Popular culture is the study of changes that our society undergoes, the world that we live in. It is not the high culture (painting, classical music, ballet, etc) that has been traditionally studied in university. In this course you will study many different aspects of today's world (including television, music, movies, text) and learn how they give us insight into our world.

As a participant in this course, you will be asked to write a series of essays, often using Semiotic analysis. This approach openmindedly asks why we enjoy this, or what attracks us to this. Over the quarter the main objective will be to fully experience the writing process and learn the rewards it can bring to you.

Throughout the quarter you are expected to read excerpts from Signs of Life, follow the writing process of prewriting,(e.g., clustering, freewriting), drafting, editing, and revising. After completing these steps you will find a well written analytical essay. You will then at the end of the quarter be asked to expand and revise one of the essays you have previously written. Add resources, make a clear and supported argument, and thus prove your writing ability.

When asked to write about a topic, it may not always have to be as restricted as you would think. When you are asked to write about text, wouldn't you think to take out a book and start analyzing? Well, that is not exactly the case in this course. Words, scribbles, bumper stickers, graphiti, these are all forms of text. You are asked to take the Semiotic approach and explain what these words mean to you. For a fuller discussion of how and why to study popular culture, see the introductory chapter in Signs of Life.