PSY 49313 IDS: PSYCHOLOGY OF MEDIA AND POP CULTURE (3)

This interdisciplinary course explores the interaction between people and media technologies. It analyzes the mediatic language while conceptualizing how it defines popular culture using research-based Applied Psychology and Communication concepts.It is only possible to understand the world around us today by considering the impact of digital interactions in shaping our belief systems, life goals and expectations, behaviors at work, lifestyle choices, intimate relationships, body image, and personal and collective identity. This course will scrutinize how people’s emotions affect how we use media and how the implicit or explicit messages conveyed by the media represent our individuality or act as a demarcation tool to define popular culture. At its core, this course will teach students the ethical implications of the proper and improper representations of individual and collective cultural identity in media, including gender constructs, sexual orientation images, racial and ethnic symmetry, and cultural (mis)appropriation. This course is recommended for students interested in Applied Psychology, Counseling, Communications, Education, Advertising, Journalism, Digital Art, and Business, specifically, Market Studies, Marketing Research, and Consumer Behavior. This course may also interest students who wish to understand the impact of digital culture in the world around us and within us.