Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Convenor
Chelsea Barnett
Contact via email
Australian Hearing Hub, Level 2
email for appointments
Lorna Barrow
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
39cp at 100 level or above or (6cp in HIST or MHIS or POL units at 200 level including 3cp in HIST or MHIS)
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
What can we learn about the past when we examine it through the lens of popular culture? This unit traces a history of popular culture in the United States of America and Australia from the 1950s to the present, exploring the ways that popular culture can magnify and reflect changing ideas about race, class, gender, and ideology. We will examine the impact of new technologies, moral panics over popular culture, and whether popular culture constituted a form of cultural citizenship. Film, television, music and other media are used in this unit to evoke seminal moments in the history of popular culture and students are encouraged to explore these non-discursive forms as primary sources. Students are also encouraged to consider the reception of popular culture by audiences and to think about their own experience of popular culture historically. This unit will be of particular interest to students in media, education, and cultural studies, as well as history.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Late Penalty for Assignments
Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – 2 marks out of a total of 100 will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests.
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
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Weekly Quiz | 25% | No | Assessed Each Week |
Primary Source Analysis | 10% | No | Saturday 24 March, 5pm |
Research Essay Proposal | 25% | No | Sunday 15 April 5pm |
Research Project | 40% | No | Friday 8 June 5pm |
Due: Assessed Each Week
Weighting: 25%
You will find a quiz in the iLearn block for each week of this unit, consisting of two short-answer questions (you only need to write a maximum of 2-3 sentences for each answer). The quiz is timed - you will have 10 minutes to write your responses (so don't open the quiz until you're ready to complete it!). One question will assess your understanding of one of week's lectures, the other will assess your understanding of the readings. You will do twelve quizzes over the semester (plus one practice test in week one, which is not graded); the best ten will count towards your grade. The quiz will be graded out of 4 (2 possible marks per question). You will receive feedback in the form of model answers for each question.
NOTE: You will need to complete your quiz before midnight on Sunday of each week. Unless you are ill or have an unavoidable absence, and can provide documentation, you will not be able to make up any quizzes after the week in which they are given.
Due: Saturday 24 March, 5pm
Weighting: 10%
Our online seminar in Week 3 will focus on analysing primary sources and how to use them in a research essay. We will be working online with a primary source that relates to this week's topic area.
You will then be supplied (via iLearn) with an additional primary source that also relates to this week's topic area. Using the skills developed in the online workshop, you have one week to write a 500-word analysis of the supplied primary source.
The written piece is to be submitted by Saturday 22th March, 5pm.
Due: Sunday 15 April 5pm
Weighting: 25%
This task will assess your ability to develop a research question and approach, as well as your ability to locate and analyse primary and secondary sources. It is the first step towards developing your research essay. The proposals will be returned in time for you to work on your research essay after the mid-semester break.
You must choose a topic that relates to the unit in some way and you must demonstrate that you will be using primary sources – that is, sources which were themselves part of the historical situation you are discussing.
You should proceed as follows:
Thinking about a topic: It is best to start this process as early as possible. Look at the weekly lecture and tutorial schedule. What themes in this course do you find most interesting? What questions are you interested in exploring? Do you want to write about Australia, the United States, or both?
Try to think about popular culture historically - that is, think carefully about how we can use popular culture as evidence of past attitudes, representations, ideologies, and points of view. You are aiming to relate popular culture to broader social, cultural, and political events and ideas, and to relate popular culture to the broader society that produced it.
Developing a question: Your question needs to be direct and focused, because you will be assessed on how you answer it - for example, "How did x reveal ideas about y in the American 1950s?". You can focus on media debate about a particular pop culture text or group of texts, or examine responses of a particular kind of pop culture consumer to an item of pop culture. You can trace the ways responses to a particular event, new technology (for example, television) or social movement (for example, feminism, the Iraq War) played out in popular culture, or explore how certain popular culture texts represent gender or race or sexuality in particular historical contexts and reflect - or contest - dominant representations.
Be sure to find both a question and a set of sources that will help you answer it. Your question might be quite narrow, ie. What was Playboy magazine’s attitude towards women in the 1950s? This gives you the opportunity to go into the question in depth.
While you need to find primary sources to research your essay, you need to read those sources and ask your question in light of your knowledge of the historical context, and of historiographical debate. This knowledge is mostly gained from scholarly secondary sources (books, journal articles, book chapters). Don’t forget that reference books and tools can be useful too. But be cautious about internet sources. See the Modern History essay writing guide for further information on sources.
Online workshop: Our seminar in Week 6 will focus on developing and refining your research question. You will give and receive feedback on your draft research proposals. This is also the best opportunity to ask Chelsea about how best to shape and refine your question and proposal.
For this workshop, you will to upload a draft of your research proposal for workshopping and feedback by Monday 2nd April. This draft proposal should include your ideas for what your research question will be, the primary sources you are thinking of working with, and the initial secondary texts you will be using to kickstart your research. You must provide feedback to a set number of your peers by Friday 6th April, 5pm. More details on the logistics of the workshop will be available on iLearn.
Submitting your proposal: After giving and receiving peer feedback, you will then be required to take the feedback and ideas from the workshop and refine your proposal for submission. The proposal is due Sunday 15th April via turnitin on iLearn.
Your proposal should be 1500 words and must include the following:
Grading Criteria: You will be assessed on the following criteria -
Due: Friday 8 June 5pm
Weighting: 40%
This assessment task evaluates your ability to construct an argument in response to your own self-devised research question, based on primary and secondary sources. This task is the culmination of your assessment tasks in this unit; all your previous assessments are "scaffolding" this final task. You need to observe the conventions of writing and referencing as outlined in the essay writing guide on iLearn.
Your final essay should be 3000 words, not including referencing.
This assessment is to submitted via turnitin on iLearn. Remember to submit the essay self-assessment (available on iLearn) sheet with your essay. You must also include a short statement, about one paragraph, on how you have utilised the feedback you received on your research proposal in completing your final research project.
There is a rubric for this assessment task included as a PDF download in the "Assessments" section on iLearn.
Unit webpage and technology used and required:
Online units can be accessed at: http://ilearn.mq.edu.au
PC and Internet access are required. Basic computer skills (eg internet browsing) and skills in word processing are also a requirement.
Required reading:
Students will need to have access to the following required text: Michelle Arrow, Friday on Our Minds: Popular Culture since 1945 (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2009). This is available for purchase from the university Co-Op bookshop, and is also available from the university library to borrow or to access as an ebook.
The iLearn site for this unit lists the required weekly readings alongside Friday on Our Minds. This will link to the university library's holdings, where the week's readings and primary sources are available.
Classes and timetables:
Students are required to prepare for class by listening to the weekly lectures, which are available on iLearn. Students will attend a one and a half hour seminar seminar per week. See www.timetables.mq.edu.au for the most up-to-date information about class times and locations.
Learning and Teaching Strategy:
This unit has been 'flipped' - that is, we have moved to pre-recorded lectures in order to make more space in the timetable for discussion in seminars. Each week, you will need to prepare for class discussion through active listening of the lectures (taking notes is a valuable skill that you should practice whilst at University (see this article from The Conversation on the best ways to take notes: https://theconversation.com/whats-the-best-most-effective-way-to-take-notes-41961).
You also need to prepare for class (remember, quizzes on this material consist of 25% of your grade) by reading the required readings. This doesn't mean skimming them - you should be printing out your readings, annotating them and highlighting the parts you think are most meaningful, and noting the parts you don't understand.
You may also be required to watch film or music clips before you come to class.
Online seminars are important for students because they represent a space for students to discuss the readings and issues raised by the lectures, to ask questions, and solve problems together. Of course, online seminars are different to face to face classes - the discussion is asynchronous (that is, everyone contributes at different times) but this can still produce meaningful discussion. You are strongly encouraged to interact with each other and to share links and primary sources you find online!
Student & Staff - Rights and Responsibilities: in order to learn best in this unit, students and staff have rights and responsibilities in relation to their learning.
Staff have responsibilities to:
In turn, students have responsibilities to:
Week |
Lecture 1 |
Lecture 2 |
Tutorial |
Assessment |
1 |
Introduction |
Postwar Culture |
Historians and Popular Culture |
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2 |
Suburbia and Family Life |
The Introduction of Television |
Postwar Culture and 1950s Family Life |
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3 |
Suburban Rebels |
1950s Youth Cultures |
Suburban rebels + Primary Source Workshop |
Primary Source distributed in class |
4 |
Student Protest Movements |
The Sixties and Radical Cultures |
Youth Cultures |
Primary Source Analysis Task due week 4 |
5 |
Vietnam war and popular culture |
From Soul to Black Power |
The Sixties and the Counterculture |
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6 |
Women’s Liberation and Popular Culture |
Stonewall to AIDS |
Research Proposal Workshop
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7 |
Sexual Revolution |
Seventies’ Culture of Crisis |
Black Power and Popular Culture |
Research Essay Proposal due Sunday 15 April |
** MID-SEMESTER BREAK ** |
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8 |
Punk |
The Eighties |
The Sexual revolution and its enemies |
Research Essay proposals returned |
9 |
Sport as Popular Culture |
Hip Hop and African American Culture |
The Reagan Revolution |
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10 |
Slackers and Generation X |
Postmodern Femininities |
Research Essay Workshop |
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11 |
Postmodern Masculinities |
Reality Television |
Postmodern Gender Cultures |
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12 |
In the shadow of the towers: pop culture and 9/11 |
Social Media and Connected Cultures |
Reality TV and neoliberalism |
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13 |
Popular Culture, History, and Nostalgia |
How Soon is Now? Popular Culture futures |
Popular Culture and History |
Research Essay due Friday 8 June |
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Undergraduate students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.
If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct
Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
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