COMM 102SU: Participatory Pop Culture: Fandom, Identity and Power 

Course Description

From trinket collecting to Taylor Swift, BTS to Mr Beast, popular culture fandom is often dismissed as lowbrow or frivolous; the things we do to relax, switch off or pass the time. But if we are to look a little closer, the study of these texts (and how community forms around them) can often tell us plenty about wide-reaching models of communication and cultural power, ranging from the celebritised praxis used to win political campaigns right through to consumer-led cancel culture or increasing recognitions of the impact that 'professional fangirls' are having on the creative arts. Through a hybrid format of lectures, workshops and reflective writing assignments, this course is designed to allow us the space to think more deeply about the pop-cultural media that we love. How have online platforms revolutionised our understandings of celebrity, influence and cultural expertise? What can our engagements with music, reality TV, #BookTok, viral social media trends and influencer drama tell us about the social, political and economic affordances (and constraints) of our modern lives? Across the eight weeks, students will learn to critically analyse both the structure of the contemporary cultural industries and their own consumption habits within them, developing practical skills and theoretical understanding in the disciplines of communication, sociology, gender studies, marketing and journalism.