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Normative Values & Popular Culture:
A Critical Media Literacy Unit
Instructor: Ms. Slade
E-Mail: slade.ashleym@alumni.ubc.ca
Class Location & Time: Room 212, Block 6
"Wherever there are people, there will be popular culture. It is inescapable. Students cannot be
sheltered from it. Even if they don't engage the primary outlets themselves, they live and move in a peer
society influenced by the pop culture. In today's world, the advent of MTV and the Internet has
facilitated the effective exportation of North American youth culture around the globe. While there are
unique aspects from place to place, popular culture is everywhere and as a result, has facilitated the
growth of a globalized youth culture. It has touched and shaped virtually all social institutions including
the school, church, home, and community." - Walt Mueller
"I change myself, I change the world." - Gloria E. Anzaldua
Course Description:
This 12 class unit will serve as an introduction to critical media literacy while focussing on the portrayals
of gender, sexuality, and race in popular culture. Students will be exposed to literature and research
about how popular culture, including media, imposes normative values on our lives through music, film,
and public discourse (such as blogs). The unit will conclude with students understanding the concept of
oppression; they will also demonstrate the ability to think critically about the world in which they live
and will eventually lead.
Driving Question:
How does popular culture, including media, perpetuate normative values within a society?
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn critical reading and writing skills.
- Students will understand that race, gender, sexuality, and class are socially constructed concepts and
the role of popular culture, including media, in perpetuating normative values and behaviours.
- Students will gain new thinking skills through the re-examination of gender, class, race, and sexuality as
theoretical concepts.