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INTRODUCTION TO POPULAR CULTURE | ENGLIT 0550

SYLLABUS | FALL 2016

Racheal Fest, PhD. University of Pittsburgh. Department of English

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Introduction to Popular Culture | US Pop Culture NOW: Reading the Present
(2014-16)

Two foundational questions guide us this semester: What is popular culture? And what
role does it play in our lives right now? To answer these questions, we will study a range
of texts that represent our moment’s most popular forms and genres. We’ll watch reality
TV and disaster blockbusters, read literary fiction, and observe activity on social media.
Because we’ll focus on the present, all of our primary texts have been composed,
released, or constructed within a year or two of the course’s start date—so, after August
2014. Because we have to consider the past in order to make sense of the present, a broad
selection of secondary critical, theoretical, and historical readings will frame our
approach to this material.

As we work to answer our guiding questions, we will pay careful attention to the nature
of pop culture texts and to the problems and conditions that define our present. In order to
interpret and evaluate these texts and to draw conclusions about what they do in our
world, we’ll observe their material and formal features and identify the historical and
political situations to which they respond. How, we’ll ask, do reality TV shows and
literary fictions encourage us understand and respond to contemporary economic
conditions in the US? How do disaster films invite us to approach climate change? How
do social media platforms and the news media represent, and influence, contemporary
politics? Attention of this kind will help us determine whether films, stories, and
photographs merely entertain and inform us, or whether they do something more.

Introduction to Popular Culture is appropriate for English majors, writing majors, and for
students seeking to fulfill “Literature” general education requirements. At the end of the
course, students will be able to compose informed and original arguments about the role
pop culture texts play in contemporary life.

REQUIRED TEXTS
*Available on CourseWeb (CW)

Primary Texts

Television

Another Period. Season 1. Episode 1. Comedy Central. 2015.

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Hotwives of Las Vegas. Season 1. Episode 1. Hulu. 2015.

Real Housewives of Orange County. Season 11. Episodes 1-5. Bravo. 2016.
*Selected clips from The Daily Show and Fox News

Film

Mad Max: Fury Road. George Miller. Warner Bros, 2015.

San Andreas. Dir. Brad Peyton. Warner Bros, 2015.
Tomorrowland. Dir. Brad Bird. Walt Disney, 2015.

Literature

Saunders, George. Tenth of December. New York: Random House, 2014.

Secondary Texts
*Selected theory, criticism, and history PDFs and links (see sequence)

How to Find Texts

Visit “Course Documents” on CW to download and print PDFs (see sequence) and to find links
to other materials online (YouTube clips, Twitter profiles, television shows, and articles). Find
episodes of Another Period and Hotwives on Hulu ($7.99/month or sign up for a free trial). Find
Real Housewives on Amazon ($1.99/episode). I have placed films (San Andreas, Mad Max, and
Tomorrowland) on reserve at Stark Media Services in Hillman Library, so you may view them
there for free. You may also rent or purchase films. Purchase George Saunders’ collection of
short stories at Pitt’s bookstore, or order it online.

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADES

Final Grades

Assignment Weight
Participation 10%
Blog (4) 10%
Presentation 15%
Midterm Paper 30%
Final Paper 35%

Assignments

Participation
I note participation at the end of each session. Come to class each day ready to participate. Read
and watch all assigned texts, bring print and digital texts to class, and try to speak at every
meeting. If you do not bring your text, appear distracted, or use a device during class, you will
not receive participation credit that day. You may post additional comments to the course blog if
you worry you do not speak often in class.
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Presentation (13-15 minutes presentation + 1 page close reading)

Each group (3-4 students) selects and shares a pop culture text. Students share a text available
after August 2014, describe its formal features, and demonstrate how one of our theoretical,
historical, or critical readings helps us better understand it.

Blog (4 posts @ 300 words/each + 2 comments/per blog post)

Blog posts describe and interpret popular culture texts. Each prepares you to write longer
midterm and final papers. I score posts and comments for completion. If you post a total of 300
words (or more) by the assigned due date, you receive 100 points. If you post fewer than 300
words by the assigned due date, you receive 50 points. I do not accept late posts. Posts are due by
midnight the night before class. Comments are due anytime before class. You may post
additional comments to the course blog by the date comments are due if you worry you do not
speak often in class. See assignment sheet for specific instructions.

Midterm and Final Papers

See assignment sheets for details.
❑ Midterm Paper (4-5 pages): Midterm papers make significant arguments about texts and
support them with specific observations about a text’s formal features. Papers also
demonstrate how theoretical, critical, and historical readings help you better understand
the text.
❑ Final Paper (7-9 pages): Final papers demonstrate mastery of course materials and
reading practices. Students select texts and topics.
❑ Formatting Instructions: Assignments should be double-spaced with standard margins in
12-point Times New Roman font. Number pages and include a title. Do not include
additional spaces between paragraphs. Use MLA style for headings and citations (include
in-text citations and Works Cited page). The MLA Handbook is available at Hillman
Library or for purchase at the bookstore. Purdue University’s OWL website is also
reliable: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/.
❑ SafeAssign: You must turn in a hard copy of your midterm paper in class and place a hard
copy of your final paper in my mailbox during finals week (501 CL). See sequence for
due dates. You must also upload digital copies of each paper to SafeAssign on
CourseWeb. Upload your midterm before class and your final just before you visit my
mailbox.

COURSE POLICIES
Late Work
Please submit all work at the date and time specified on the sequence. Unless arrangements are
made in advance, late papers lose one-third of a letter grade for each day they are late. I do not
accept late presentations or blog posts. Late papers do not receive comments.
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Attendance
Attendance at all sessions is mandatory. I permit each student three absences for the term. After
four absences, I subtract one letter from your final grade. You might fail the course after five or
more absences. If you arrive late for three sessions or miss a significant portion of two (due to
late arrival or early departure), I record one full absence. You are responsible for the material we
discuss when you do not attend class. Visit office hours or contact a peer to discuss those
materials.

Academic Integrity
Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Use MLA style to cite all quoted or paraphrased
material for all course assignments. Students suspected of violating the University of Pittsburgh
Policy on Academic Integrity, from the February 1974 Senate Committee on Tenure and
Academic Freedom reported to the Senate Council, will be required to participate in the outlined
procedural process as initiated by the instructor. A minimum sanction of a zero score for the quiz
or exam will be imposed. It is also possible you will fail the course.

Statement on Classroom Recording

To ensure the free and open discussion of ideas, students may not record classroom lectures,
discussion and/or activities without the advance written permission of the instructor, and any
such recording properly approved in advance can be used solely for the student’s own private
use.

Students with Disabilities

If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are
encouraged to contact both your instructor and the Office of Disability Resources and Services
(DRS), 140 William Pitt Union, 412-648-7890, drsrecep@pitt.edu, 412-228-5347 for P3 ASL
users, as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable
accommodations for this course.

Writing Center
Writing assistance is available at the University’s Writing Center. See this website for details:
http://www.english.pitt.edu/writingcenter/index.html
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SEQUENCE
(May change) *PDF or link available on CW

Date Reading Due Assignment Due

M 8.29 Introduction

W 8.31 Raymond Williams

*Selection from Keywords, “Popular” and
“Culture”

F 9.2 Raymond Williams

Defining Popular Culture

*Selection from Keywords, “Popular” and

“Culture”

M 9.5 NO CLASS | Labor Day

W 9.7 Theodor Adorno

*“The Culture Industry Revisited”

F Walter Benjamin
9.9 *“The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical
Reproduction”

M Marshall McLuhan
9.12 *“The Medium Is the Message”

W 9.14 Real Housewives of Orange County Blog 1

Season 11, Episode 1

F 9.16 Jason Mittell

*“Some Reflections on Reality Television”

M 9.19 Real Housewives of Orange County

Reality Television

Season 11, Episode 2

W Thomas Piketty
9.21 *Selection from Capital in the Twenty-First
Century

F 9.23 Thomas Piketty Presentation 1

*Selection from Capital in the Twenty-First
Century

Real Housewives of Orange County

*Season 11, Episode 3
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M 9.26 Real Housewives of Orange County

*Season 11, Episode 4

W 9.28 Michel Foucault

*“Panopticism”

F 9.30 Real Housewives of Orange County Presentation 2

*Season 11, Episode 5

M Another Period
10.3 *Season 1, Episode 1

Hotwives of Orlando
*Season 1, Episode 1

W 10.5 George Saunders

Tenth of December (3-30)

F 10.7 George Saunders Presentation 3

Tenth of December (31-82)

M 10.10 George Saunders Blog 2

Tenth of December (83-108)

W 10.12 George Saunders

Tenth of December (109-169)
Literature

F George Saunders Presentation 4

10.14 Tenth of December (109-169)

T George Saunders
10.18 Tenth of December (169-214)

W George Saunders
10.19 Tenth of December (215-251)

F 10.21 Midterm Conclusion Presentation 5

Midterm

M 10.24 Midterm Paper | Due in class and on CW

W 10.26 Gilles Deleuze

Social Media

“Postscript on the Societies of Control”

News &

F 10.28 Matt Honan Presentation 6

*“I Liked Everything I Saw on Facebook for
Two Days”
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Jeffrey Rosen
*“Who Do Online Advertisers Think You Are?”

M 10.31 *Candidate profiles on Facebook and Twitter

W 11.2 *Candidate profiles on Facebook and Twitter Blog 3

F 11.4 *Candidate profiles on Facebook and Twitter Presentation 7

M 11.7 *Candidate profiles on Facebook and Twitter

W 11.9 *Candidate profiles on Facebook and Twitter

*Clips from Fox News and The Daily Show

F 11.11 *Clips from Fox News and The Daily Show Presentation 8

M 11.14 John Sanders

*“A Brief History of the Disaster Film”

W 11.16 San Andreas

F 11.18 San Andreas Presentation 9

Film

M 11.21 Joseph Stromburg

*“What Is the Anthropocene and Are We in it?”

Michelle Nijhuis
*“When Did the Human Epoch Begin?”

Website
“Welcome to the Anthropocene”

W 11.23 - F 11.25 | NO CLASS | Thanksgiving Break

M 11.28 Mad Max: Fury Road

W 11.30 Mad Max: Fury Road Blog 4

Film

F 12.2 Naomi Klein Presentation 10

*Selection from This Changes Everything
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M 12.5 Tomorrowland

W 12.7 Tomorrowland

F 12.9 Conclusion Course Conclusion

M 12.11 NO CLASS | Final Examination Period Final Paper (due in 501

CL mailbox and on CW)