Valuesweek5.docx

Values
Does popular culture change society’s values, or does popular culture reflect the values already present in society? What role does popular culture play in defining what is normal, what is cool, or what is unacceptable? How do we maintain a moral compass in collaboration with cultural expression? These questions throw some issues into stark relief and act as aftereffects of climactic events.
The Learning Resources this week focus on the ways in which popular culture in the United States responded to the events of September 2001. Similar comparisons could be made to the popular culture response in Britain after the London July 2005 bombings and in Madrid, Spain, after the 2004 train bombings. Events that provoke a public emotional reaction also shift popular culture expressions. Sometimes this includes self-censorship, support for patriotism, or a dominant ideology. Consider these ideas as you prepare your Final Project as this week’s.

Learning resources:

https://class.content.laureate.net/193c2a343c74aaf7cfd469ddd85c0415.pdf

Critical Media Project

http://annenberg.usc.edu/pages/DrStacyLSmithMDSCI#previousresearch

The work you have done in Weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4 has been building blocks for your Final Project.
In Week 1, you selected one of the following social issues:
· Race/ethnicity
· Sexuality
· Gender
· Social and economic class
· Violence
· Indecency/free speech
You also selected two popular culture categories from the following list:
· Film
· Episodic moving image (TV shows—may be broadcast or streamed)
· Music
· Music videos
· Fashion
· Advertising
· Animation (general animation/cartoons such as Disney or Warner Brothers, or genre-specific animation such as Japanese anime)
· Food
· Printed material (books, magazines, manga, comic books, or graphic novels)
· Video gaming
You also identified 3 academically relevant sources and drafted an introductory paragraph.

In Week 2, you researched how social issue messaging and audiences change over time by comparing and contrasting specific popular culture artifacts/expressions within your chosen categories.

In Week 3, you investigated access and distribution of your popular culture artifacts/expressions.

In Week 4, you selected an additional artifact/expression and looked at how this new artifact/expression defines or disrupts “normal” in relationship to your issue today.
This week you reflect on your work and construct a completed Final Project. In addition to revising your previous work into a cohesive paper, you will add one additional component.

Select a second issue that is related to at least one of your chosen artifacts/expressions and discuss how it conveys information about this second issue, synthesizing what you have learned. For example, if you are working with the issue of violence and how it relates to your chosen popular culture artifacts, select one of those artifacts and discuss how it might relate to gender. See the Week 1 Final Project Summary resource for an example.
Revise the work so that it becomes a unified essay with an introduction, transitions, a conclusion, and the required references.

Submit your Project, which should consist of a 1,500- to 2,000-word paper in which you do the following:
· Discuss the history of your social issue as expressed in popular culture in general.
· Define the audience for each of your popular culture categories and explore whether social issue messaging and the audience has changed in any way. Consider whether the audience is local, global, or regional.
· Discuss what each of your example popular culture artifacts/expressions communicates regarding your issue.
· Analyze how at least one additional social issue relates to at least one of your popular culture artifacts/expressions.
· Analyze access and distribution limitations for each of your popular culture artifacts/expressions.    
· Determine whether or not access and distribution forces control content. Explain your reasoning.       
· Explain whether your popular culture artifacts/expressions send messages that define social values or provoke change.   
· Analyze how your example popular culture artifacts/expressions connect or do not connect with your personal values.   
The final paper should include:
· A full revision of the Milestones from Weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4. Check for overall structure and appropriate transitions between sections of the text. Please refer to the resources available on the Walden Writing Center site to help with this.
· The References page should include at least five academically relevant resources as well as the full listings for your popular culture artifacts/expressions. Use the Final Project Worksheet from Week 1 to help with this.