Lydia Kellow Bennett, assistant professor of African American and African studies, will be teaching “AAS 275: Black Women in Popular Culture” in the winter 2024 semester. Students in this four-credit course of hers read theories about media consumption and what it means to be a Black woman in society, and analyze depictions of Black women in the media. scandal Memoirs of former first lady Michelle Obama Become.
After coming to the University of Michigan as an assistant professor in 2018, Kellow-Bennett offered to teach AAS 275 as her first course. Originally designed as a first-year seminar course for up to 18 students, the enrollment cap was gradually increased each semester. Approximately 70 students are enrolled this semester. In an interview with the Michigan Daily, Kellow-Bennett said her fascination with her class is growing.
“It’s a fun course, but we’re really serious about it,” Kellough-Bennett said. “It’s the perfect mix of entertainment and deep, important questions about race, gender, sexuality, class and national belonging.”
Professor Kellow-Bennett said the course is taken by a variety of majors and grade levels, but is particularly popular with students seeking to study in African American and African Studies departments.
“This is a 200-level course, so first- through fourth-year students take this class,” Kelow-Bennett said. “They want to take some kind of class on black popular culture, but maybe they’re science majors or maybe they just have a very busy major schedule. It’s also very appealing to first- and second-year students who are considering it as a major.”
Kellow-Bennett creates a classroom environment where students can respectfully discuss difficult topics, especially since the majority of her classes are made up of black students and women of color and queer students of color. He explained how he is working towards this goal.
“Everyone is willing to engage in difficult conversations in a way that is very respectful, open to learning, and willing to make honest mistakes,” Kellow-Bennett said. “We can’t do everything right all the time. Sometimes we have questions or concerns and we don’t know how to say them, but I’ve benefited a lot in my classroom community. If you are asking a question in good faith, we will respond to it.”
According to Kelow-Bennett, the course is designed to utilize interdisciplinary subject matter and meets LSA’s interdisciplinary course distribution requirements.
“Black studies itself is an inherently interdisciplinary field,” Kellow-Bennett says. “We always draw on history. Also, different approaches are used to think about race. It can be social science-based, such as sociology, literature, anthropology, or even political science, or it can be social science-based, such as art or music. It could be a humanities-based one.”
Kellow-Bennett said she has seen first-hand the impact this course has on students, helping them not only increase their knowledge of the subject matter, but also strengthen their critical thinking skills.
“Many students said this course really helped them understand how race, gender, and sexuality function in our society,” Kellough-Bennett said. “It allows them to speak more confidently about controversial issues in our society, but it’s also just a fact that every society has race, gender and sexuality. Yes, students seem to leave my courses feeling more competent and more comfortable talking about these issues.”
In an interview with The Daily, LSA freshman Gabriele Shepherd explained how her identity as a Black woman influenced her decision to take AAS 275.
“The main reason I took this class is because I want to go into entertainment and politics,” Shepherd said. “It’s important to understand how Black women are viewed in the media and popular culture, because if I were to have any success[in these areas]I would be one of those people. Because…I grew up watching it all the time, and I want to have the vocabulary to actually talk about it.”
Shepherd said she believes Kellow-Bennett contributes thoughtfully to the classroom environment, often intentionally creating space for students to discuss and respond to class content. Ta.
“She takes the time for us to voice our opinions. She’s always open for us to talk,” Shepherd said. “We watched the documentary Ethnic Concepts, and it was a very heavy subject, so she set aside some time after the movie for us to just sit around. After filming, we relaxed and I It’s so important that we have 15 minutes to talk about what we saw and how it made us feel.”
Shepherd said students who have not taken the course may misunderstand the theme or intent of the course based on the title or description.
“If you look at this class from the outside, you’re like, ‘Oh, a bunch of people are just watching Meg Thee Stallion’s ‘HISS’ and Nicki Minaj’s ‘Big Foot’ in class.” Deaf,” Shepherd said. “‘They’re listening to music. They’re not doing anything.’ No, we’re dissecting what was going on, everything leading up to that moment.”
In an interview with the Daily, LSA junior Jordan Jones said he took the course because its teaching principles and philosophy resonated with him.
“It was a class that I wanted to take because it aligns with some of my values and ideologies that I hold,” Jones said. “I consider myself a feminist, and I know that this class is essentially about Black feminism and Black expression.”
Mr. Jones said he admired Mr. Kellow-Bennett’s ability to effectively facilitate class discussion.
“She’s funny and very witty,” Jones said. “I really appreciate her. She makes it very easy to talk to. She doesn’t judge people by what they think.”
Mr. Jones attested to the diversity of students taking part in this course and encouraged anyone interested in the subject, regardless of their cultural identity, to take this course.
“Just because it says ‘Black women in popular culture’ doesn’t mean it’s limited to just Black students,” Jones said. “It’s a very diverse class.”
Daily staff reporter Thomas Gala-Garza can be reached at [email protected].