GEP0605 Popular CultureBahçeşehir UniversityDegree Programs PSYCHOLOGYGeneral Information For StudentsDiploma SupplementErasmus Policy StatementNational QualificationsBologna Commission
PSYCHOLOGY
Bachelor TR-NQF-HE: Level 6 QF-EHEA: First Cycle EQF-LLL: Level 6

Course Introduction and Application Information

Course Code Course Name Semester Theoretical Practical Credit ECTS
GEP0605 Popular Culture Fall 3 0 3 5
This catalog is for information purposes. Course status is determined by the relevant department at the beginning of semester.

Basic information

Language of instruction: English
Type of course: GE-Elective
Course Level: Bachelor’s Degree (First Cycle)
Mode of Delivery: Face to face
Course Coordinator : Dr. BURCU ALARSLAN ULUDAŞ
Recommended Optional Program Components: none
Course Objectives: This course is designed to analyze the basic patterns and pillars of popular culture as they are used and revealed in certain examples of American cinema to present to masses the basic institutions and life style of the United States of America. In method, it is essentially a film-reading course.

Learning Outcomes

The students who have succeeded in this course;
At the end of the semester, the students
1. will learn the definition of and the basic pillars of popular culture in addition to its main themes, issues, subjects and paradigms,
2. will have an insight and idea as to how American film is using the basics of popular culture in presenting the United States of America to the viewers and how certain institutions of the USA, like education, religion, the law, family are manifested via popular culture images, symbols, signifiers etc.,
3. will have developed the ability to analyze and synthesize works of popular culture, its images, symbols, main pillars, and signifiers and also how they can be used or manipulated for artistic goals or ideological aims,
4. will be able to analyze the strategies and the discourse of such works using popular culture paradigms,
5. will have developed the skill to see centered around certain concepts rather than to look at a work of art,
6. will be able to transfer the knowledge presented in the analytical discussions in class to other fields, by means of writing critical, comparative-contrastive essays in their exams,
7. will have an insight into some other related fields like sociology, psychology, literature, visual and virtual arts, commercials, architecture etc.,
8. will have developed an awareness towards basic issues in the world they live in as they will have developed the habit of looking into matters via a critical eye.

Course Content

The meaning of “popular”, a brief history of popular culture, its main pillars and basic elements, characteristic features, paradigms, replication myth and the influence of myths like creation myths, themes and patterns. Analyses of examples from American cinema, TV shows and programs, music, art, namely sculpture, architecture; their language and style and presentations, their artistic and political interpretations related to American life and its basic institutions.

Weekly Detailed Course Contents

Week Subject Related Preparation
1) Introduction & definition of popular culture & ubiquity of popular culture, power of the media, the rise to fame and money, American dream of success and popular culture, stories of Rags to Riches. -Class Discussion: Popular TV series, programs -Film for class discussion: Tootsie -Comparative discussion with Grease & Saturday Night Fever, West Side Story, Magnolia.
2) Basic characteristics and pillars of Popular Culture and the & replication myth and the necessity of creating a Hero -Film for class discussion & analysis: Truman Show -Comparative discussion with Reality Bites & Show Time, Elvis: The Early Years, 15 Minutes, Mask: From Zero to Zero
3) De-mythification of the Myths of Individual Opportunity, Pursuit of Happiness and Progress and the Myth of the American Dream of Success -Film for class discussion: Requiem for a Dream -Comparative discussion with The Pursuit of Happiness, Dream Girls, Follow that Dream, The Food Nation.
4) Patterns & archetypes (of fear& terror; apocalyptic thinking and binary oppositions; labyrinth, cell; utopia/dystopia) -Film for class discussion: Swordfish -Comparative discussion with: Fahrenheit 9/11 and Signs, Donnie Darko, Independence Day, The Shining, The Exorcist , Omen sequels, Carrie, The Tree of Life, Melancholi
5) Pillars of Popular Culture (Demos, Ethnos: People, Race & Groups) -Film for class discussion: Fight Club -Comparative discussion with Mississippi Burning, The Joy Luck Club, Color Purple
6) Pillars of Popular Culture: Theos, God, Faith, Religion -Film for class discussion: Seven -Comparative discussion with The Mission (Dir. Roland Joffe) or City of Angels, Bruce Almighty, The Celebrity, The Da Vinci Code, From Within
7) Pillar of Popular Culture: Logos: & the Power of Words, and Symbols, Freedom of Conscience & Expression) -Film for Class Discussion Fahrenheit 451 Comparative Discussion with It Happened Here, Alphaville, 1984, Metropolis
8) Pillars of Popular Culture (Heros; The Absolute Maybes; Eikons/Icons and the American Institutions; and the hero myth, the savior/ monomyth) -Film for class discussion: Matrix Trilogy I -Comparative discussion with Avatar, The Superman, Batman, Braveheart, Spartacus (Kubrick), Taxi Driver, King Kong, The Chronicles of Riddick. Marvel, The Smurfs
9) Popular Myth of the Happy Model Family -Film for class discussion: American Beauty -Comparative discussion with Tideland, A Home at the End of the World.
10) The Myths of Gender & Sexual Roles and Problems of Identity; Who am I This Time? -Film for class discussion: Flawless or Being John Malkovitch -Comparative discussion with Hours, Zelig, Desperate Housewives, The Witches of Eastwick, Beach Girls, Deathproof, Angels in America,
11) Myth of the Melting Pot -Film for class Discussion: Crash -Comparative discussion with The Joy Luck Club, In America
12) Popular Culture & Ideology and the concepts of love, faith and justice; selling the myths. -Film for class discussion: Wag the Dog -Comparative discussion with: Monster, American Graffiti, Three Days of Condor, Monster
13) Cliches, fetishes, the kitsch, the cult, tales & myths and story-telling. -Film for class discussion: Big Fish -Comparative discussion with The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter or The Fisher King
14) Wrap Up
15) Final Exam
16) Final Exam

Sources

Course Notes / Textbooks: 1. Douglas K. Stevenson. American Life and Institutions. Stuttgard: Ernst Klett Verlag, 1996.
2.Marshall W. Fishwick, Seven Pillars of Popular Culture. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1985.
References: 1. Atayman, Veysel (Derleyen). Şiddetin Mitolojisi. İstanbul: Don Kişot Yayınları, 2003.
2. Atikkan, Zeynep. Amerikan Cinneti: 11 Eylül Amerika’yı Nasıl Değiştirdi? Istanbul: YKY, 2006.
3. Baudrillard, Jean. Amerika. Çev. Yaşar Avunç. İstanbul: Ayrıntı, 1996.
4. Bir Zamanlar Amerika. Doğu Batı Düşünce Dergisi Sayı 32. Mayıs-Haziran-Temmuz, 2005.
5. Camus, Albert. Amerika Günlükleri. Çev. Osman Akınhay. Ankara: Öteki Yayınevi, 1992.
6. Canetti, Elias. Kitle ve İktidar. Çev. Gülşat Aygen. Ayrıntı: 1998.
7. Colombo, Gary, R.Cullen, B. Lisle. Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Boston: Bedford Books of Saint Martin’s Press, 1992.
8. Eradam, Yusuf. Vanilyalı Ideoloji. Istanbul: Aykırı Yayıncılık, 2004 (Pandora-on Istiklal & Mavikum Bookstore on Cihangir Street)
9. Goodnow, Katherine J. Kristeva in Focus: From Theory to Film Analysis. New York: Berghahn Books, 2010.
10. Kuçuradi, İoanna. Uludağ Konuşmaları: Özgürlük, Ahlak, Kültür Kavramları, Ankara: Türkiye Felsefe Kurumu Yayınları, 1994.
11. Güngor, Nazife (Der.). Popüler Kültür ve İktidar: Popüler Kültür Üzerine Kuramsal İncelemeler. Ankara: Vadi Yayınları, 1999.
12. Kilicer, Devrim F. Tower Power: The US on a Freudian Couch after 9/11. A Socio-Psychoanalytic Study of New York Towers. Stutgart: ibidem-Verlag, 2008.
13. Kuçuradi, İoanna. Sanata Felsefeyle Bakmak. Ankara: Ayraç Yayınları, 1996.
14. Mansfield, Nick. Öznellik: Freud’dan Haraway’e Kendilik Kuramları. İzmir: Aralık Yayınları, 2006.
15. Modleski, Tania (ed). Studies in Entertainment: Critical Approaches to Mass Culture. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986.
16. Somay, Bülent, Tarihin Bilinçdışı: Popüler Kültür Üzerine Denemeler. İstanbul: Metis, 2004.
17. Sprengler, Christine. Screening Nostalgia: Populuxe props and Technicolor aesthetics in contemporary American film. New York: Berghahn Books, 2009.
18. Storey, John. Popüler Kültür Çalışmaları: Kuramlar ve metotlar. Çev. Koray Karaşahin. İstanbul: Babil Yayınları, 2000.
19. Tecimer, Omer. Sinema: Modern Mitoloji. Istanbul: Plan B, 2005.
20. Walker, Alexander. Stardom: The Hollywood Phenomenon. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974.
21. Wells, Liz. (2003)The Photography Reader. London: Routhledge, 2010.
22. Yazıcı, İsmet. Kitle İletişiminde İmaj: Kuramsal Bir
Yaklaşım. İstanbul: Bilim Yayınları, 1997.

Evaluation System

Semester Requirements Number of Activities Level of Contribution
Attendance 33 % 20
Midterms 1 % 30
Final 1 % 50
Total % 100
PERCENTAGE OF SEMESTER WORK % 50
PERCENTAGE OF FINAL WORK % 50
Total % 100

ECTS / Workload Table

Activities Number of Activities Duration (Hours) Workload
Course Hours 14 3 42
Study Hours Out of Class 9 4 36
Midterms 1 3 3
Final 1 10 10
Total Workload 91

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

No Effect 1 Lowest 2 Low 3 Average 4 High 5 Highest
           
Program Outcomes Level of Contribution
1) To develop an interest in the human mind and behavior, to be able to evaluate theories using empirical findings, to understand that psychology is an evidence-based science by acquiring critical thinking skills.
2) To gain a biopsychosocial perspective on human behavior. To understand the biological, psychological, and social variables of behavior.
3) To learn the basic concepts in psychology and the theoretical and practical approaches used to study them (e.g. basic observation and interview techniques).
4) To acquire the methods and skills to access and write information using English as the dominant language in the psychological literature, to recognize and apply scientific research and data evaluation techniques (e.g. correlational, experimental, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, case studies).
5) To be against discrimination and prejudice; to have ethical concerns while working in research and practice areas.
6) To recognize the main subfields of psychology (experimental, developmental, clinical, cognitive, social and industrial/organizational psychology) and their related fields of study and specialization.
7) To acquire the skills necessary for analyzing, interpreting and presenting the findings as well as problem posing, hypothesizing and data collection, which are the basic elements of scientific studies.
8) To gain the basic knowledge and skills necessary for psychological assessment and evaluation.
9) To acquire basic knowledge of other disciplines (medicine, genetics, biology, economics, sociology, political science, communication, philosophy, anthropology, literature, law, art, etc.) that will contribute to psychology and to use this knowledge in the understanding and interpretation of psychological processes.
10) To develop sensitivity towards social problems; to take responsibility in activities that benefit the field of psychology and society.
11) To have problem solving skills and to be able to develop the necessary analytical approaches for this. 3
12) To be able to criticize any subject in business and academic life and to be able to express their thoughts. 3