Popular Culture Studies Across the Curriculum

Academic curricula are being strengthened and enriched through the enlightened realization that no discipline is complete unto itself. In the interdisciplinary studies that result, the one theme that remains universal is popular culture. Academia throughout the disciplines is rapidly coming to understand that it should be used in courses campus-wide and on all levels. All in the world of education benefit from the use of the cultures around them.
This work emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary mingling and explores the ways in which instructors can utilize popular culture studies in order to deepen both their own areas of specialization and their students’ appreciation of education. The collection of 18 essays spans campus curricula, including the humanities (English literature, American studies, folklore and popular culture), the social sciences (anthropology, history, sociology and communications), religion and philosophy, geography, women’s studies, economics and sports. Also addressed is the importance of popular culture courses in both community colleges and high school settings.

The late Ray B. Browne (1922–2009) edited the Journal of Popular Culture, served as an officer of the Popular Culture Association and wrote prolifically on the subject. He was the founding chair of the Department of Popular Culture at Bowling Green (Ohio) State University.

Edited by Ray B. Browne
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 252
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2005
pISBN: 978-0-7864-2024-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0558-6
Imprint: McFarland

Editor’s Note      1

Introduction      3

1. English Literature Departments as Centers of the Humanities      9

2. American Studies and Popular Culture      17

3. Folklore to Populore      24

4. Snap, Crackle, Pop Culture and Communication Curricula      28

5. Is the Anthropological Study of Popular Culture Still at a Distance?      40

6. History: A River Both Wide and Deep      50

7. On the Linkages Between Sociology and Popular Culture      59

8. Popular Culture and Philosophy      69

9. Interdisciplinary Opportunities: Therapeutic Culture and the Study of Religion      77

10. Pop Goes the Geographer: Synergies Between Geography and Popular Culture      89

11. Popular Culture and Women’s Studies      104

12. Popular Culture in a Business Curriculum      116

13. Linkages Between Popular Culture and Economics      122

14. Popular Culture and Ethnic Studies: Curricular and Pedagogic Reflections      130

15. The Value of Teaching Popular Culture in the Community College: A Stew of Abstract, Concrete, Serious, and Not-So-Serious Notions      148

16. Putting Methodology Where the Mouth Is: Integrating Popular Culture into the Traditional High School Curriculum      155

17. Popular Culture in Sports, the Popular Culture of Sports: A Cross-Disciplinary Historical View      167

18. Teaching Popular Culture in Relation to the Social Sciences: A Critical-Emancipatory View from Europe      181

Conclusion      235

About the Contributors      237

Index      241

“deserves high praise…splendid”—Journal of American Culture.