- Elite vs. Popular Cultures (Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History)
- High Culture (Reader's Guide to the Social Sciences)
- Literature and Popular Culture (Encyclopedia of American Studies)
- Popular Culture (Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology)
- Popular Culture (Critical Terms for Literary Study)
- Pop Culture, Subculture, and Cultural Change (OER Commons)
- Archetype (Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology)
- Semiotics (Britannic Academic)
- Semiotics (Encyclopedia of Postmodernism)
- Semiotics (Key Concepts in Sports Studies)
Welcome to the Erickson Library's Introduction to Popular Culture guide. You'll find tabs at the top that will lead you to additional information with print and online resources.
The Erickson Library is here to help you find credible and reliable information. Please feel free to call or email with any of your research questions!
The Erickson Library is here to help you find credible and reliable information. Please feel free to call or email with any of your research questions!
Finding background information on your subject is helpful before you dive into subject specific databases. Credo Reference (link below) is a great place to start to gather ideas for keywords.
A few keywords to try: popular culture, low culture, high culture, mass media.
Visit the Articles tab to get more tips on using keywords in databases.
Credo Reference
A few keywords to try: popular culture, low culture, high culture, mass media.
Visit the Articles tab to get more tips on using keywords in databases.
Credo Reference
Monday-Thursday: 8:00am-5:00pm
Friday: 8:00am-4:00pm
Phone: (218) 733-5912
Email: lsclibrary@lsc.edu
Friday: 8:00am-4:00pm
Phone: (218) 733-5912
Email: lsclibrary@lsc.edu
This list is not exhaustive. More eBooks can be found in the Ebsco eBook Collection search.
You'll need to log-in using your StarID and password to access the eBook Collection.
Acculturated: 23 Savvy Writers Find Hidden Virtue in Reality TV, Chic Lit, Video Games, and Other Pillars of Pop Culture by Naomi Schaefer Riley and Christine Rosen
Ain't I a Diva: Beyonce and the Power of Pop Culture Pedagogy by Kevin Allred
Cupcakes, Pinterest, and Ladyporn: Feminized Popular Culture in the Early Twenty-First Century by Elana Levine
Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic Over Role-Playing Games Says About Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds by Joseph P. Laycock
Fabricating the Absolute Fake: America in Contemporary Pop Culture by Jaap Kooijman
Feminist Theory and Pop Culture by Adrienne Trier-Bieniek
Gender & Pop Culture: A Text-Reader by Patricia Leavy and Adrienne Trier-Bieniek
Getting a Life: The Social Worlds of Geek Culture by Benjamin Woo
Manga and Anime Go to Hollywood by Northrop Davis
Perpectual Adolescence: Jungian Analyses of American Media, Literature, and Pop Culture by Sally Porterfield, Keith Polette, and Tita French Baumlin
Philosophy and the Interpretation of Pop Culture by William Irwin and Jorge J.E. Gracia
Politics of Popular Culture: Negotiating Power, Identity, and Place by Tim Nieguth
Popular Culture in a New Age by Marshall Fishwick
The Sky Is Falling: How Vampires, Zombies, Androids, and Superheroes Made America Great for Extremism by Peter Biskind
Superhero Comics by Chris Gavaler
Villainy in Western Culture: Historical Archetypes of Danger, Disorder and Death by Kendrick Gregory
You'll need to log-in using your StarID and password to access the eBook Collection.

- Academic Search Premier
EBSCO's largest database includes full text of thousands of scholarly publications across all academic disciplines. Watch the Ebscohost Tutorial. - EBSCO MegaFILE
Save time and search all four EBSCO databases at once. The EBSCO MegaFILE is comprised of the complete content and functionality of Academic Search Premier, MasterFILE Premier, Business Source Premier, and Regional Business News. - JSTOR
JSTOR is a shared digital library created in 1995 that currently includes more than 2,000 academic journals. The content on JSTOR comes from a broad range of disciplines, predominantly in the humanities, social sciences, and field sciences. - ProQuest U.S. Newsstream
ProQuest U.S. Newsstream enables users to search current and archives back into the 1980s of U.S. news content and features top newspapers, wires, broadcast transcripts, blogs, and news sites in full-text format. Access USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Times among others. - Opposing Viewpoints
This online resource covers today's hottest social issues, from capital punishment to immigration to marijuana. It includes rich resources for debaters and includes viewpoints, reference articles, news, images, video, and more.
Business
Politics
Fashion
- Converse Was One of the Most-Traded Brands on the Resell Market in 2020
- Fashion Designer Called Out for Cultural Appropriation Over Its $1,190 Pants
- Kanye West Vaults from Broke to Billions With Yeezy in Demand
1. Useful keywords: popular culture, pop culture, high culture, low culture.
2. Break down your topic into smaller concepts and identify synonyms.
3. Use and to combine keywords, i.e. "popular culture and movies"
4. Use or to expand your results, i.e. "fanfiction or fan-fiction"
5. Use "quotaton marks" to search keywords as a phrase, i.e. "cultural appropriation"
6. Use an asterik* to search multiple endings, i.e. cultur* will search culture, cultural, etc.
2. Break down your topic into smaller concepts and identify synonyms.
3. Use and to combine keywords, i.e. "popular culture and movies"
4. Use or to expand your results, i.e. "fanfiction or fan-fiction"
5. Use "quotaton marks" to search keywords as a phrase, i.e. "cultural appropriation"
6. Use an asterik* to search multiple endings, i.e. cultur* will search culture, cultural, etc.
- Introduction to Popular Culture (Popular Culture)
- Popular Culture (Gale Opposing Viewpoints)
- Alison Roman, 'The Stew' and the Need for Mindful Global Cooking
- Dream Catchers are More Than Arts and Crafts
- During Food Media's Time of Reckoning, Let's Not Forget the Recipes
- The Etiquette of Whether to Say "Yas Queen"
- Here's the Real Origin of the Word 'Yas'
- History of Black Hairstyles and Cultural Appropriation
- Is It Cultural Appropriation? Why Language Matters
- Is It Ok to Use Black Emojis and GIFs? (BBC News clip)
- It Was a Losing Fight To Write Anything That Wasn't "Ethnic"
- The Legend of the Dream Catcher
- We Need to Talk about Digital Blackface in Reaction GIFs
- What is Digital Blackface? Experts Explain Why the Social Media Practice is Problematic
- What's the Difference Between Cultural Appropriation and Cultural Appreciation (yoga)
- Why Do Fast-Casual Restaurants Get a Pass on Appropriation?
- Yoga and the Roots of Cultural Appropriation
- Your Spirit Animal: An Investigation
Crash Course: Sociology
- Symbols, Values & Norms: Crash Course Sociology #10
- Social Groups: Crash Course Sociology #16
- Social Mobility: Crash Course Sociology #26
- Gender Stratification: Crash Course Sociology #32
- Theories of Gender: Crash Course Sociology #33
- Race & Ethnicity: Crash Course Sociology #34
- Films on Demand
High-quality video and multimedia providing a wide variety of academic, vocational and life-skills content. Video tutorial - Kanopy
Streaming educational documentaries including hard hitting topics in gender and media studies.
Beyond Good & Evil: Children, Media & Violent Times
Brand New You: Makeover Television and the American Dream
The Bro Code: How Contemporary Culture Creates Sexist Men
The Codes of Gender: Identity and Performance in Pop Culture
Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood
Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex & Power in Music Video
Empathy Gap: Masculinity and the Courage to Change
Game Over: Gender, Race & Violence in Video Games
Generation M: Misogyny in Media and Culture
Guyland: Where Boys Become Men
Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes
The Illusionists: The Globalization of Beauty
Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising's Image of Women
Latinos Beyond Reel: Challenging a Media Stereotype
The Mask You Live In: The Representation Project
The Mean World Syndrome: Media Violence & the Cultivation of Fear
More Than a Word: Native American-Based Sports Mascots
No Logo: Brands Globalization Resistance
The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Do Not Need
Playing Unfair: The Media Image of the Female Athlete
Pride Denied: Homonationalism and the Future of Queer Politics
Sext Up Kids: How Children are Becoming Hypersexualized
Slim Hopes: Advertising & the Obsession with Thinness
Souls of Black Girls: The IMage of Women of Color in the Media
Tough Guise: Violence, Media and the Crisis in Masculinity
Tough Guise 2: Violence, Manhood & American Culture
Wrestling with Manhood: Boys, Bullying and Battering
Brand New You: Makeover Television and the American Dream
The Bro Code: How Contemporary Culture Creates Sexist Men
The Codes of Gender: Identity and Performance in Pop Culture
Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood
Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex & Power in Music Video
Empathy Gap: Masculinity and the Courage to Change
Game Over: Gender, Race & Violence in Video Games
Generation M: Misogyny in Media and Culture
Guyland: Where Boys Become Men
Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes
The Illusionists: The Globalization of Beauty
Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising's Image of Women
Latinos Beyond Reel: Challenging a Media Stereotype
The Mask You Live In: The Representation Project
The Mean World Syndrome: Media Violence & the Cultivation of Fear
More Than a Word: Native American-Based Sports Mascots
No Logo: Brands Globalization Resistance
The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Do Not Need
Playing Unfair: The Media Image of the Female Athlete
Pride Denied: Homonationalism and the Future of Queer Politics
Sext Up Kids: How Children are Becoming Hypersexualized
Slim Hopes: Advertising & the Obsession with Thinness
Souls of Black Girls: The IMage of Women of Color in the Media
Tough Guise: Violence, Media and the Crisis in Masculinity
Tough Guise 2: Violence, Manhood & American Culture
Wrestling with Manhood: Boys, Bullying and Battering
Game Changers includes Ralph Lauren, Mark Cuban, Netflix Reed Hastings, Jeff Bezos, Oracle Larry Ellison, Jay-Z, J.K. Rowling, and Mark Zuckerberg
Gameplay
Role-Playing Games: Crash Course Games #18
Should You Really Play Video Games?
Virtual Worlds: Inside Online Games
Top Gun: Video Gaming Obsession and Addiction
Gameplay
Role-Playing Games: Crash Course Games #18
Should You Really Play Video Games?
Virtual Worlds: Inside Online Games
Top Gun: Video Gaming Obsession and Addiction
Pop Culture News, Blogs, Magazines, and Other Related
- The Atlantic
- The Cut
- Daily Beast
- Elle
- Jezebel
- NewNowNext: LGBT News, Entertainment & Current Events
- Pop Culture Brain
- PopCultHQ: Conventions, Cosplay, Comics, and more
- PopMatters
- The Ringer: Pop Culture
- Slate: Culture
- Teen Vogue
- Vogue
- Binge Mode (The Ringer)
- Culture Gabfest
- Decoder Ring (Slate)
- Keep It
- Pop Culture Happy Hour (NPR)
- The Read
- The Watch (The Ringer)