From sports to movies, video games to the news, violence is everywhere in pop culture. Asking Questions about Violence in Pop Culture looks at how we decide what is deemed "too violent" to show the public, how those standards have changed over time, and what our increasing tolerance of violence says about our culture. Case studies prompt inquiry, further thinking, and close examination of specific issues. Additional text features and search tools, including a glossary and an index, help students locate information and learn new words.
From news and sports to reality programming and sitcoms, television is a staple of most young people's lives. Asking Questions about What's on Television gives young readers a look at the technology behind the medium, the messages it sends, and how we are affected by it on a daily basis. Case studies prompt inquiry, further thinking, and close examination of specific issues. Additional text features and search tools, including a glossary and an index, help students locate information and learn new words.
Campaign ads are inescapable, especially in election years. Asking Questions about Political Campaigns shows what goes into those ads, how successful campaigns get their messages across, and how political campaigns and the media influence each other. Case studies prompt inquiry, further thinking, and close examination of specific issues. Additional text features and search tools, including a glossary and an index, help students locate information and learn new words.
Authored by scholars from a variety of disciplines, including English, Theology, Philosophy, Communications, Sociology, Humanities and Peace Studies, this edited volume provides detailed descriptions of the many ways popular culture can be used to teach peace. Chapters discuss documentary and feature film, music, television, literature and more, providing both educators and the general public with a timely and useful tool. From popular dystopian novels like The Hunger Games to feature films like The Matrix to modern rap and hip-hop music, contributors not only provide critical analysis of the violence in popular culture but also an assessment of how the same or alternate forms can be used by peace educators. Additionally, each chapter project synopses and teaching ideas, as well as recommended resources.
This timely collection provides a historical overview of violence in American popular culture from the Puritan era to the present and across a range of media. Few topics are discussed more broadly today than violence in American popular culture. Unfortunately, such discussion is often unsupported by fact and lacking in historical context. This two-volume work aims to remedy that through a series of concise, detailed essays that explore why violence has always been a fundamental part of American popular culture, the ways in which it has appeared, and how the nature and expression of interest in it have changed over time. Each volume of the collection is organized chronologically. The first focuses on violent events and phenomena in American history that have been treated across a range of popular cultural media. Topics include Native American genocide, slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, and gender violence. The second volume explores the treatment of violence in popular culture as it relates to specific genres—for example, Puritan "execution sermons," dime novels, television, film, and video games. An afterword looks at the forces that influence how violence is presented, discusses what violence in pop culture tells us about American culture as a whole, and speculates about the future.
Hollywood has provided one of the most popular forms of entertainment for the past century. Asking Questions about How Hollywood Movies Get Made goes behind the scenes to show how a movie goes from concept to final product, discusses what makes for a successful movie, and looks at where the box office money goes. Case studies prompt inquiry, further thinking, and close examination of specific issues. Additional text features and search tools, including a glossary and an index, help students locate information and learn new words.
Where does the news that students hear--on television, the radio, and online--come from? And who decides what's news? Asking Questions about How the News is Created discusses how an event becomes a story, and how the biases of the gatekeepers of the news media can alter the messages being sent. Case studies prompt inquiry, further thinking, and close examination of specific issues. Additional text features and search tools, including a glossary and an index, help students locate information and learn new words.
The world of gaming has changed a lot since the days of Pong and PacMan. Asking Questions about Video Games gives young readers a look at the technology behind today's games, the messages they send, and what they say about our values as a culture. Case studies prompt inquiry, further thinking, and close examination of specific issues. Additional text features and search tools, including a glossary and an index, help students locate information and learn new words.
Food advertising is seemingly everywhere. But what messages are advertisers sending when they try to get consumers to purchase their products? Asking Questions about Food Advertising looks at who pays for ads, their intended targets, and the tricks of the trade used to influence consumers' decisions. Case studies prompt inquiry, further thinking, and close examination of specific issues. Additional text features and search tools, including a glossary and an index, help students locate information and learn new words.
This volume shows how university and college professors can create an engaging environment that encourages students to take a deep approach to learning through the use of popular culture stories in law school and in criminal justice classrooms. The use of popular culture (films, TV shows, books, songs, etc.) can enhance the deep learning process by helping students develop cognitive skills, competencies, and practices that are essential for the professional practice of law and criminal justice and which are often neglected in traditional law school and criminal justice curricula. The book covers such topics as: critical thinking skills in legal and criminal justice education the role of popular culture in educating for rapid cognition factors that foster intrinsic motivation using storytelling in law and criminal justice teaching with popular culture stories popular culture and media literacy in the classroom lawyers and criminal justice agents and their dealings with the press influence of popular culture stories in the legal and criminal justice fields regulations for the use of media texts in the legal and criminal justice fields how stereotyping is influenced by popular media how to prepare a promising syllabus or course outline This unique book is the result of the author’s many years of teaching as well as of many meaningful discussions in seminars and teaching and learning workshops that he facilitated. This very easy-to-read and entertaining volume will show readers how to enhance their classes by creating a motivating and engaging environment that will foster students’ deep learning experiences.
