Race and American Popular Culture

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

While it is a notoriously difficult concept to define, “race” is undoubtedly a powerful signifier in American life. Focusing on the twentieth century to the present, this course examines the ways in which racial ideas and knowledges are formed, negotiated, circulated, and resisted in the arenas of American popular culture. From Jack Johnson becoming the first Black heavyweight champion of the world on December 28, 1908, to contemporary cultural politics of performance and appropriation, this course will ask how popular culture actively shapes—rather than merely reflects—American ideas about race and ethnicity. A key aim of the class is to go beyond looking for “good” and “bad” pop culture texts to explore the structural, organizational, and systematic underpinning ideologies of racism and antiracism. By closely engaging with a diverse set of theoretical, historical, and primary texts, students will learn to approach and analyze popular culture with a critical and reflective eye.