Academic

Is it, like, ok 2 talk abt Britney n class?

By Kevin Maillard

Admit it! You know you love Britney Spears!  Her music is cheesy but catchy (toxic?), and I 'm a slave to it.  I must have (give me) more.  Her acting is questionable, but I have a sick appreciation for Crossroads.  I have been to known to follow her whereabouts via invasive paparazzi videos on Youtube.  I read other people's copies of Us Weekly, skipping over the stuff on shoes and bags.  Us is much more authoritative than Star--good photos--and In Touch--cheap, but aimed at Midwestern women--and People--which has too much about regular people.

But is such a subject rrrrigorous?  What sort of jurisprudential merit might we glean from Britney Spears?  One might feign disinterest in Ms. Spears, in an elevated attempt to align one's intellectual and cultural interests to the upper right quartile of the approval matrix.  Admitting to following developments in her life detracts from important issues such as international security and counterterrorism, subject matter jurisdiction, and the subprime mortgage crisis.  Perhaps.

It is undeniable, however, that the woman is a walking legal subject unto herself.  Copyright Law.  Family Law.  Conflict of Laws.  Wills and Trusts.  Land Use Law. (She moves at least every 8 months, and no one wants her as a neighbor).  Privacy Law.  Mental Health Law.   From a Family Law perspective, however, This Week in Britney perfectly mirrors almost every issue that we have or will cover in class.  Marriage?  She has two.  Annulment? The 55 hour marriage.  Custody?   Kevin vs. Britney.  Mental stability?  A whole kettle of fish.  Children?  Students truly understand the concept of best interest of the child in this context.

The pedagogical rewards from the inclusion of popular culture in the classroom are immense.  One of the best classes that I have ever taught involved a custody hearing (and this was last year, ages ago in the Britney timeline) of Spears v. Federline.  The students were extraordinarily serious and circumspect, and they dived into the project with all the satisfaction of a Jenny Craig champion at the 25th reunion.  Bridging the world they see and the regime that they learn is likely to stay with them long after the exam.  The process of intellectualizing the everyday forces personal engagement of our minds with our surroundings.  Segregating the two, like church and state (?) only maintains an unnecessary and irrational facade of scholarship and learning as solely worthy of rigorous subjects.

So is it better to engage popular culture in the classroom, or is it better to Leave Britney Alone?

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on February 28, 2008 (boomark / email).