Course Details in 2025/26 Session

Module Title	LH Decoding Pop Culture
School	Eng, Drama, & Creative Studies
Department	English Literature
Module Code	09 37089
Module Lead	Dorothy Butchard/Rachel Sykes
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-10 hours Seminar-20 hours Guided independent study-170 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	Can popular culture move us to act differently in the world? Do ideas stick because people want them to, or because pop culture can’t or won’t imagine alternatives? Might pop culture make manifest, by making visible, the potential for different futures? This module asks students to think seriously about the relationship between the world and the popular stories we tell about it. We’ll explore how texts intended to entertain, shock, comfort, or enchant can also spark new ideas, reflect past and present experiences, or speculate about other possibilities. The module is theory led, with a series of case studies drawn from twentieth and twenty-first century popular culture. We will refer to a range of critical approaches to popular culture and culture studies, including topics such as ideology and representation, commodity, intimacy, activism and protest.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: Discuss and debate critical approaches to pop culture, demonstrating understanding of a range of relevant theoretical perspectives; Read and analyse pop culture texts as situated and active agents in culture; Show knowledge and understanding of the historical and theoretical relations between pop culture and society; Respond to pop culture reflectively or visually in theoretically assured ways.
Assessment	37089-01 : 1,000 Word Reflective Writing OR Poster : Coursework (25%) 37089-02 : 3,000 Word Essay : Coursework (75%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	1 x 1,000 word reflective writing OR poster (30%) 1 x 2,500 word essay (70%) Reassessment: Resubmission of failed component(s)
Other
Reading List