Presentation of Program and Evaluation Criteria

25 Janeiro 2021, 18:30 • Cecília Maria Beecher Martins

Preamble

 

While nothing happens in a vacuum, education and learning are two things that should never be contemplated without considering world events related to the field of study. For that reason, the 2020 US General Election and events that followed it made me rethink the orientation and some of the materials for the present North American Popular Culture CU.

The main difference is that I decided that rather than simply examining elements and aspects of North American popular culture, we would reflect on what popular culture achieves, how it both reflects and projects a people, and more especially what may happen if a sector of society feels its lifestyle is not represented or is becoming annihilated within its own society.

 

Program

While the emphasis of this program will be North American Popular Culture (esp.  USA), from the post WWII era to the early decades of the 21^st century, we will begin by looking at the historic background to the rise of popular culture in the region from the 19^th century onwards. Considering the theories of social semiotics (Hodge/Miller 2015), we will look at the shift from folk to popular culture with global impact. Working principally with popular literature, early comic books & graphic novels as well as film, video clips and TV series, students will be invited to question how popular culture objects can influence the construction of collective narratives in a post-modern world. In practical terms, students will learn to analyse the above-mentioned cultural objects from a semiotic perspective and thus question ideological and cultural constructs.

 

Evaluation

 

Written test: 40% - 26^th April

Class Participation: 20%

Presence without participation will not count, therefore students will be expected to carry out their readings individually and come to class ready to discuss set texts. Students will be expected to comment on at least one of the articles to be read as part of their continuous assessment. The reading and presentation schedule is presented in the course calendar.

Students will also make a 10-minute oral presentation on the subject matter of their research paper and this will correspond to 50% of the class participation grade.

All written evaluations may be presented in English or Portuguese, but for coherence to the class structure all, the oral presentation should be presented in English, unless students request in advance to present in Portuguese.

 

Research Paper: 40%.

Students will write a 1,500 - 2,000-word original research essay (5^th April) where they examine one (or more) of the novels below using the concepts and theories presented during the semester. A 250-word abstract with thesis idea and theoretical framework must be submitted on the date indicated in the manual (1^st March) to permit individual discussion and orientation.  The abstract is worth 10% of the final grade and the essay is worth 30%. Students who do not submit an abstract will not be able to submit the final essay.