Resources
Here’s some teaching resources that use the Celeb Youth research:
Lecture from a Year 2 Undergraduate Sociology module called Debates in Childhood and Youth
Celebrity culture and youth aspirations: Exploring young people’s transitions through the lens of popular culture (by Kim Allen)
Celebrity culture is frequently seen as having a negative impact on young people, leading to materialism and low aspirations. But, instead of dismissing celebrity and popular culture as trivial, superficial or damaging, should we take seriously its role in young people’s lives? To address this question, this lecture will do two things. First it will introduce students to some of the key studies concerned with how young people engage with popular culture and celebrity, tracing the roots of this work to the early scholarship on youth lifestyles by the CCCS. Second, the lecture will draw together the debates covered in previous lectures to explore how the study of youth can be enhanced through bringing together the two traditions of youth studies (youth culture and youth transitions). Presenting contemporary research into young people’s engagement with celebrity culture, students will interrogate how cultural practices intersect with their educational identities and aspirations.
Download pdf: Researching celebrity with young people – data
Lecture from a Year 1 Undergraduate Sociology Module called: Understanding and Researching Contemporary Society
Researching the media and popular culture (by Kim Allen)
This lecture will consider how and why the media and popular culture have been areas of interest for sociologists and introduce students to some of the key studies and debates within the field. It will outline three of the main areas where sociologists of the media and popular culture have focussed their attention (media texts and representation; audiences; and production), and introduce the common methodological approaches that have been used to examine the relationship between media, culture and society. I will explain how this work sparked my ‘sociological imagination’ and influenced by own research. To end the lecture we will focus on a contemporary example to consider together the different ways in which this could be analysed from a sociological perspective.
Download pdf: Media and popular culture
Year 3 Undergraduate Sociology of Education session on Celebrity and Youth aspirations from a model on Childhood and Youth (by Heather Mendick)
Download pdf: Celebrity and aspirations
Undergraduate Sociology workshop on Culture and Taste (by Laura Harvey)
Download pdf: Culture and taste – Sociology session
Workshop for Postgraduate Students on Research Methods (by Laura Harvey)
Download pdfs: Researching celebrity with young participants and Researching celebrity with young people – data
These organisations and networks may be of interest:
Gender and Education Association (GEA): Formally established in 2002 (though active from 1997 onwards), the association works to challenge and eradicate sexism and gender inequality within and through education. The GEA works to support those with interests in gender and education, including administrators, managers, researchers, students, teachers and youth workers. The website provides regular blog posts on issues in education and gender; teaching resources to support work promoting gender equity work within education; and links to recent work in the Gender and Education journal. Kim and Heather are executive members of the GEA.
British Sociological Association (BSA): The BSA is the main professional organisation supporting Sociologists in the UK. It promotes sociology and provides a network of communication to those concerned with the promotion and use of sociology and sociological research. The BSA hosts a range of study groups in areas relevant to the project including the BSA Youth Study Group; BSA Education Study group; BSA Gender Study Group; and BSA Bourdieu Study Group.
British Education Research Association (BERA): BERA is a professional organisation supporting education researchers in the UK. BERA promote the application of education research findings for the improvement of educational policy and practice. BERA has a number of special interest groups (SIGs) relevant to the project including: Social Justice SIG; Sexualities SIG; and Youth Studies SIG.
Feminist and Women’s Studies Association (FWSA): The FWSA network promotes feminist research and teaching, and women’s studies nationally and internationally, and seeks to inform policy on issues of central importance to feminist scholars.
The Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA): MeCCSA supports and promotes research and scholarship in media, communications and cultural studies.
The Education and Social Research Institute (ESRI) blog: ESRI is a leading UK centre for applied educational research and evaluation, and home to a thriving research community. Members of ESRI regularly blog about their research, ideas and wider issues in education and social research.
A Manifesto for Media Education: This project is an attempt to develop a shared understanding, some shared reasons, for media education.
