NSU Horizons Fall 2010

32 horizons I t may come as a surprise that an honors seminar at Nova Southeastern University led a biology major on the premed track to buy his first motorcycle. Or that a doctoral business student would be introduced to a legendary rock-music band through a strategic management course. Pop-culture courses, and references to pop culture in traditional courses, are gaining ground at NSU. While motorcycles and rock music sound less than the stuff that higher education is made of, faculty members and students say their value should not be underestimated. “I find that students are more invested in the subject, and able to understand the more difficult aspects of what we might teach if they can use their frame of reference,” said Jessica Garcia-Brown, J.D., an associate professor at the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences. The college began offering the pop-culture course, The CSI Effect: Media and Criminal Justice, for the first time in fall 2010. “The course illustrates how television programs, such as CSI , influence the public’s perception of criminal justice, and how fiction is often mistaken for reality,” said Garcia-Brown. pop culture enters academia By Michelle F. Solomon