Popular Culture Studies under Attack at American Universities

This paper is an edited transcript of a panel discussion which took place at an educational conference about the current state of popular culture studies at American colleges and universities. First touching on the number of university media departments being disbanded in general across the country, the discussion focuses on several questions: whether popular culture studies are, in fact, under attack at universities; whether there is any connection between recent cutbacks and the conservative critique of higher education; how widespread are eliminations, proposed eliminations, and actual downsizing in programs of interest to those in popular culture studies; whether cutbacks are disproportionately directed against certain programs (such as library science, media studies, speech communication, women's studies, etc.); to what extent program cuts address real problems, or would less draconian measures address problems equally as well; whether tenure denials and other indirect means are used for the purpose of preventing growth of departments and disciplines; the role of administrators in causing or preventing elimination; and what should be the proper response of the faculty and of professional organizations to program cuts. Each member on the discussion panel in turn recounts his or her particular experiences with the subject in question and how things have played out on the campus with which he or she is familiar. (NKA)