The Mass Media and Celebrity Culture

3 credits · Undergraduate credit

This course examines the explosive rise of celebrity culture since the mid-1970s and its colonization of virtually every media form and genre, from niche cable channels to the news to the proliferation of celebrity journalism and magazines in the early 21st century. It explores the mass media's need for, and role in the manufacture, maintenance and expansion of celebrity culture in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and considers the consequences of that culture on the media themselves and American culture. Readings focus on theories of celebrity, the history of celebrity production, and the ideological work done by celebrity culture.