In many countries, pop culture has long been studied no less seriously than nuclear physics, sorted into components, and analyzed everything from Mad Men and Lost to the works of Lady Gaga and Kendrick Lamar. We discuss several pop-cultural phenomena that several courses at universities have dedicated at once.
.
Why Education & Pop Culture Are In Demand Nowadays
Many pop stars, as well as movie characters, became iconic for students. Here, we are going to see who is changing education with its style and life?
Buffy the Vampire Killer as a Serious Topic For Research
There is a whole concept of Buffy studies, that is, the scientific study of the cult series of Joseph Whedon in the late nineties – early zero. A lot has already been written and said in its framework: several books with a detailed analysis of the main topics and what is happening in the series will be typed in several dozen.
This will surprise someone, but Buffy also has many diplomas and dissertations. To ensure that all this precious material is not wasted, Portland State University launched a separate course in 2010 dedicated to the favorite series – “Exploring“ Buffy the Vampire Slayer.“ It was invented by Alison Higginbotham, whose program was twice rejected due to a lack of “scientific” before being included in the schedule. Many students would be happy to buy college papers with titles from this popular TV series.
As a result, the class was full, and at the lectures, students studied Weedon’s genius along and across – from feminist motifs to signature metaphors. The series, meanwhile, remains the most popular pop-cultural phenomenon to explore in the States.
Forget About Economics! Beyonce is Here!
The creativity of the ruling queen of pop music has long been the subject of close study. This is natural, given how strongly her last records are politically and socially charged. Even at the time of the release of the self-titled album, Beyoncé, from the point of view of a pop-cultural phenomenon, began to study a professor at the University of Ontario, Waterloo Naila Keleta-May.
The most famous is the politically charged course on feminism, “Feminist Perspectives: Politicizing Beyoncé” at the Rutgers University of New Jersey. As part of the lectures, Professor Kevin Allred examined the phenomenon of African American feminism, gender studies, and how Queen Bi personifies the modern struggle against misogyny and stereotypes.
Allred’s course was incredibly popular, and its author read shortened versions throughout the country – he was even invited to Harvard. When the session was canceled last year, a whole storm of indignation arose in the media. The author, however, managed to change the department of conducting, and now Allred is writing a book based on the course.
Other universities also continue to study Beyoncé: for example, the University of Texas at Austin offers the Beyoncé Feminism, Rihanna Womanism course, and the University of Maryland offers online lectures on the history of African-American female culture.
The Simpsons: How They Changed At Least Two Generations
As famous as the Beyonce course was a series of lectures on philosophy in The Simpsons – there’s even a full book on it. Perhaps this is one of the oldest pop-cultural courses, still not lost its relevance. It was invented in Berkeley in 2003 based on the eponymous non-fiction bestseller The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! of Homer ”, in which scientists examined the philosophical and cultural impact of the Simpsons on the modern world.
The course is still top-rated because it makes the world of abstract philosophy understandable and relevant to today. To master, it is much more complicated than it might seem: Plato, Kant, Marx, and, of course, Nietzsche are listed as obligatory readings. Both the book and this Berkeley course had such a significant impact on the idea of modern university education that many other educational institutions began to repeat after them.
Harry Potter is Still on Hype
Not only are the Harry Potter books themselves built on the years of study of the trinity of the main characters in the school (the missed year is considered), but also in the real, Muggle world, they continue to be included in the list of references. The world of Harry Potter, invented by Rowling, is explored from many different angles.
For example, at the University of Ohio, they approached the matter as straightforwardly as possible, building around it a course in fantasy literature. Other higher education institutions, through the lens of the Potter world, talk about science, like at Frostberg State University, or about modern education, like the British University of Durham. It seems that this is not all the courses that are read based on the main fantasy saga of our day.
Photo by Ahmet Yalçınkaya on Unsplash
.
