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Higher Education in Popular Culture
EDHE 600 (Special Topics) - Open to Graduate and Advanced Undergraduates
​Spring 2022
About the Course

EDHE 600-001 (CRN: 56566​)
Thursdays, 1:10 - 4:00 p.m.
Wardlaw College, Room 274-O

In this course we study how higher education is portrayed in popular culture—fiction, film, TV, music, theatre, comics, video games—and analyze what these texts and images mean. We will also read the literature on higher education in popular culture.
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Some of the questions we will ask include: What do these representations of campus life and culture mean to the study of higher education? How accurate are fictional portrayals of colleges, universities, faculty, and students? (And what does it mean if they are accurate—or not?) What can we learn about other areas of study in higher education—organization, administration, finance, student development, professorial roles, athletics, and so on—through these depictions? How are different institutional types (e.g., HBCUs, community colleges) represented and why? How are gender, race, and class depicted in these media—and how have these depictions changed over time?

Students will have the option to produce creative work such as those studied in the course.

Of course, we will also have fun looking (and laughing) at these depictions of higher education. Students will have the option to produce creative work such as those studied in the course.​

  • Flyer About the Course
  • Syllabus for "Higher Education in Popular Culture" 
  • Open to graduate students and advanced undergraduate students from any department or college as well as UofSC employees who wish to take it as a non-degree course. 
About the Instructor

Dr. Christian K. Anderson is associate professor of higher education at USC. He holds a BA in Spanish literature from the University of Utah and a Ph.D. in higher education from Penn State. He has published and presented several works about academic fiction and has taught this course at UofSC since 2008. Relevant publications and presentations are listed below.

Anderson, Christian K. (2025) Review of The Scientist in Popular Culture: Playing God and Working Wonders By Janicker Rebecca (ed.), Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2022. 236 pp. Journal of American Culture. 

York, Erin H. and Christian K. Anderson (2022). “Images of Two-Year Institutions in Popular Culture: Before and After the Sitcom, Community.” American Educational History Journal 49: 111-124. 

Schoeman, F.K. & Christian K. Anderson (2021). “Funny Professors, Serious Lessons: An Analysis of the Image of Jews as Academics in Film.” Jewish Film & New Media: An International Journal 8 (No. 2), 153-85.

Anderson, Christian K. & Katherine E. Chaddock, (2017). “Humor in Academic Fiction:  From Subtle Satire to LMAO.” In Barbara F. Tobolowsky and Pauline Reynolds (Eds.), Anti-Intellectual Representations of American Colleges and Universities: Fictional Higher Education (pp. 15-32). New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

Anderson, Christian K. (Moderator), Andrew Muscato, Trish Dalton, Josh Fine, & Richard Southall (April 12, 2017). “The Role of Research in College-Sport Documentary Filmmaking.” College Sport Research Institute Conference. Columbia, South Carolina.

Anderson, Christian K. (February 12, 2016). “Fictional Students, Professors, and…Student Affairs Professionals?” Keynote address, Maryland Student Affairs Conference. College Park, Maryland.

Anderson, Christian K. (October 1, 2015). “The Realities of the Fictional Campus.” Keynote address to kick off year-long series on “The Academic Novel at the University.” University of Toledo. Toledo, Ohio.

Anderson, Christian K. & Daniel Clark (2012). “Imagining Harvard: Changing Visions of Harvard in Fiction, 1890-1940.” American Educational History Journal 39(1), 181-199.  
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Morgan, Grant, Christian K. Anderson, & Barbara Tobolowsky. (2010). “Using Short Stories in Higher Education Courses.” Academic Exchange 14, 203-208.

Anderson, Christian K. & John R. Thelin (2009). “Campus Life Revealed: Tracking Down the Rich Resources of American Collegiate Fiction.” Journal of Higher Education 80(1), 106-113.

Anderson, Christian K. & Daniel Clark (November 6, 2010). “Imagining Harvard: Changing Visions of Harvard in Fiction, 1890-1940.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the History of Education Society. Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Anderson, Christian K. & Kyle Mallinak (November 7, 2008). “College Novels in the Twenty-First Century.” Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education. Jacksonville, Florida.

Anderson, Christian K. (November 4, 2006). “The Straight Man in Academic Fiction.” Paper presented as part of the symposium, “Truth is Strangest in Fiction: A Conversation About the Evolution and Influence of Academic Novels,” at the annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education. Anaheim, California.

And a post about "Footnote" on my blog from 2012.