To explore pop culture’s role in the media landscape and its impact on public policy, Jandoli Institute Executive Director Richard Lee has designed a new college course.

“From the protest music of the 1960s to the phenomena of Taylor Swift, pop culture has been a part of daily life in America,” said Lee, a professor in the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University.

Lee will teach the class, which is titled Media and Pop Culture, at St. Bonaventure during the Spring 2024 semester. He plans to draw from his experience as a journalist whose different beats included rock’n’roll, government and politics, as well as from the positions he held in government and his research on pop culture, media and public policy.

“The class is an opportunity to integrate the elements from my career in journalism, government and academia,” he said.

Among the topics that will be covered in the course are:

• How celebrities influence public policy;
• The ability of politicians to avoid the scrutiny of mainstream media by appearing on entertainment television programs;
• The impact of protest music during the Vietnam era;
• The phenomenon of Taylor Swift, who was named Time magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year, and
• Volodymyr Zelensky, who played the president of Ukraine on a sitcom before he actually became the country’s president of Ukraine.

“The lines between entertainment and politics have always been blurry, but the distinction is even less clear today,” Lee said. “The course will help us understand how we arrived at where we are today, as well as where we are headed tomorrow.”

The genesis of the course lies in research Lee conducted while earning his doctorate. He wrote a book chapter in which he showed that protest songs during the Vietnam War era provided the public with information that the mainstream media was not reporting.

As a professor, he includes units on entertainment in his media and democracy and political campaign seminar classes. He also has spoken about the relationship between music and public policy at numerous academic conferences, including seminars devoted to the work of Bob Dylan, the Beatles and Bruce Springsteen.

“I am thankful Dr. Lee will bring his diverse and extensive experiences to this timely course,” Jandoli School Dean Aaron Chimbel said. “I have no doubt students will get a lot out of this class.”

Click here for more details on Lee’s Media and Pop Culture course.

Categories: Jandoli Institute, Media, Pop Culture, Richard Lee, richleeonline