Last updated: July 11, 2019 @ 09:13AM
Popular Culture
Master of Arts in Popular Culture
Dean
Ingrid Makus
Faculty of Social Sciences
Acting Associate Dean
Dawn Zinga
Faculty of Social Sciences
Core Faculty
Professors
David Butz (Geography), Martin Danahay (English Language and Literature), Michael Ripmeester (Geography)
Associate Professors
Nick Baxter-Moore (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Michael Berman (Philosophy), Jeff Boggs (Geography), Jackie Botterill (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Marian Bredin (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Tim Dun (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Derek Foster (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Karen Fricker (Dramatic Arts), Greg Gillespie (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), Christie Milliken (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Bohdan Nebesio (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Barbara Seeber (English), Cristina Santos (Communication, Popular Culture and Film)
Assistant Professors
Dale Bradley (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Liz Clarke (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Anthony Kinik (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Peter Lester (Communication, Popular Culture and Film), Karen Smith (Communication, Popular Culture and Film)
Graduate Program Director
Marian Bredin
mbredin@brocku.ca
Program Coordinator
Jane DeMan
905-688-5550, extension 4290
SBH 309
jdeman@brocku.ca
https://brocku.ca/social-sciences/departments-and-centres/cpcf/ma-in-popular-culture
Program Description
The Interdisciplinary MA Program in Popular Culture is housed in the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film. Its participating faculty are drawn from a number of different departments across the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Humanities, 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 a four-year 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 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
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 outlined 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 four-term program. Students in Scheme A are required to complete six half-credit courses in addition to the MA Major Research Paper (PCUL 5F95). 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 six-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
Note that not all courses are offered in every session. Refer to the applicable timetable for details.
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 I
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 5P05
Directed Reading in Popular Culture II
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 5P07
Experiential Learning Placement
Part-time placement related to the study of Popular Culture. Students are responsible for arranging their own unpaid internship or work placement in a company, agency or not-for-profit organization in consultation with the Graduate Program Director. Regularly scheduled meetings, 80-hour placement, employer assessment and final written report are required.
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 5V30-5V39
Issues and Themes in Popular Culture
Focus on selected issues or themes in popular culture.
PCUL 5V30
2019 - 2020 Unbecoming Female Monsters in Film, Popular Culture and Narrative
Examining archetypes of monstrous women in literature, art, film, television, and popular culture as depicted throughout the female sexual maturation cycle.
PCUL 5V33
2019-2020: Roboculture: Postmodern Subjectivity and Cybernetics
Influence of cybernetics on postmodern theories of subjectivity. Issues addressed will be both historical and contemporary, and will include: the impact of technology on concepts of subjectivity; popular representations of automata and cyborgs; emerging 'post-human' theories, practices and sub-cultures.
PCUL 5V40-5V49
Genres of Popular Culture
Study of a particular genre across selected popular media, including film, literature, and television.
PCUL 5V46
2019-2020: H.P. Lovecraft in Words and Film
(also offered as PHIL 5V46)
Critical analysis of horror tropes and themes via H.P. Lovecraft’s fiction and film adaptations. May include issues of embodiment, bodily fluids, gender, sexuality, time and space.
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 5V60-5V69
Local, National and International Popular Cultures
Study of popular culture in a selected region or nation.