Last updated: November 20, 2008 @ 09:19AM

Popular Culture

This program is offered through the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film

Chair
Russell Johnston

Academic Adviser
Penni Lafleur

General Information

Administrative Assistant
Bridget Cahill

905-688-5550, extension 4290
Scotiabank Hall 344
http://www.brocku.ca/cpcf/

The Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film offers three separate programs of study: Communication Studies, Film Studies and Popular Culture. A four-year program leading to the BA Honours degree and a three-year program leading to the BA Pass degree is offered in all three programs. In addition, the Department is involved in programs with community colleges which offer students the opportunity to earn an honours degree in Communication Studies and a college diploma or certificate.

The study of Popular Culture focuses on the communicative practices and experiences of everyday life considered within their cultural, economic, political and social contexts. The undergraduate program in Popular Culture is interdisciplinary in nature, bringing together theoretical and analytical perspectives drawn from both the humanities and the social sciences, and applying them to the study of diverse cultural forms including advertising, film, literature, music, popular entertainment and leisure, radio and television, sport and the worldwide web.

Journalism-Print
The Journalism-Print program involves courses offered through Brock and Niagara College of Applied Arts and Technology. This four-year program combines courses and training in journalism/print settings at Niagara College with an Honours degree in Popular Culture at Brock. The program caters to individuals who wish to have a career in journalism. The program allows students to gain both solid applied skills and training, and a strong theoretical knowledge about a variety of topics in Popular Culture. Students who successfully complete the requirements for this program will be granted both a degree from Brock, and a diploma in Journalism-Print from Niagara College. Gaining both a degree and this diploma would ordinarily involve attending college after gaining a university degree, but the Brock and Niagara program combines the two in a single integrated package that can be completed in four years. Enrolment is limited.

Program Notes
  1. WRIT 1P93 is recommended.
  2. WRIT 1P93 or 1P94 is recommended.
  3. In all 20 credit degree programs, at least 12 credits must be numbered 2(alpha)00 or above, six of which must be numbered 2(alpha)90 or above and of these, three must be numbered 3(alpha)90 or above. In all 15 credit degree programs, at least seven credits must be numbered 2(alpha)00 or above, three of which must be numbered 2(alpha)90 or above.

Honours Program

Year 1
·   PCUL 1F92
·   FILM 1F94
·   one Science context credit
·   one Social Science context credit
·   one elective credit (see program note 1)
Year 2
·   PCUL 2P15, 2P20, 2P21, 2P30, 2P70 and 2P94
·   one credit from PCUL or ENGL 2P10, 2P11, WISE 2P97
·   one elective credit
Year 3
·   PCUL 3P14, 3P15, 3P20, 3P30, 3P75 and 3P96
·   one PCUL credit numbered 2(alpha)90 or above
·   one elective credit
Year 4
·   One credit from PCUL 4P14, 4P17, 4P40, 4V50-4V59, 4V60-4V69, 4V70-4V79
·   One credit from PCUL 4P30, 4P31, 4P34
·   two PCUL credits numbered 3(alpha)90 or above
·   one elective credit

Pass Program

Satisfactory completion of the first three years of the Honours program entitles students to apply for a Pass degree.

Brock/Colleges Articulation Agreement

Journalism-Print-Niagara College

Year 1
·   PCUL 1F92
·   FILM 1F94
·   one Science Context credit
·   one Social Science Context credit
·   one elective credit (see program note 2)
Year 2
·   PCUL 2P15, 2P18, 2P20, 2P21, 2P30, 2P70, 2P94 and 3P30
·   WRIT 3P18
·   one-half elective credit
Year 3
·   taken at Niagara College of Applied Arts and Technology
Year 4
·   PCUL 3P14, 3P15 and 3P96
·   one credit from PCUL 4P14, 4P17, 4P40, 4V60, 4V70
·   one credit from PCUL 4P30, 4P31, 4P34
·   one-half PCUL credit numbered 3(alpha)90 or above
·   WRIT 3P98
·   one-half elective credit

Description of Courses

Note that not all courses are offered in every session. Refer to the applicable term timetable for details.

# Indicates a cross listed course
* Indicates a primary offering of a cross listed course

Prerequisites and Restrictions

Students must check to ensure that prerequisites are met. Students may be deregistered, at the request of the instructor, from any course for which prerequisites and/or restrictions have not been met.
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 1F92
Introduction to Popular Culture
Historical, ethnographic and textual approaches to the study of cultures and practices of everyday life.
Lectures, seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.

PCUL 2F92
Popular Narrative
(also offered as COMM 2F92 and ENGL 2F92)
Textual and contextual analysis of popular literary genres such as the detective novel, gothic fiction, science fiction, the romance novel; adaptation of popular novels to a variety of other media forms.
Lectures, seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one of PCUL 1F92, COMM 1F90, one ENGL credit numbered 1(alpha)90 to 1(alpha)99, FILM 1F94 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 2P06
Cultural and Historical Geography
(also offered as GEOG 2P06)
Interactions among culture, society, and landscape. The material and symbolic manifestations of culture in processes of landscape change.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL, GEOG (single or combined) and GEOG (Honours)/BEd (Intermediate/Senior) majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite: one of PCUL 1F92, COMM 1F90, GEOG 1F90 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 2P15
Communication Research Methods
(also offered as COMM 2P15)
Introduction to qualitative and quantitative methods for communication and popular culture research.
Lectures, lab, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL and COMM majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite: PCUL 1F92, COMM 1F90 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 2P17
Communication and Public Policy
(also offered as COMM 2P17)
Historical trends in objectives and implementation of communication policies. Topics include public broadcasting, subsidies, protection, regulation and effect of international trade on domestic media policy.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL and COMM majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite: PCUL 1F92 or COMM 1F90.

PCUL 2P20
Popular Culture Theory and Research Methods
(also offered as COMM 2P20 and FILM 2P20)
Theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of various forms of popular culture. Critical and research skills specific to studies in popular culture.
Lectures, seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL, COMM and FILM (single or combined) majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite: one of PCUL 1F92, 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 that institutions (CBC, NFB) and selected artists identify and express a Canadian cultural imagination.
Lectures, seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL, COMM and FILM (single or combined) majors until date specified in Registration guide.
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 sports.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL, COMM and SPMA majors with a minimum of 5.0 overall credits or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 2P30
Popular Entertainment
Cultural theories applied to popular entertainment and leisure activities, past and present, including amusement parks, fairs and festivals, sport, and tourism.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: PCUL 1F92.

PCUL 2P56
Canadian Cinema
(also offered as COMM 2P56 and FILM 2P56)
Critical and historical study of Canadian cinema.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly film lab.
Prerequisite: one of PCUL 1F92 COMM 1F90, FILM 1F94 or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in FILM (COMM) 2F97.

PCUL 2P59
Valuing Contemporary Fiction
(also offered as ENGL 2P59)
Contesting concepts of literary value; the grounds and methods of evaluation; differing interpretive communities; social locations and uses of fiction. Novels and short stories.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one Humanities context credit (60 percent) or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in ENGL 2F55 and ENGL (PCUL) 2P96.

PCUL 2P70
Popular Music and Society
(also offered as COMM 2P70, MUSI 2P70 and SOCI 2P70)
Critical approaches to popular music in its social, cultural, political and economic contexts.
Lectures, seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL, COMM, MUSI (single or combined) and SOCI (single or combined) majors until date specified in the Registration guide.
Prerequisite: one of PCUL 1F00, 1F92, COMM 1F90, MUSI 1F50, SOCI 1F90 or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in POLI 2P70, COMM (MUSI/PCUL) 3P70 and PCUL (COMM/MUSI/SOCI) 3P72.

PCUL 2P94
Popular Cinema
(also offered as COMM 2P94 and FILM 2P94)
Popular cinema as art and institution emphasizing film genres and cultural contexts.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite: PCUL 1F92 or FILM 1F94.

PCUL 3P01
Directed Reading
Tutorial combined with one or more research papers or projects in an area of Popular Culture Studies of mutual interest to the student and instructor.
Restriction: permission of the Department.
Note: students are responsible for arranging their course with a faculty member in consultation with the Academic Adviser and must submit a written contract signed by the faculty member to the Undergraduate Program Adviser before registration.

PCUL 3P06
Class and Culture
(also offered as LABR 3P06)
Labour issues as portrayed in cultural formats such as media, film, fiction and art. Topics may include the labour movement, its role in society, and its portrayal in popular culture.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to students with a minimum 8.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: LABR 1F90 (1P91 and 1P92) or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in LABR 3F00.

PCUL 3P14
Media Industries
(also offered as COMM 3P14 and SOCI 3P14)
Media industries emphasizing Canadian media production in its economic, political and technological environments.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL, COMM, FILM (single and combined) and SOCI (single and combined) majors with a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: PCUL 2P20 or SOCI 2P12.

PCUL 3P15
Media Analysis
(also offered as COMM 3P15)
Introduction to methods of media analysis. Comparison of theoretical and methodological approaches to mass media content, production, consumption and reception.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL and COMM majors with a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: PCUL 2P15.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in PCUL (COMM/SOCI) 3P16.

PCUL 3P18
Audience Studies
(also offered as COMM 3P18 and FILM 3P18)
Theoretical and methodological approaches to the understanding of audiences for media and cultural products, including print, sound, film, broadcasting, and digital media.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: PCUL 2P15 and 2P20 or FILM 2F90.

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.
Restriction: open to PCUL, COMM, FILM (single or combined) and STAC majors with a minimum of 9.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: PCUL 2P20, FILM 2F90 or permission of the instructor.

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.
Restriction: open to PCUL, COMM, FILM (single or combined) and STAC majors with a minimum of 9.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite: PCUL 3P20 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 3P26
Social and Political Aspects of Digital Gaming
(also offered as COMM 3P26 and IASC 3P26)
Critical investigation of digital gaming, particularly of the interrelationships among communication, media, computing and software development.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum 9.0 overall credits or permission of the instructor.
Prerequisite: PCUL2P20 or IASC 2F00.

PCUL 3P30
Folk Culture
Theories and approaches to folk culture; folk groups, traditions, rituals, performances, recreation and material culture.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: PCUL 2P30 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 3P51
Popular Music, Identity, and Place
(also offered as GEOG 3P51)
Examines links among places, music and cultural identities focusing on globalization, migration and mobility, place identity, music tourism and the role of companies and technologies in music's diffusion, innovation and commercialization.
Lectures, seminar, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL, GEOG (single or combined) and GEOG (Honours)/BEd (Intermediate/Senior) majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite: one of PCUL 2P06, COMM 1F90, GEOG 2P01, 2P02 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 3P55
Advertising in Context
(also offered as COMM 3P55)
Methodological and critical approaches to contemporary advertising in its cultural, social and political-economic contexts.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: PCUL 2P20 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 3P69
Geography of Cultural Industries
(also offered as COMM 3P69 and GEOG 3P69)
Theories and models of cultural production including, Cave's organizational model of cultural industries, Scott's model of cultural-product agglomerations, Veblen's theory of the leisure class, and Bordieu's work on the creative field and habitus. Geography of artistic attraction and regional impacts of cultural policies.
Lectures, seminar, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL, COMM, GEOG(single or combined) and GEOG (Honours)/BEd (Intermediate/Senior) majors until the date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisites: PCUL 2P20 or GEOG 2P02; GEOG 2P01, 2P06 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 3P73
Popular Music and Youth Culture
(also offered as COMM 3P73, MUSI 3P73 and SOCI 3P73)
Cultural relationship between young people and popular music. Topics include music's role in the formation of identity, the connection between musical taste and various forms of youth fashion or style, and the impact of new technologies on the ways in which young people access music.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL, COMM, MUSI (single and combined) and SOCI (single and combined) majors with a minimum of 8.0 overall credits or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previously assigned grade in PCUL(COMM/FILM) 4V57.

PCUL 3P75
Cultures of Consumption
(also offered as COMM 3P75)
Commodities within social life. Topics may include gift giving, shopping malls, identity and status, lifestyles, romanticism and hedonism, and ethical or alternative consumption.
Lectures, seminar, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 9.0 overall credits or permission of the instructor.
Prerequisite: PCUL 2P20.

PCUL 3P92
Technology and Culture
(also offered as COMM 3P92 and IASC 3P92)
Exploration of mutually productive relationships among cultural practices and technologies, using historical and contemporary examples.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one of PCUL 2P20, 2P21, IASC 1F00 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: one of PCUL 2P21, COMM 2F50, SOCI 2P11 and 2P13 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 3P94
Film Genre
(also offered as COMM 3P94 and FILM 3P94)
Genre theory and its application to popular film.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite: PCUL 2P20 and 2P21, FILM 2F90 or permission of the instructor

PCUL 3P96
Issues in Popular Culture
(also offered as COMM 3P96 and FILM 3P96)
Specialized studies in popular culture, and its role in specific social, historical or theoretical contexts.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite: PCUL 2P20 and 2P21 or FILM 2F90.

PCUL 3Q94
Television Genres
(also offered as COMM 3Q94 and FILM 3Q94)
Genre theory and its application to popular television.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week; plus weekly lab.
Prerequisite: PCUL 2P20 and 2P21, FILM 2F90 or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 3V50-3V59
Special Topics in Popular Culture Studies
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisites: PCUL 2P20, 2P21 and 2P94 or permission of the instructor.

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 majors with a minimum of 14.0 overall credits, a minimum 80 percent major average, approval to year 4 (honours) and permission of the Department.
Prerequisites: PCUL 4P30 and 4P31 (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 4P06
Advanced Studies in Popular Culture
Issues in popular culture and its role in specific social, historical and theoretical contexts.
Lectures, lab, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL majors with approval to year 4 (honours) and permission of the Department.
Prerequisite: PCUL 3P96.

PCUL 4P14
Advanced Research in Cultural Industries
(also offered as COMM 4P14)
Advanced research into the national and international development, operations and political economy of a single cultural industry. Topics may include press, periodicals, radio, music, film, television or interactive media industries.
Lecture, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL and COMM majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 4P17
Communication and Cultural Policy
(also offered as COMM 4P17)
Advanced research on public policy objectives and instruments for the arts, cultural industries, public and private broadcasting in Canada and internationally.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL and COMM majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 4P18
Media and the Natural Environment
(also offered as COMM 4P18)
Media constructions of the natural environment, environmental movements and environmental issues such as pollution, climate change and consumerism.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL and COMM majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 4P23
Research on Media and Popular Culture
(also offered as COMM 4P23 and SOCI 4P23)
Advanced research seminar on the relations between mass media and popular culture.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL, COMM and SOCI (single or combined) majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.
Prerequisite: PCUL 3P14 or 3P15 (3P16).

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, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL, COMM and FILM (single or combined) majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 4P31
Theories of the Visible
(also offered as COMM 4P31 and FILM 4P31)
Central 20th-century developments in theories of visibility and their relevance to the field of media studies.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL, COMM and FILM (single or combined) majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 4P34
Taste and Cultural Politics
(also offered as COMM 4P34 and FILM 4P34)
Application of cultural theories to the analysis of taste, distinction, class, cultural standards and moral panics, transgression and trash culture.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL, COMM and FILM (single or combined) majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 4P40
Popular Culture and Identity
Theoretical and methodological approaches to analysis of identity in popular culture. Topics may include class, gender, locality, ethnicity, and nationality.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 4P55
Advertising, Mass Media and Culture
(also offered as COMM 4P55)
Historical research into the development of Canadian advertising practices in an international context. Evaluation of the cultural and economic impact of advertising on the mass media and the role of advertising in the formation of a consumer culture.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL and COMM majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 4P70
Advanced Studies in Popular Music
(also offered as COMM 4P70 and MUSI 4P70)
Focus on a specific culture, genre, issue or historical era.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL, COMM and MUSI (single or combined) majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 4P80
Directed Reading
Directed individual or group readings in an area of popular culture.
Restriction: open to PCUL majors with a minimum of 14.0 credits, a minimum 80 percent major average, approval to year 4 (honours) and permission of the Department.
Note: students are responsible for arranging their course with a faculty member, in consultation with the Academic Adviser and must submit a written proposal, signed by the Undergraduate Program Adviser before registration. The reading may not be on the topic or with the faculty member of the student's PCUL 4F99 thesis.

PCUL 4V50-4V59
Contemporary Issues in Popular Culture Studies
Special topics in contemporary popular culture research.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 4V51
The Private Eye in American Culture
(also offered as FILM 4V51)
Historical investigation of the private eye in American fiction, film and television.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL and FILM (single and combined) majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 4V52
2008-2009: British Popular Culture
(also offered as FILM 4V52)
Mass media in Britain emphasizing issues of production, regulation and reception. Popular texts in their social and political contexts.
Lectures, seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL and FILM (single and combined) majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 4V60-4V69
Historical Perspectives in Popular Culture
Specialized studies in popular culture addressing specific forms, genres or issues in a particular historical period.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.

PCUL 4V70-4V79
Issues in International Popular Culture
Specialized studies of popular culture in international or global contexts.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PCUL majors with approval to year 4 (honours) or permission of the instructor.