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CS92PROD
Popular Culture and Social Justice: An Introduction to American Studies

AMST 174
Spring 2021
Section: 01  
Course Cluster and Certificates: Animal Studies, Disability Studies, Queer Studies, Sustainability and Environmental Justice

This course explores the interlocking histories of popular culture and social justice in the 20th- and 21st-century United States, with particular focus from mid-century to the current moment. By focusing on the ways in which social justice movements and ideologies have utilized and been informed by trends in art, film, television, music, and commercialism, we will interrogate critical concepts in the field of American studies, such as citizenship, belonging, difference, and equality. Topics covered will include feminism(s), antilynching, civil rights, labor and poverty, pro-choice, disability rights, queer liberation, leftism and countercultures, environmentalism, and animal rights.
Questions addressed will include, How has popular culture both advanced and hindered the progress of social justice movements? How has the idea of "social justice" changed over time? Which groups are included? What aims are articulated? How has the media portrayed and influenced social and political problems, and how has the rise of new media (from radio to television to the Internet and beyond) created new spaces for debating power and inequality?
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS AMST
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode: Student Option
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: (AMST)(EDST)
Past Enrollment Probability: 50% - 74%

Last Updated on DEC-07-2024
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