ENGL 3591

Kids Rule! Children's Popular Culture

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2024-2025.

How is the figure of the child constructed in popular culture? When and to what degree do children participate in the construction of these representations? This course surveys a variety of contemporary media texts (television, film, and the internet) aimed at children ranging in age from pre-kindergarten to young adults. We explore how these texts seek to construct children as empowered consumers, contesting adult conformity. Our theoretical approach complicates definitions of childhood as a time of innocence and potential victimhood and challenges normative constructions of childhood as a time for establishing "proper" sexual and gender identities. Taking a cultural studies approach, the class will consider the connections between the cultural texts and the realms of advertising, toys, and gaming.

When Offered Fall or Spring.

Distribution Category (ALC-AS, SCD-AS) (CA-AG, D-AG, LA-AG)
Satisfies Requirement This course counts toward the Literatures of America and post-1800 requirements for English majors.

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