CULS 401 Practicing Media and Popular Culture Studies Prepares students with the tools and conventions of contemporary research in Media Studies and Popular Culture Studies in order to create a project proposal for the Cultural Studies Capstone Project course. Students learn how to identify an inquiry that interests them, develop that interest into a focused research problem, research for material related to their problem, and prepare a literature review summarizing how their inquiry relates to conversations already taking place within the field. After developing a focused inquiry, reviewing the existing literature, and articulating how they might contribute to ongoing conversations about their topic, students write a proposal that supports the development of a substantive piece of research in Media Studies and Popular Culture Studies.