Popular Culture Undergraduate Program

Bowling Green State University is the only institution in the nation to have a Department of Popular Culture. Each year more than one thousand students enrich their undergraduate education with courses in Popular Culture through our Department. While this major is certainly not for everyone, our undergraduate minors in Popular Culture and Folklore and our general education courses provide excellent support for a multitude of majors and career programs.

Students who major in Popular Culture receive a well-rounded Bachelor of Arts degree which helps them to prepare for dozens of specific and general career goals. Popular Culture students study those aspects of national and international culture which have the most impact on a majority of the population. The field includes the study of television, popular music, popular literature such as magazines and best sellers, sports, amusement parks, and movies. Students examine how and why people select their entertainment, what such things as television programs and movies mean to those who watch them, how popular products such as records and compact discs are marketed, and how all aspects of our daily lives influence our basic beliefs and values.

Training in Popular Culture can prepare students for many careers. Past graduates have gained positions in small museums, with major photographic firms, in various mass media industries, as consultants in a number of fields, in colleges as Student Program Directors, as distributors of recorded music, in radio and television stations, in public relations, and in the general business field. The Popular Culture major is an individually designed and planned program which allows students to develop specializations in dozens of specific areas.

Recent trends in business and industry hiring indicate that Liberal Arts graduates are highly desirable and that Liberal Arts students are often selected over business students for entry-level positions. And you will not find a better, more complete Liberal Arts degree than the one offered in our program. While no program at BGSU can guarantee that you will find employment immediately after graduation, graduates of our program have done very well indeed.