2006 Handbooks

This unit will present a cultural history of Great Britain, Australia and the United States from the beginning of the Fifties until the end of the millennium, tracing changes in popular culture through developments such as the evolution of consumer culture, the rise of globalisation, environmentalism and the rise of visual media. The unit will also particularly focus on how class, gender and race have shaped the experience of popular culture throughout this period. Film/television/music and music video will be used in this unit to evoke seminal moments in popular culture. Students will be encouraged to think about their own experience of popular culture historically.

Unit topics include: What is Popular Culture? Historians and Popular Culture; The Culture of Consumption; Cultural Cringe; Television; Youth Culture; Cultures of Protest; Gang Culture; Counter Culture; Black Power; Space; Celebrity; Cultures of Crisis; Sport; Sexual Revolution; HIV/AIDS and the New Puritanism; Royal Watching; Cyber-Culture, Girl Power; Drug Culture.