Professor Goes Gaga: Teaching Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Professor Goes Gaga: Teaching Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame
Language: English
Authors: Deflem, Mathieu
Source: American Sociologist. Jun 2013 44(2):117-131.
Availability: Springer. 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-348-4505; e-mail: service-ny@springer.com; Web site: http://www.springerlink.com
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 15
Publication Date: 2013
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Descriptors: Teaching Experience, Sociology, Reputation, Autobiographies, College Students, Popular Culture, Higher Education, College Faculty, Faculty, Course Content, Curriculum, College Curriculum
Geographic Terms: South Carolina
DOI: 10.1007/s12108-013-9180-y
ISSN: 0003-1232
Abstract: This paper presents an account of the conditions and consequences of a university-level teaching experience in the sociology of fame centered on the case of Lady Gaga. When the course "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of the Fame" at the University of South Carolina was announced in the autumn of 2010, it became the number-one Lady Gaga news story, reported and discussed in a wide variety of internet sources and media outlets across the world. The unprecedented attention devoted to the course placed its instructor in an unexpected and unique position to experience various dimensions of contemporary celebrity culture while teaching on that very subject matter. This paper offers a sociological autobiography to discuss this experience as a manifestation of the reflexivity of social knowledge and the interplay between sociology and society.
Abstractor: As Provided
Number of References: 41
Entry Date: 2013
Accession Number: EJ1004211
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:This paper presents an account of the conditions and consequences of a university-level teaching experience in the sociology of fame centered on the case of Lady Gaga. When the course "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of the Fame" at the University of South Carolina was announced in the autumn of 2010, it became the number-one Lady Gaga news story, reported and discussed in a wide variety of internet sources and media outlets across the world. The unprecedented attention devoted to the course placed its instructor in an unexpected and unique position to experience various dimensions of contemporary celebrity culture while teaching on that very subject matter. This paper offers a sociological autobiography to discuss this experience as a manifestation of the reflexivity of social knowledge and the interplay between sociology and society.
ISSN:0003-1232
DOI:10.1007/s12108-013-9180-y