Using Pop Culture to Spark Student Engagement: Professor Shawn Foles Reimagines the Classroom

Published: May 27, 2025

Author: Liz Dowell

For Professor Shawn Foles, student engagement isn’t just a pedagogical buzzword—it’s a call to action.

At this year’s Common Day of Scholars, Professor Foles gave an energetic, pop culture-packed talk titled “Pop Culture Pedagogy. " The talk centered around one urgent question: How do we reach students in a digital world saturated with distractions?

“Engagement is getting harder and harder,” Professor Foles admitted. “We live in a world where attention spans are shrinking, where students are bombarded with 10,000 digital ads a day. So we have to meet them where they’re at—and for me, that means pop culture.”

Professor Foles’ premise was simple but revolutionary: Students are already consuming stories. Why not teach through them?

WHY POP CULTURE WORKS

Using everything from comic books to courtroom dramas, Professor Foles made a compelling case for what scholars call Pop Culture Pedagogy: the intentional use of music, television, movies, and internet culture to reinforce core academic concepts.

“Pop culture isn’t just noise,” he argued. “Our brains are already wired to store and process stories. So, when we use what students already know—what they already love—we’re building on existing neural pathways."

According to Professor Foles, this approach creates emotional resonance and stronger memory retention. “Nature is lazy,” he quipped. “It’ll take the path of least resistance. So, let’s make that path work in the classroom.”

FROM COMIC BOOKS TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Professor Foles, a self-proclaimed comic book nerd with “adult money,” pointed out that Marvel comics alone represent the most extended ongoing fictional narrative in history, with over 58,000 issues in print. He’s used everything from X-Men to Daredevil to explore real-world legal, ethical, and sociological questions.

“The X-Men are a civil rights allegory," he explained. "Charles Xavier believes in peaceful coexistence. Magneto believes in subjugation and retaliation. That’s King and Malcolm X. That’s history through superheroes.”

He’s also integrated media like The Resident to spark discussions around healthcare ethics and Abbott Elementary to dissect administrative leadership in education. “I’m telling you, Principal Ava is the perfect case study in how not to lead a school,” he laughed.

THE RESEARCH BACKS IT UP

Professor Foles cited studies showing that integrating popular culture into coursework can increase enthusiasm, especially in linguistically or culturally diverse classrooms. It also encourages critical thinking and media literacy skills that students can carry beyond graduation.

“Pop culture isn’t the enemy of scholarship,” he emphasized. “It’s a bridge to it.”

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS IN THE CLASSROOM

Throughout his talk, Professor Foles offered strategies for professors curious about applying this method in their fields:

• Scaffold using the familiar: Start with what students know, then build up to more complex ideas.
• Encourage creative assignments: Let students create music, scripts, or video essays tied to course themes.
• Use clips and case studies. A single scene from The Shawshank Redemption can open a conversation on institutionalization, and a verse from Kendrick Lamar can spark a discussion on justice.
• Facilitate discussions, not lectures: Allow students to draw their connections and critiques.

Professor Foles encouraged faculty to provide context even if students aren’t familiar with a specific show or movie. "You just need to lay the foundation," he said. A good story is still a good story, and students will meet you there."

SHIFTING THE MINDSET

Professor Foles closed by challenging fellow educators to be intentional about what they consume. "You're already watching Netflix, listening to music, scrolling TikTok," he said. The next step is to ask: What’s the message here? What could this teach?”

Perhaps more importantly, "How can this connect with the student who hasn't found their footing yet?"

For Professor Foles, this is the heart of teaching.

“You already have to teach the content,” he concluded. “Why not help them remember it? Why not help them feel it?”