OFFICIAL UNDERGRADUATE COURSE OUTLINE (page 1)

COURSE IMPLEMENTATION DATE: May 2010 COURSE REVISED IMPLEMENTATION DATE: COURSE TO BE REVIEWED: December 2013 (four years after UPAC approval) (month, year)

OFFICIAL UNDERGRADUATE COURSE OUTLINE INFORMATION

Students are advised to keep course outlines in personal files for future use. Shaded headings are subject to change at the discretion of the department – see course syllabus available from instructor

SOC 385 Social, Cultural and Media Studies 4 COURSE NAME/NUMBER FACULTY/DEPARTMENT UFV CREDITS Television and Social Values: The Simpsons COURSE DESCRIPTIVE TITLE

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION: In well over four hundred episodes, The Simpsons TV series has explored innumerable aspects of contemporary North American life, always with humour and often with profound insight. This course uses both the series and scholarly writings based on it to explore a diversity of social and cultural issues, focusing on such areas as education, family, the media, religion and work. This course is offered as SOC 385 and MACS 385. Students may take only one of these for credit.

PREREQUISITES: 45 credits, to include at least six credits of SOC and/or MACS COREQUISITES: PRE or COREQUISITES:

SYNONYMOUS COURSE(S): SERVICE COURSE TO: (department/program) (a) Replaces: SOC 399c (b) Cross-listed with: MACS 385 (c) Cannot take: MACS 385 for further credit.

TOTAL HOURS PER TERM: 60 TRAINING DAY-BASED INSTRUCTION: STRUCTURE OF HOURS: Length of course: Lectures: 15 Hrs Hours per day: Seminar: 30 Hrs Laboratory: Hrs OTHER: Field experience: Hrs Maximum enrolment: 25 Student directed learning: 15 Hrs Expected frequency of course offerings: Every other year Other (specify): Hrs (every semester, annually, every other year, etc.)

WILL TRANSFER CREDIT BE REQUESTED? (lower-level courses only) Yes No WILL TRANSFER CREDIT BE REQUESTED? (upper-level requested by department) Yes No TRANSFER CREDIT EXISTS IN BCCAT TRANSFER GUIDE: Yes No

Course designer(s): Darren Blakeborough Department Head: Eric Spalding Date approved: September 11, 2009 Supporting area consultation (Pre-UPAC) Date of meeting: October 30, 2009 Curriculum Committee chair: Date approved: November 13, 2009 Dean/Associate VP: Jacqueline Nolte Date approved: November 13, 2009 Undergraduate Program Advisory Committee (UPAC) approval Date of meeting: December 18, 2009

SCO 385 OFFICIAL UNDERGRADUATE COURSE OUTLINE (page 2) COURSE NAME/NUMBER

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: • Locate The Simpsons within the political-economic context of its conditions of production; • Evaluate The Simpsons’ particular contributions to contemporary popular culture; • Analyze the meaningful social-commentary dimensions of The Simpsons; • Outline controversial or socially detrimental aspects of The Simpsons; • Assess central themes and ideas in sociology through the prism of The Simpsons; • Evaluate, through the example of The Simpsons, how the media reflect and influence society.

METHODS: (Guest lecturers, presentations, online instruction, field trips, etc.) Lectures, including films, slides, tapes and print materials; class and small-group discussions and student presentations.

METHODS OF OBTAINING PRIOR LEARNING ASSESSMENT RECOGNITION (PLAR): Examination(s) Portfolio assessment Interview(s)

Other (specify): Methods will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

PLAR cannot be awarded for this course for the following reason(s):

TEXTBOOKS, REFERENCES, MATERIALS: [Textbook selection varies by instructor. An example for this course might be:] • Alberti, John, editor. Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2004, 344 pages. ISBN: 0814328490. • Delaney, Tim. Simpsonology: There’s a Little Bit of Springfield in All of Us. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2008, 411 pages. ISBN: 9781591025597. • Gray, Jonathan. Watching with the Simpsons: Television, Parody, and Intertextuality. New York: Routledge, 2006, 199 pages. ISBN : 0415362024. • SUPPLIES / MATERIALS: No extraordinary supplies or materials required.

STUDENT EVALUATION: [An example of student evaluation for this course might be:] Attendance and participation 10% Presentation 20% Book review 10% Term paper 30% Final exam 30%

COURSE CONTENT: [Course content varies by instructor. An example of course content might be:] 1. The origins of The Simpsons. 2. In the eye of the storm: The Simpsons family. 3. Homer and Marge on love and marriage. 4. “Skinner!”: Critiquing the American educational system. 5. “Release the hounds”: Class differences in Springfield. 6. Protestantism and other religions in The Simpsons. 7. The pursuit of mediocrity: Sports in The Simpsons. 8. The bar set low: Physical and mental health in Springfield. 9. A breed apart: The elderly and aging. 10. Favouritism and corruption: Politics in Springfield. 11. From Kent Brockman to Krusty the Clown: The media in The Simpsons. 12. Struggling towards competence: Work and the workplace. 13. “America Junior”: References to Canada in The Simpsons. 14. “The Simpsons are going to…”: How The Simpsons looks at other cultures.