Discusses the teaching of cultural literacy and the problems in deciding "what every American needs to know." Describes a teacher's personal feeling of cultural illiteracy when reading the poetry of a student. (PRA)

Popular education contributes to democracy by helping people respond to the demands of a society in the midst of evolution, by turning the right to learn into a reality, and by being a tool for personal development and community growth. (SK)

Asserts that Leo Lowenthal's contributions to a social theory of popular culture speak to contemporary concerns by legitimizing the role of historical explanations and expanding the humanistic concerns to include popular literature in a critique of the social, political, and technological conditions of society. (PRA)

Interviews Stuart Hall, a black public intellectual and an activist of the New Left. Discusses the growing disillusionment with cultural studies now that it is no longer in its ascendancy; the proliferation of pedagogical practices given a cultural studies tag; Hall's approval of the use of popular culture in the composition classroom; and the…

Argues for the study of popular female authors of the Victorian era on two grounds: (1) issues concerning Victorian female writers are relevant to problems in Victorian literary scholarship and to discussions about the relationship between literary theory and feminism; and (2) their works were printed on acid paper. (TB)

Questions whether traditional schooling will survive electronically mediated changes. Notes that "pop culture pedagogy" uses many modes of transmission that are capable of presenting a variety of textual forms, and that popular music offers provocative texts. Samples issues surrounding pop culture and nonschool literacy that are central to the…

How to civilize our young people? Enforcing a pedagogy of virtue is a waste of time. PC curricula reek of Stalinism. Nor does it make much sense to teach popular culture. The media perform that civilizing function all too well. The goal is to impart wisdom, but you can't know it all, so we talk about it as best we can. Fortunately, writes Robert…

Taking the 1969-74 classroom "dramedy" "Room 222" as a case study, and setting it in the context of a range of portrayals of teachers and teaching from the period, the author raises the questions about the positive portrayals of committed teachers. These portrayals, along with positive views of community involvement and a multicultural…

Teens encounter a barrage of messages about sexuality in popular culture--messages that shape their identities and schooling experiences in profound ways. Meanwhile, teen sexuality, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) increasingly arouse public panic. To date, however, schools do little to help teens make sense of their…

This paper is an edited transcript of a panel discussion which took place at an educational conference about the current state of popular culture studies at American colleges and universities. First touching on the number of university media departments being disbanded in general across the country, the discussion focuses on several questions:…

In his 1976 article, "Grammars of Style: New Options in Composition," Winston Weathers calls for a Grammar B, an alternate set of conventions which govern the construction of whole compositions. He urges compositionists to look beyond the "well-made box" and consider other options for compositional patterns and discourse…

The works of over 75 communication scholars have consistently traced the markers of communication in African American life. There exists a complex and varied corpus that is necessarily interdisciplinary and multifarious in perspectives and context. The space(s) is theirs to define and, perhaps, to claim. Such studies may reward scholars most when…

Despite the international success of reggae music, a survey of Jamaican recording artists revealed disillusionment, anger and frustration with the national recording industry. Various artists identified a lack of professional ethics and discipline, and above all, lack of an updated copyright law as being at the root of the problem. Since Jamaica…

Horton Foote was among the television writers who helped make NBC's "Television Playhouse" the most popular live dramatic program on the air during the "Golden Age" of television drama, the period between 1952 and 1957. Foote felt a strong affinity for the land and people of his youth, and modeled the imaginary towns of…

Although Willa Cather is known primarily for her short fiction and novels, she began her writing career as a literary and drama critic while still a student at the University of Nebraska. Her writing experience with the university literary periodical led her to become the drama critic for the "Nebraska State Journal," and later for the…