Undergraduate Requirements:
Popular Culture Major, Popular Culture Minor and Folklore Minor

Popular Culture Major (36 credit hours in addition to the General Education Core Curriculum -- a minor of your choice is also required):
Required Courses:
POPC 1600 Introduction to Popular Culture or POPC 1650 Popular Culture and Media (Credit for both may not be used towards the major)/3 credits
POPC 1700 Black Popular Culture/3 credits
POPC 2600 Popular Culture Research/3 credits
POPC 3000 Topics in International/Global Popular Culture/3 credits
POPC 4800 Senior Seminar in Popular Culture/3 credits
One of the following: POPC 2500 Introduction to Popular Film; POPC 2700 Introduction to Contemporary Popular Literature; POPC 2800 Introduction to Popular Music; POPC 2900 Television as Popular Culture (Students who wish to minor in "Folklore and Folklife" must select TWO courses from this list)/3 credits
One of the following: POPC 2200 Introduction to Folklore and Folklife; POPC 3200 Folktale and Legend; POPC 3210 Folklife and Material Culture; POPC 3250 The Folk Group/Folk Region; POPC 4240 Folklore Genres (Students who wish to minor in "Folklore and Folklife" may omit this requirement)/3 credits
One of the following: POPC 3500 Advanced Studies in Popular Film; POPC 3700 History of Popular Literature; POPC 3800 Contexts of Popular Music; POPC 4600 Popular Culture Advanced Studies/3 credits
One of the following: POPC 3650 Youth in Popular Culture; POPC 4260 Popular Entertainments/3 credits
Plus 9 additional popular culture credit hours (6 of which must be at the 300 or 400 level)/9 credits

Please Note:  No more than 3 hours of POPC 4900 Problems in Popular Culture, may be counted towards the major requirements and no more than 3 hours of POPC 3950 Workshop on Current Topics, may be counted towards the major requirements.

Please also note the department cannot guarantee all courses will be offered each year.

Undergraduate Requirements for Popular Culture Minor (21 hours):
Required Courses:
1600 Introduction to Popular Culture or POPC 1650 Popular Culture and Media/3 credits
POPC 1700 Black Popular Culture/3 credits
Four 3000-level or 4000-level POPC courses/12 credits
One additional POPC course/3 credits

Undergraduate Requirements for Folklore Minor (21 hours):
Required Courses:
POPC 2200 Introduction to Folklore and Folklife /3 credits
POPC 3200 Folktale and Legend /3 credits or POPC 4240* Folklore Genres/3 credits
POPC 3210 Folklife and Material Culture /3 credits
POPC 3250 The Folk Group /3 credits
POPC 4240* Folklore Genres/3 credits
Elective with folklore component/3 credits
POPC 4850 Independent study/2 credits

NOTE: The Folklore minor alters the major in Popular Culture.
*No single course given as POPC 4240 may be counted in more than one category within the minor. Courses other than those specified above may be chosen in consultation with the program faculty advisor.

Course Descriptions:

POPC 1600 Introduction to Popular Culture (3). Basic theories of, approaches to and topics within popular culture; several selected topics and use of various theories and approaches.

 POPC 1650 Popular Culture and Media (3). Some of the ways in which mass media (TV, film, recording industry, print, radio) have affected modern American culture. Media relationships and interactions.

 POPC 1700 Black Popular Culture (3). Basic theories of approaches to 20th century African-American popular culture. Traces ways black popular culture has shaped and is shaped by American society. Examines relationship of race, ethnicity, gender and class.

 POPC 2200 Introduction to Folklore and Folklife (3). Study and collecting of folklore: ballads, myths, tall tales, heroes, folk medicines, superstitions, proverbs and crafts.

 POPC 2310 Studies in Popular Culture (1-3).  Study of theme, era or issue in popular culture.  Subject matter designated in class schedule.  May be repeated if topics differ.

 POPC 2500 Introduction to Popular Film (3). Popular film as mass entertainment medium; Hollywood studios, popular film formulae, genres, relationships between popular films and movie-going audience; viewing of appropriate films.

 POPC 2600 Popular Culture Research (3). Examines different methods of popular culture research and theories on which they are based. Application of course concepts to contemporary issues in popular culture.

 POPC 2700 Introduction to Contemporary Popular Literature (3). Popular literary formulae, publishing industry, relationship between popular literature and reading public, functions of popular literature in society.

 POPC 2800 Introduction to Popular Music(3). Relationship between music world and listening-viewing audience; musical styles, trends in popular music, popular performers and entertainers and what they reveal about popular culture; appropriate music listening.

 POPC 2900 Television as Popular Culture (3). Relationship between popular television programming and American society; viewing of appropriate television.

 POPC 3000 Topics in International/Global Popular Culture (3).  In-depth study of international and/or global aspects of everyday life and popular culture: consumer culture, mass media, entertainment, migration, technology, etc.  Areas may include Ireland, China, Taiwan, Japan, and Canada.  May be repeated to nine hours if topics differ.

 POPC 3200 Folktale and Legend (3). Intensive examination and collecting of oral narratives; theory and methods of collecting, organizing and interpreting such material of folktales, urban belief tales, supernatural legends, narrative jokes, tall tales, etc.; analysis of folk mythology.

 POPC 3210 Folklife and Material Culture (3). Study and analysis of nonverbal folklife; theory and methods of analysis of such forms of expressive folk culture as arts, crafts, architecture, foodways, festivals, customs and folk rituals; emphasis on modes of description and analysis commonly used by folklorists to understand and explain such materials.

 POPC 3250 The Folk Group/Folk Region (3). Intensive study of a single folk group or the folklore of a specific region (e.g., Women's Folk Culture, Folklore of the Great Lakes Region, etc.). Emphasis on the function of various types of folklore within the group or region. May be repeated once if content clearly differs.

 POPC 3500 Advanced Studies in Popular Culture (3). In-depth study of a particular aspect of popular film: single genre, particular director, specific studio, etc. May be repeated once if topics are different; viewing of appropriate films.

 POPC 3650 Youth and Popular Culture (3).  History, theory, and perceptions of youth cultures and subcultures.  Young peoples' distinctive roles as audience, producers, and consumers of popular cultures.  Topics may include comparative youth cultures, music, new media, fashion, and everyday life.

 POPC 3700 History of Popular Literature (3). Detective, science fiction, western, mystery, best sellers, poetry, magazine fiction.

 POPC 3800 Contexts of Popular Music (3). In-depth investigation into single aspect of popular music: specific popular music genres, specific popular music themes, popular music industry, etc. May be repeated to nine hours if topics differ.

 POPC 3950 Workshop on Current Topics (1-3).  Intensive educational experience on selected topics.  Typically, an all-day or similar concentrated time format.  Requirements usually completed within expanded time format.

 POPC 4240 Folklore Genres (3). Intensive study and collecting of a single folk genre or distinctive type of folk materials (e.g., American Folk Music, Ethnic Foodways in America, The Urban Belief Tale, etc.). Emphasis on theory and method of collection and analysis. May be repeated once if content differs clearly.

 POPC 4260 Popular Entertainments (3). Cultural significance of popular entertainments, past and present; circuses, carnivals, parades, vaudeville, professional and amateur sports, camping, etc.

 POPC 4600 Popular Culture Advanced Studies (3). In-depth study of particular problem: development of hero in popular arts, cultural analysis of popular film, cultural analysis of popular music, etc. May be repeated once if subject matter is different.

 POPC 4700 Studies in Popular Literature (3).  In-depth study of a particular aspect of popular literature such as by genre (horror, science fiction, comic books, romance), author, or historical period.  May be repeated once if topics clearly differ.

 POPC 4800 Senior Seminar in Popular Culture (3).  Seminar for seniors in POPC program.  Selected topics approached from several points of view.

 POPC 4850 Fieldwork in Folklore Studies (2).  Supervised independent collecting project intended as a senior seminar.  Advanced students, under close supervision of one or more faculty, develop and carry out intensive exercise in collecting a specific form of folk material.

 POPC 4900 Problems in Popular Culture (1-3).  For advanced student.  Independent study.  Prerequisites:  six hours of POPC courses and consent of the department chair and instructor by 12th week of semester preceding the term in which the course is to be taken.  May be repeated to eight hours.