{"id":11000,"date":"2011-07-14T14:48:43","date_gmt":"2011-07-14T19:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=11000"},"modified":"2011-07-15T09:57:17","modified_gmt":"2011-07-15T14:57:17","slug":"brocks-pop-culture-ma-program-turns-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2011\/07\/brocks-pop-culture-ma-program-turns-10\/","title":{"rendered":"Brock’s pop culture MA program turns 10"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lot was happening in the pop culture scene in 2001.<\/p>\n

It was the year that Lord of the Rings<\/em> came to the big screen. At home, we tuned in to the premiere of Amazing Race<\/em>. At the bookstore, we found the bestseller shelves filled with the most recent titles from John Grisham, Stephen King and Neil Gaiman. And the list goes on.<\/p>\n

\"a

The tenth anniversary party for the MA in Popular Culture program included a table of books written or edited by Popular Culture faculty and grad students.<\/p><\/div>\n

Here at Brock, we marked a Canadian first with the launch of the MA in Popular Culture<\/a> program.<\/p>\n

Ten years later, Brock\u2019s graduate program remains the only one of its kind in Canada and only one of two programs in North American with a Popular Culture specialization.<\/p>\n

The program held a 10-year anniversary celebration earlier this year with faculty, staff, students and graduates. On display at the event was a collection of about 30 books that have been written or edited by program faculty and graduate students over the past 10 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot to be proud of when we look back on the last decade,\u201d said Sherryl Vint, professor and graduate program director. \u201cOur graduate faculty and students have a great record of research and scholarship.<\/p>\n

“We bring together faculty from a variety of disciplines and fields to work alongside graduate researchers. You can think of our MA in Popular Culture program as something of a pioneer at Brock in its transdisciplinary approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Barry Grant was the founding director of the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe MA in Popular Culture was transdisciplinary before the term became a buzzword,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was built on the concept of crossing disciplinary boundaries, like popular culture itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program welcomes students from academic backgrounds, including Canadian Studies, Communication or Media Studies, English Literature, Film Studies, History, Music, Political Science, Sociology, and Women’s Studies.<\/p>\n

Students come into their research \u201cwith interests from the world they live in and are negotiating daily,” Vint said.<\/p>\n

Current student research projects include topics such as:<\/p>\n