in class.
"I think there is an initiative on their part to want to show how not only are these things fun, but they're also relevant within their own studies," she said. "I think it's what gives Newhouse its edge, you know, the fact that they have things like this."
But Newhouse isn't the only school on campus offering pop culture courses that appeal to students.
In The College of Arts and Sciences, English and textual studies has a course titled "Reading Nation and Empire: Hip-Hop Eshu, QUEEN B@#$H Lyricism!" This course focuses on Lil' Kim and the effects her lyrics have on women and in the black community.
The University College offers a course called "The Music of Radiohead," which looks into the music of the band as well as the cultural and historical situation in which the music took place. The course is also offered during the Maymester.
kabenn01@syr.edu
At Georgetown University, students can take a course titled "Philosophy and Star Trek." "The Simpsons: Sitcom as Political and Social Satire" is available at UC Berkeley and "Learning from YouTube" is now a course at Pitzer College in California.
Anne Patron, a freshman at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Md., said she's heard of some literature courses about topics on Harry Potter.
"I've heard of people here that have had to read the Harry Potter books for a British literature class, and there is even a class based on Harry Potter that you can get credit for," she said.
Frostburg students enrolled in "The Science of Harry Potter" have daily quizzes, three big tests with essays and a final paper to complete. And while UC Berkeley students taking "The Simpsons: Sitcom as Political and Social Satire" course get to watch reruns of the show in class, their final paper is to write their own 22-minute-long episode.
Here at Syracuse University, a new group of pop culture classes is being added for the fall semester in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. The class is open to all upperclassmen.
The television, radio and film department has added TRF 530, a series of classes covering Walt Disney, classic films, reality television and sports on television.
Carolyn Davis, a doctoral student and adjunct professor who will be teaching the reality TV course, said these courses are to ensure that the curriculum stays relevant to students so they are participating in class.
"I think there is an initiative on their part to want to show how not only are these things fun, but they're also relevant within their own studies," she said. "I think it's what gives Newhouse its edge, you know, the fact that they have things like this."
But Newhouse isn't the only school on campus offering pop culture courses that appeal to students.
In The College of Arts and Sciences, English and textual studies has a course titled "Reading Nation and Empire: Hip-Hop Eshu, QUEEN B@#$H Lyricism!" This course focuses on Lil' Kim and the effects her lyrics have on women and in the black community.
The University College offers a course called "The Music of Radiohead," which looks into the music of the band as well as the cultural and historical situation in which the music took place. The course is also offered during the Maymester.
kabenn01@syr.edu
Be the first to comment on this story