Honors Study Topic
Pop Matters!
What is POPULAR CULTURE, and what does it say about us?
At the 2004 International Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Phi Theta Kappa launched its new, two-year Honors Study Topic, Popular Culture: Shaping and Reflecting Who We Are. The topic, while broad in scope, has been organized into nine issues for study. Each issue - Definition, Creation, Access, Expansion, Continuity, Reflections, Influences, Alternatives, and Importance - seeks to answer a different question. For example, Creation seeks to determine the origin of popular culture, and Influences seeks to discover how popular culture influences individuals and society.
But what is popular culture, you ask?
It is television, film, music, fashion, sports and games, literature,
performing and visual arts, and just about every other aspect of daily life.
Not only is popular culture entertaining, comforting, and universally appealing,
but it is also quite revealing. A society can learn much about itself by
carefully examining its popular culture. Popular culture not only reflects
who we are as a society, but influences who we are to become.
Getting Involved
After studying the weighty topic of health for two years, chapters are excited
to enter a new field of study. See how chapters are planning to implement the
new topic.
The Phi Theta Kappa chapter at Cy-Fair College in Texas has received a grant to carry out a geocaching project. Geocaching is a relatively new sport that was first introduced around 2000. Chapter members will create geocaches - watertight metal containers - that contain logbooks, disposable cameras, ID tags, popular culture items, and copies of the Phi Theta Kappa Programs Guide. Participants will hide the caches, using a GPS unit to determine their exact geographic location, and then create a website that describes each cache and where it is located. Hobbyists may then visit the website for directions and hunt for the chapter's geocaches. Once visitors find a cache, they sign the logbook and take a photo of themselves with the camera. Visitors may take an item from the cache as long as they replace it with something that captures the same theme. Visitors may then post their findings on the chapter's geocache website. The chapter will use this original project to learn more about popular culture, while tapping into a 21st century sport. Visit www.geocaching.com to learn more about geocaching.
Phi Theta Kappa members at Caņada College in California don't have to go far from home to learn about "Surf Culture," as the college is located within miles of the legendary Mavericks Beach. Surf culture, which is very much a part of the local culture in California, includes surf music, surfboards, surf clothing and the sport of surfing. This will be part of the chapter's focus on study of the Honors Study Topic.
The chapter at Houston Community College in Texas plans to examine the international scope of popular culture. Members plan to contact fellow members from chapters in Canada and Germany to compare American popular culture with that of other countries. They also want to issue a survey to determine what other nations think of American popular culture - what is admired, and what is rejected.
In Ohio, chapter members at Washington State Community College are planning to incorporate the Honors Study Topic in their spring informal induction. The chapter will enjoy a picnic and games from the fifties and sixties, such as a Hula-Hoop contest, scavenger hunt and trivia contest.
The Phi Theta Kappa chapter at Pima Community College in Arizona is planning to invite local musicians to share their musical styles and discuss how popular culture influences local style and how local color is reflected in popular culture. In addition, the chapter hopes to collaborate with the college's Student Financial Institute to explore the relationship between credit card abuse and popular culture, using Juliet Schor's book The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don't Need as a reference.
Members at Bergen Community College in New Jersey have the exciting opportunity to collaborate with a popular culture author in a Society-wide event they are calling "Phi Theta Kappa on the Road with Chris Epting." Epting is the well-known author of James Dean Died Here: The Locations of America's Pop Culture Landmarks, a collection of America's cultural hotspots. The Bergen chapter is challenging all Phi Theta Kappa chapters throughout the country to visit the sights in Epting's book and retake the photos, wearing Phi Theta Kappa T-shirts. What a fellowship event!
Phi Theta Kappa members at Eastern Shore Community College in Virginia plan to examine popular culture through the ages, by studying a different decade during each month of the school year. Members will start with the fifties in September and conclude with the present in February. Each month will feature activities, such as a sock hop, a movie night, bulletin boards, costumes and food to highlight the culture of the decade.
