Teaching Popular Culture in the Humanities Classroom

From the television we watch and the films we consume to the experience of user-generated content, this volume explores various forms of popular culture as teaching tools. Teaching popular culture well hinges on the application, not the mere inclusion of popular culture artifacts. It is the nuance of praxis where theory meets practice, the artful marriage of academic knowledge with popular culture. In this volume, the authors leverage popular culture as a powerful teaching tool that is familiar and accessible. This tool provides a lens for approaching complex academic experiences and elucidating new concepts in applications that have been tested and applied in the classroom. Each essay outlines the theory that underpins elegant integrations of popular culture into learning.

Ashley M. Archiopoli is associate professor of communication studies at the University of Houston-Downtown.

Katherine Hampsten is professor of communication studies at St. Mary’s University.

Elizabeth Fish Hatfield is associate professor of communication studies at the University of Houston - Downtown.