I thought I would create a final blog post for my final thoughts about this class and what it offered. So I majored in Popular Culture at Brock University for my undergraduate degree. At Brock, Popular Culture is part of the department of Communications, Popular Culture and Film and so the three programs overlap a fair amount. While I took courses in Canadian Culture, TV culture, Music culture, etc., I tended to focus a lot of attention on film. I often say I took the most amount of film courses without actually being a film major. I took this course because I thought it would allow me to study in the area that I was so passionate about in my undergrad. I think it offered me another perspective that I hadn't considered before and for that I am grateful to have taken the course.
What has driven me to study popular culture has been my passion for understanding the everyday. While studying literature, plays, classical music, science, math, these are all really important, what studying the everyday allows us, is the opportunity to be critical of the things that we walk past, that we sit and watch, that make up our daily lives. For this reason, I think it is essential to study in the classroom. I am a big advocate for equality. If we don't analyse representations of groups, whether that is women, minorities or anyone for that matter, than how can we possibly understand how to apply change? If we want students to become leaders who are open-minded, embrace change, and believe in equality, we can't expect them to do this, if we don't look at the messages that are presented to us daily with a critical eye and give them the set of skills to allow them to do the same. I believe that studying popular culture allows us to become critical thinkers, who don't just consume our everyday culture, but engage in it and question it. Often when we think about applying popular culture to the classroom, we think "okay, how can we use rap music to teach math?" Maybe it would work, but maybe it won't, but if we study rap music in relation to its historical context, its representation of people, the culture around it, then students can understand the purpose of rap music and become better informed people in this world. I am glad I had the opportunity to further explore these topics in detail in EDUC 5199.
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AuthorHigher Education professional, with a passion for student affairs and educational events. Currently working towards my M.Ed. Archives
November 2016
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