Last updated: July 19, 2010 @ 10:17AM
Popular Culture
Master of Arts in Popular Culture
Deans
Thomas Dunk
Faculty of Social Sciences
Rosemary Drage Hale
Faculty of Humanities
Associate Dean
Jane Koustas
Faculty of Humanities
Core Faculty
Professors
Sandra L. Beckett (Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures), David Butz (Geography), Barry K. Grant (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Rosemary Hale (History), Jim Leach (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Michael Ripmeester (Geography), Marilyn Rose (English Language and Literature), John Sainsbury (History), Elizabeth Sauer (English Language and Literature), David Schimmelpenninck (History),
Associate Professors
James Allard (English Language and Literature), Nick Baxter-Moore (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Michael Berman (Philosophy), Marian Bredin (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Jennifer Good (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Scott Henderson (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Ann Howey (English Language and Literature), Russell Johnston (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Sarah Matheson (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Barbara Seeber (English), Hans Skott-Myhre (Child and Youth Studies), Jeannette Sloniowski (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Sherryl Vint (English Language and Literature)
Assistant Professors
Jackie Botterill (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Dale Bradley (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Tim Dun (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Derek Foster (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Christie Milliken (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Bohdan Nebesio (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Shauna Pomerantz (Child and Youth Studies),
Graduate Program Director
Jim Leach (to June 30, 2009)
jimleach@brocku.ca
Sherryl Vint (from July 1, 2009)
svint@brocku.ca
Program Coordinator
Amanda Bishop
905-688-5550, extension 3553
SBH 318
abishop@brocku.ca
http://www.brocku.ca/mapopularculture
Program Description
The Interdisciplinary MA Program in Popular Culture is shared between the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Humanities. Its participating faculty are drawn from a number of different departments, but they all share the common view that the study of Popular Culture in its varied forms is a valuable and worthwhile scholarly endeavour that enables us to understand how societies, including our own, function and thrive. The forms of Popular Culture include literary texts and works of art as well as the mass media, including television, film, radio, recordings, advertising, newspapers and magazines, sport, rituals, fashion and fads. The study of Popular Culture in the program involves analyzing these expressive forms as aesthetic objects whose meaning depends on and illuminates the social, historical and cultural contexts in which they are created, disseminated, interpreted and used. Methods range from textual analysis to ethnographic observation and participant interviews.
Admission Requirements
Successful completion of an Honours Bachelor's degree, or equivalent, in a relevant discipline (for example, English, Film Studies, Fine Arts, History, Music, Political Science, Sociology, Canadian Studies, Communication Studies or Women's Studies), with an overall average of not less than 75%. Applicants will usually be expected to have completed some courses related to Cultural Studies, Popular Culture or Media Studies as part of their undergraduate programs.
The Graduate Admissions Committee will review all applications and recommend admission for a limited number of suitable candidates.
Individuals interested in part-time study should consult with the Graduate Program Director.
Degree Requirements
For full-time students, the MA is normally a three-term or one-year program.
Students in the MA Program in Popular Culture follow either Scheme A or Scheme B. The usual path to the MA in Popular Culture is Scheme A. Students must apply to enter Scheme B in accordance with the conditions outliined in the program's Handbook and Guidelines for Research Proposals. All students must consult with the Graduate Program Director when planning their programs of study.
Scheme A: Course Work and Major Research Paper
For full-time students, Scheme A is normally a three-term or one-year program. The program of study will include PCUL 5F95, Major Research Paper in Popular Culture, and six half-credit courses. The graduate core courses, PCUL 5P01 and 5P02, are compulsory for all students in Scheme A. The other four PCUL half-credit courses will normally be the four courses offered by the Program each year from the variable topics series described in the course bank: these are Historical Perspectives on Popular Culture (PCUL 5V20-29), Issues and Themes in Popular Culture (PCUL 5V30-39), Genres of Popular Culture (PCUL 5V40-49), Forms of Popular Culture (PCUL 5V50-59), and Local, National and International Popular Cultures (PCUL 5V60-69). Normally, a course will be offered from each series at least once every two years.
Under exceptional circumstances, students in Scheme A may be permitted to substitute a directed reading course/tutorial (taken as PCUL 5P04) or a course offered by another graduate program for one of the non-core (i.e., variable topics) PCUL graduate courses. Students wishing to make such a substitution must submit a written request in advance to the Graduate Program Director. No student may complete more than one reading course/tutorial and no student may take a reading course/tutorial with the supervisor of her/his major research paper.
In addition to the course requirements, each student in Scheme A must complete a Major Research Paper (MRP) on a selected topic in the field of Popular Culture. This paper will be graded by the MRP supervisor and one other member of the graduate faculty.
Scheme B: Course Work and Thesis
For full-time students, Scheme B is normally a four-term program. Students in Scheme B are required to complete four half-credit courses in addition to the MA thesis (PCUL 5F90). The graduate core courses, PCUL 5P01 and 5P02, are compulsory for all students. The other two PCUL half-credit courses required for Scheme B will be selected from the four courses offered by the Program each year from the variable topics series described in the course bank: these are Historical Perspectives on Popular Culture (PCUL 5V20-29), Issues and Themes in Popular Culture (PCUL 5V30-39), Genres of Popular Culture (PCUL 5V40-49), Forms of Popular Culture (PCUL 5V50-59), and Local, National and International Popular Cultures (PCUL 5V60-69). Normally, a course will be offered from each series at least once every two years.
In addition to course requirements, each student in Scheme B must complete, and defend at a public oral examination, a thesis that demonstrates capacity for independent work and original research or thought. The thesis topic shall be chosen in consultation with the supervisor and other members of the supervisory committee. A formal thesis proposal must be approved before research commences on the thesis.
Facilities
The program has a designated Graduate Student Office with several networked computers, telephones, study space, and office space.
Graduate students in the Popular Culture program have access to a number of special collections, including the Skene-Melvin collection of crime fiction, a growing popular music archive in the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film, the film and video archive housed in the same Department, the archives of the Niagara Popular Culture research project on local popular culture, and numerous other special collections of books, music and archival material in the James A. Gibson Library. Brock University's location in Niagara, close to wineries, tourist attractions, Niagara Falls, and many sites of historical interest, as well as its proximity to major cities such as Toronto and Buffalo, provide numerous opportunities for field research and close examination of diverse forms, sites and practices of popular culture. As a result, students with research interests in the study of local popular cultures are especially encouraged to apply.
Course Descriptions
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 5F90
MA Thesis
A research project involving the preparation and defence of a thesis, which shall demonstrate capacity for independent work and original research and thought.
PCUL 5F95
Major Research Paper in Popular Culture
A major essay which shall demonstrate capacity for independent work and original research or thought.
PCUL 5P01
Cultural Theory and Popular Culture
Historical and critical analysis of theories of popular culture from different disciplinary and cross-disciplinary perspectives.
PCUL 5P02
Research Methods in Popular Culture
Survey of research methods in popular culture and cultural studies, including their historical development, theoretical assumptions and practical applications.
PCUL 5P04
Directed Reading in Popular Culture
Directed individual or group reading in an area of popular culture.
Restriction: permission of the Director
Note: may not be taken in place of PCUL 5P01 or 5P02.
PCUL 5V20-5V29
Historical Perspectives on Popular Culture
Study of the popular culture of a particular historical period or an issue of popular culture in its historical context.
PCUL 5V24
2010-2011: Shakespeare and Popular Culture
Shakespeare in and as popular culture: theatrical and critical contexts from Elizabethan times to the present, the meanings of Shakespeare as cultural icon, and approaches to his work, life and times in film, television, and other media.
PCUL 5V30-5V39
Issues and Themes in Popular Culture
Focus on selected issues or themes in popular culture.
PCUL 5V36
2010-2011: Foucault and Popular Culture
The analysis and application of Foucault's work in relation to the study and practice of popular culture, with particular reference to the theory of bio-power.
PCUL 5V40-5V49
Genres of Popular Culture
Study of a particular genre across selected popular media, including film, literature, and television.
PCUL 5V50-5V59
Forms of Popular Culture
Study of a particular form of popular culture, including political economy, aesthetics, and cultural and historical significance.
PCUL 5V54
2010-2011: HBO and Quality Television
Using HBO as a case study, a critical examination of the emergence of concepts of quality on television. Topics may include television and discourses of distinction, the figure of the TV auteur, marketing quality, taste and fan cultures.
PCUL 5V60-5V69
Local, National and International Popular Cultures
Study of popular culture in a selected region or nation,
PCUL 5V63
2010-2011: Cultural Contexts of International Youth Cinema
Representation of youth within a range of international cinemas. Selected films in the contexts of national popular culture traditions, industrial, social and historical developments and the dominant images of youth culture.