From Secretary Pools to Civil Rights: Pedagogy of “Mad Men” as Curriculum and Cultural Practice

• In Event: Roundtable Session 47
  In Roundtable Session: Using Popular Culture to Explore the Sociocultural Aspects of Learning

Abstract

We advance a conceptual theoretical piece that explores pedagogical attributes of the popular television series Mad Men. Drawing upon the first two seasons of Mad Men and public examples and responses gathered from anecdotes, online forums, media interviews, as well as scholarly research on both Mad Men and theoretical issues of history, pedagogy, and memory, this paper situates the reception of Mad Men within the American public imagination.

Mobilizing Seixas’ (2005) framework, paired with visual cultural approach, we consider moral values and modes of moral reasoning provide a foundation for thinking about historical concepts and contemporary curriculum through media pedagogical effects in relation to identity politics- namely race, gender, sexuality.

Authors

• Stephanie Troutman, Berea College

• Mark Helmsing, Michigan State University