Popular Culture Artifacts/Expressions, Access, and Social Issue Messaging

Learning Activity 1: Focusing Your Critical Eye

Getting Started

The most effective way to explore and determine the relationship between society, individuals, and social issue messaging in popular culture is to focus your critical eye on specific illustrative examples. Your Competency Assessment challenges you to recall the social issue on which you have decided to focus. Then, select three popular culture artifacts/expressions that interest you. Choose these artifacts/expressions from two different categories of popular culture. For example, two specific songs from music category and a specific film from the movie category. Being specific allows you to do a careful and critical analysis of social issue messaging. So, you will look carefully at your artifacts/expressions, asking: What do they say about the social issue on which I am focusing? This will take some thought, which is often best supported by note taking. Don’t hesitate to consult with your SME to verify that you are on the right track. At the same time that you are looking critically at social issue representations and messaging, think about how this affects you personally, whether you agree or disagree with the representations and why. And keep in mind, the ways access can affect social issue messaging. This is another vital component of your Competency Assessment. Consider these challenging, yet fascinating, aspects of the study of modern popular culture, as your review these resources, which you were exposed to earlier in your work on this Area of Expertise.

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DOCUMENT: FACE IT: POPULAR CULTURE EXPRESSIONS/ARTIFACTS CONVEY MESSAGES ABOUT SOCIAL ISSUES

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018).Face it: Popular culture expressions/artifacts convey messages about social issues [PDF file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

ARTICLE: THE VIOLENCE IN THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY IS ACTUALLY GOOD FOR TEENS

The Violence in the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Is Actually Good for Teens

Maloney, D. (2014). The violence in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay is actually good for teens [Blog post]. Wired. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/2014/11/mockingjay-violence-teens/

VIDEO: SOCIETY AND POP CULTURE: MACKENZIE MATHESON: TEDXLAKETRAVISHIGH (7:57)

Society and Pop Culture: Mackenzie Matheson: TEDxLakeTravisHigh

TEDx Talks. (2016, June). Society and pop culture: Mackenzie Matheson [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z14t1Hd93GU

ARTICLE: ADAPTING HERITAGE: CLASS AND CONSERVATISM IN DOWNTON ABBEY

This article deconstructs the popular television series Downton Abbey to reveal the social and economic class messaging from a heritage point of view as historical representation and as a commentary on contemporary and conservative British class sensibilities. While showing us the past, the show reveals the present.

Adapting Heritage: Class and Conservatism in Downton Abbey

Byrne, K. (2014). Adapting heritage: Class and conservatism in Downton Abbey. Rethinking History, 18(3), 311–327. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

ARTICLE: DIGITAL DIVIDE (SOCIOLOGY)

This article includes a brief glossary of terms and some descriptions you may find helpful in your own analysis of popular culture and infrastructure challenges.

Adapting Digital Divide (sociology)

Stingl, A. I. (2013). Digital divide (sociology). Research starters: Sociology (online edition). Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.