HUM 261 : Popular Culture: Science Fiction

Transcript title

Pop Culture: Science Fiction

Credits

4

Grading mode

Standard letter grades

Total contact hours

40

Lecture hours

40

Recommended preparation

WR 121Z.

Course Description

Focuses on the significance of science, technology, and on such topics as the idea of the future and the "limits of the human" as revealed in popular culture through genres such as fiction, film, music, comics, anime and manga, and advertising.

Course learning outcomes

1. Analyze selected elements of the genre to explain how they shape audience response.
2. Explain how this genre expresses values and beliefs, themes, or social and political realities.
3. Demonstrate analytical skills, using evidence from primary and secondary sources to support one's interpretation.
4. Identify and illustrate mixed genres in popular culture categories such as Science Fiction and the Western or Science Fiction and Detective.

Content outline

  1. Plot, character, theme, point of view, setting, symbol, style, and (if applicable) camera work 
  2. Human nature, utopia or dystopia, cultural critiques of science and technology in society

Required materials

1. Required readings/ texts made available either in a required textbook (print, electronic, or low-cost)

2. Access to a computer to complete assignments; ability to store assignment files

3. Writing utensil and a notebook to take notes

General education/Related instruction lists

  • Arts and Letters

Outside of
expected

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