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Theatre and Pop Culture Program

Overview

The Theatre and Pop Culture program explores the intersections between theatre and pop culture media, including film, music, journalism, and social media. Students will be provided with a toolkit of key concepts from theatre studies applicable to conducting critical analyses of current trends in pop culture and performance.

Course Details

• Code/Units: DRAM 103 (formerly DRAM 205)/3.0
• Prerequisites: TBA
• Exclusions: DRAM 205
• Language: English
• Discipline: Drama
• Faculty: Arts and Science
• Program Year: 2

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Define key concepts from theatre studies applicable to analyzing performance in pop culture & media, including theatricality, affect, performativity, and representation.
• Reflect upon their personal experience as a spectator/consumer of popular culture & media using insights from theatre studies.
• Identify and develop productive and well-grounded connections between course concepts and examples of performance in popular culture & media.
• Apply course concepts to critically analyze performance in popular culture & media with an emphasis towards Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity, and Indigeneity (EDII).
• Communicate connections worth sharing with others in an accessible, engaging, and concise way that is well-supported by analysis.

Topics

The course includes 11 modules, each comprised of a collection of readings, narrated PowerPoints, videos, and podcast commentaries on topics related to Theatre and Pop Culture, including:

• MODULE 1 – Introducing Theatre and Pop Culture
• MODULE 2 – Identifying Theatricality
• MODULE 3 – Performing Authenticity
• MODULE 4 – Drag and the Theatricalization of Gender
• MODULE 5 – The Analysis Project
• MODULE 6 – Musicals as Happiness Machines
• MODULE 7 – Interrogating Representation
• MODULE 8 – Liveness and the Art of Failure
• MODULE 9 – Theatricality in Pop Music
• MODULE 10 – TikTok Dances and Other Social Media Performances
• MODULE 11 – Case Study: the Work of Kent Monkman

Terms

• Winter 2026
• Course Dates: January 5 – April 6, 2026
• Exam Dates (if applicable): April 9 – 23, 2026
• Delivery Mode: Online

Evaluation

• 25% - Module Completion Task (best 40 of 44)
• 25% - Discussion Forums (x4)
• 15% - Pop Culture Analysis Project: Slide Doc Proposal
• 5% - Pop Culture Analysis Project: Peer Collaborative Feedback
• 30% - Pop Culture Analysis Project: Final Submission
• Evaluation Subject to Change

Textbook and Materials

Required screenings & readings are listed on the Course Timeline. Wherever possible, Queen's has acquired copyright permission to share these resources with students at no cost. Where copyright permission could not be secured, students will be asked to rent or purchase streaming versions of the materials, with total costs not exceeding $50 (CDN).

Time Commitment

Students should expect to invest on average 8 hours per week (100 hours total) in this course, including time spent studying course material, practicing course objectives, and participating in course activities and assessments. A typical module will take between 4 and 6 hours to complete. In addition to regular weekly work, there is also a scaffolded analysis project that students will work on throughout the term.