Taylor Swift
Photo courtesy of SBU Website
BY: BROOKE JOHNPIER, STAFF WRITER
Rich Lee, a professor in the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University, created a new class centered around exploring pop culture’s increasing impact on the media and public policy called Media and Pop Culture.
The class is a special topics course, a class that is normally put on for one semester in a trial-like period. Media and Pop Culture takes the form of a seminar and will cover topics such as how celebrities influence public policy, the impact of protest music during the Vietnam War and the phenomenon of Taylor Swift. The course is predominantly conducted online.
“I want students to see how a song, a film, a book or a play can function as journalism, sometimes more effectively than traditional reporting,” said Lee. “Over the past few years, I have seen the influence of pop culture increasing, and in this course, we will tie together these and other developments, take a deeper dive and look at what the future may hold.”
Aaron Chimbel, dean of the Jandoli school, said that Lee had been working on this idea for quite some time.
“It was an idea that Dr. Lee had,” said Chimbel. “He has been working in this space long time, so he was thinking that there’s a lot going on in that space right now. [He thought] it would be interesting for students to take the things they hear about, and apply it to an academic focus and setting to learn more about it.”
Chimbel said that students may find it interesting to think more deeply about the things they talk about every day.
Dominic Puccinelli, a freshman journalism major, is one of the students in Lee’s class. According to Puccinelli, he decided to take this course because of his major and his fascination with pop culture.
“We’re going to hit on a lot of different topics, like how different forms of media, [such as] music or a film, can sometimes project information better than a news story. I think many topics will be fascinating and some [will] apply to my future career in journalism.”
Conor Amendola, a sophomore media studies major, took this course because it seemed interesting.
“Pop culture definitely seems to have a major impact in day-to-day life and exploring the ways that pop culture can affect not just our lives, but also public policy from lawmakers, seems like something I would want to learn about.”
Although the course is designed for Jandoli majors, it is open to all.
So far, Amendola and Puccinelli are happy with how the class is going. Both students said the course is going to help them in their future endeavors.
“It’s really using a critical eye and a critical approach to the media and how [the students] interact with it,” said Chimbel.
johnpibl23@bonaventure.edu
