Brock University Undergraduate Calendar

Popular Culture Courses

PCUL 0N01

Co-op Work Placement I

First co-op work placement (4 months) with an approved employer.

Restriction: open to PCUL Co-op students.

PCUL 0N02

Co-op Work Placement II

Second co-op work placement (4 months) with an approved employer.

Restriction: open to PCUL Co-op students.

PCUL 0N03

Co-op Work Placement III

Third co-op work placement (4 months) with an approved employer.

Restriction: open to PCUL Co-op students.

PCUL 0N90

Co-op Training and Development

Provides a framework for the development of learning objectives by students for individual work terms. Includes orientation to the co-op experience, goal setting, career planning, resume preparation and interview skills preparation.

Lectures, presentations, site visits, 2 hours per week

Restriction: open to PCUL Co-op students.

PCUL 1F00

Music in Popular Culture

(also offered as MUSI 1F00)

Survey of developments in blues, jazz, rock and related genres of popular music.

Lectures, 3 hours per week; listening assignments.

PCUL 2F92

Popular Narrative

(also offered as COMM 2F92 and ENGL 2F92)

Archetypal and mythic dimensions of popular literary genres such as the detective novel, Gothic fiction, science fiction, the romance novel; comparison and contrast with other media.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Prerequisite: one of COMM 1F90, one ENGL credit numbered 1(alpha)90 to 1(alpha)99, FILM 1F94 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 2P20

Introduction to Popular Culture

(also offered as COMM 2P20 and FILM 2P20)

Historical, theoretical and critical approaches to various forms of popular culture (e.g., film, music, television, literature, periodicals and advertising).

Lectures, seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.

Prerequisite: one of CANA 1F91, COMM 1F90, FILM 1F94 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 2P21

Canadian Popular Culture

(also offered as COMM 2P21 and FILM 2P21)

Survey of the media in Canada. Studies in the popular arts, with special reference to the ways in which institutions (e.g., CBC, NFB) and selected artists identify and express a Canadian cultural imagination.

Lectures, seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.

Prerequisite: PCUL 2P20 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 2P22

Media and Sport

(also offered as COMM 2P22 and SPMA 2P22)

Representation of sport in film, television and advertising. Topics may include issues of race, gender, business, politics and ideology in both professional and non-professional sport.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to PCUL (single or combined), COMM (single or combined) and SPMA majors with a minimum of 5.0 overall credits or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 2P70

Politics and Popular Music

(also offered as COMM 2P70, MUSI 2P70 and POLI 2P70)

Political context and content of popular music. Topics may include theoretical perspectives on popular culture/popular music; the relationship of popular music to public policy, race and gender, popular movements and political identity; political economy of the music business.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

PCUL 2P94

Popular Cinema

(also offered as COMM 2P94 and FILM 2P94)

Popular cinema as art and institution with emphasis on film genres and cultural contexts.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.

Prerequisite: FILM 1F94.

PCUL 3P16

Mass Media

(also offered as COMM 3P16 and SOCI 3P16)

Introduction to methods of media analysis. Comparison of theoretical and methodological approaches to mass media content, structures, institutions and audiences. Analysis of relations among media, culture and society with reference to Canadian examples.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Prerequisite: one of PCUL 2P21, COMM 2F50, SOCI 2F10 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 3P17

Politics and the Mass Media in Canada

(also offered as COMM 3P17 and POLI 3P17)

Canadian mass media and their relationship to the political process.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Prerequisite: one POLI credit numbered 1(alpha)90 to 1(alpha)99 or COMM 2F50 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 3P20

Television Studies

(also offered as COMM 3P20 and FILM 3P20)

Historical, theoretical and critical approaches to television.

Lectures, seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.

Prerequisite: one of PCUL 2P20 and 2P21, FILM 2F90 or permission of the instructor.

Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PCUL 3F50.

PCUL 3P21

Canadian Television

(also offered as COMM 3P21 and FILM 3P21)

Historical, theoretical and critical approaches to Canadian television.

Lectures, seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.

Prerequisite: PCUL 3P20 or permission of the instructor.

Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PCUL 3F50.

PCUL 3P92

Technology and Culture

(also offered as COMM 3P92 and FILM 3P92)

Studies in the effects of technological change on cultural forms and the representations of technology in different media.

Lectures, lab, seminar, 4 hours per week

Prerequisite: COMM 2P20 or 2P21 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 3P93

Media and Minorities

(also offered as COMM 3P93 and SOCI 3P93)

Relations between mass media and minority groups in society including dominant representations and stereotypes of cultural, racial and sexual minorities and minority group access to alternative forms of media production.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week, plus weekly lab.

Prerequisite: COMM 2F50 or SOCI 2F10 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 3P96

Issues in Popular Culture

(also offered as COMM 3P96 and FILM 3P96)

Specialized studies in different media; or the role of different media in specific social, historical or theoretical contexts.

Lectures, seminar, lab, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.

Prerequisite: PCUL 2P20 and 2P21 or FILM 2F90 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 4F80

Directed Reading

Directed individual or group readings in an area of popular culture.

Restriction: permission of the Undergraduate Program Adviser.

Note: students are responsible for arranging their course with a faculty member, in consultation with the Undergraduate Program Adviser and must submit a written proposal before registration. The reading may not be on the topic of the student's PCUL 4F99 honours thesis.

PCUL 4F99

Honours Thesis

Thesis on a topic of mutual interest to the student and the instructor, with a critical, historical or contemporary focus.

Restriction: open to PCUL (single or combined) majors with a minimum of 14.0 overall credits, a minimum 70 percent major average, a minimum 60 percent non-major average, approval to year 4 (honours) and permission of the Undergraduate Program Adviser.

Prerequisite: PCUL 4P30 and 4P31 (4F30) (may be taken concurrently).

Note: to register in the honours thesis, the student must consult the Undergraduate Program Adviser about topics, department regulations and the selection of an adviser.

PCUL 4P17

Canadian Cultural and Communications Policy

(also offered as COMM 4P17)

Historical perspectives on the development of government policies affecting the arts, cultural industries, public and private broadcasting in Canada.

Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to PCUL (single or combined) and COMM (single or combined) majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in CANA 4P17.

PCUL 4P23

Research on Popular Culture

(also offered as COMM 4P23 and SOCI 4P23)

Advanced research seminar on the relations between mass media and popular culture. Topics vary with the interests of instructor and students.

Seminar, 3 hours per week.

Restriction: open to PCUL (single or combined), COMM and SOCI (single or combined) majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

Prerequisite: PCUL 2P20 or 3P16 (SOCI/ COMM 2P23) or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 4P30

Theories of Mass Culture

(also offered as COMM 4P30 and FILM 4P30)

Studies in cultural theory and its application to mass media texts, with special reference to the work of the Frankfurt School, French Structuralism and British Cultural Studies.

Lectures, lab, seminar, 4 hours per week.

Restriction: open to PCUL (single or combined), COMM (single or combined) and FILM (single or combined) majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PCUL (COMM/ FILM) 4F30.

PCUL 4P31

Theories of the Visible

(also offered as COMM 4P31 and FILM 4P31)

Central 20th-century developments in the theories of visibility and their relevance to the field of media studies.

Lectures, lab, seminar, 4 hours per week.

Restriction: open to PCUL (single or combined), COMM (single or combined) and FILM (single or combined) with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PCUL (COMM/ FILM) 4F30.

PCUL 4P55

Advertising, Mass Media and Culture

(also offered as COMM 4P55 and HIST 4P55)

Historical research into the development of Canadian advertising practices in an international context. Examination of the cultural and economic impact of advertising on the mass media, as well as the role of advertising in the formation of a consumer culture.

Seminar, 3 hours per week

Restriction: Open to PCUL (single or combined), COMM (single or combined) and HIST (single or combined) majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.