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104 : Intro to Sociology
303 : Race & Ethnicity
315 : Social Class
316 : Gender & Society
480 : Pop Culture
480 : Social Movements
520 : Seminar in Inequalities

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Jennifer Eichstedt
Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology
Humboldt State University
1 Harpst Street
Arcata, CA 95521

Office: 707-826-4949
Fax : 707-826- 4418
jle7001@humboldt.edu

Syllabus   Research Methods    Assign 1   Assign 2    Assign 3

480 : Pop Culture : Assignment 1


This assignment should be 2-3 pages in length. It must be typed (double spaced). The assignment is Due on October 3rd, no exceptions.

Treat this assignment as your proposal for a class project. In ESSAY form (not as anwers heading 1, 2, 3 etc) you need to:

1) Identify what the popular practice or popular culture form is that you want to study for the remainder of the semester. Identify a cultural form that interests you and be as specific as possible in describing what you’re interested in.
Remember that over the course of the semester you will explore not only what you think about a practice, but you must explore what other people think of the practice. You will explore this through conducting field work (i.e. interviews, observation, etc.) It is NOT enough to say you are going to analyze the content of a television show, or musical group’s lyrics, you MUST consider how audiences or consumer use these texts or practices in their own lives.

2) In your paper you must specify the experiences, issues, interests, and perhaps debates that propel your interests. You should explain WHY you find this cultural form or practice interesting. In other words, tell me about the criteria by which you have made your choice.

3) I am interested in your first, quick, take on what you think this form/practice says about U.S. culture in general, or the specific groups or people who participate in its consumption and production. HINT: you are trying to get at the beliefs you already have which may influence how you approach the practice/form you are investigating.

4) Finally, as a proposal for what you are going to do for the rest of the course, you should try and describe how you plan on proceeding with the project. This is not necessarily a firm "contract" with me as to what you’ll do. However, you should try and explain how you will investigate the practices you’re going to look at. For instance, what do you imagine focusing on? How? Are you going to interview people? Who? Are you going to do "participant observation"? If you don’t’ know what these things mean, let’s set up a meeting and talk about it.

5) Finally, please remember that quality writing is an essential component of developing a good project. Writing is the means through which you communicate with your audience (myself and other members of the course). If you don’t’ do it clearly, your audience won’t know what you are saying. Given this, I encourage you to spend a fair amount of time with your writing. Remember that writing does not generally happen well the first time through. Write drafts of your papers. Please share a draft with me, or with others in the class, or both.