The Universal Language of Pop Culture | Casey Covel | TEDxCapeCanaveral

[Applause] did you know that you speak another language I'd like to invite you to be part of a social experiment I'm going to flash some images on the screen and if you see something you recognize or that makes you feel excited please give a quick Applause or feel free to cheer here we go thank you [Applause] congratulations you just connected with 100 total strangers in this room through the language of pop culture pop culture is all around us every day the books we read the clothes we wear the sports teams we cheer for the music we listen to but my favorite kind of pop culture is storytelling based media books movies anime video games and I'm not alone clearly according to statistics half of you planned to see Avengers in-game in theaters almost 70 percent of you play video games and raise your hand if you have seen Disney's Frozen everyone make a note these might be the people responsible for tripling internet searches for Norway flights back in 2014. when I became a career center coordinator at Eastern Florida State College I wanted to use pop culture to connect with students specifically through fictional stories and characters I created an event called superhero week with a very simple premise students come to the career center take a personality assessment and learn what superheroes share their personality type my goal is to see if pop culture would draw in students who might otherwise never visit the career center and thus miss out on its potentially life-changing benefits this event exploded Services went up by over 400 percent that week for most students it was their very first visit to the career center ever what happened what was the magic that Drew students to the career center I believe it was the universal language of pop culture something about superheroes meant so much to these students they were willing to go out of their way to be part of this event during finals week yeah I have this distinct memory of students walking past the career center doorway stopping backing up doing a double take and then finally walking in the office why because they'd see something like this my hero Academia poster on the wall one student actually smiled at it and said I feel so at home here after a whole week of these types of encounters I had to ask myself why do we get so invested in fictional stories and characters and how can we use that investment to connect with students in education let's start with that first question in my journal from when I was about 10 like many kids my age I have written I want to be a hero when I grow up you guys can say ah I loved stories about heroes I still do as a kid Spider-Man was my all-time favorite superhero and if you'd asked little Casey to name other Heroes she would have said Batman Superman Aquaman and all these characters are great but it wasn't until little Casey saw The Incredibles in theaters that she saw a female superhero on the big screen and that moment changed her perspective because she realized someone like her could be a hero too now think back to the images you saw at the beginning of this presentation you clapped not just because you recognized them but because they meant something to you we all remember our shock when spoiler warning Darth Vader revealed he was Luke's father we can't forget the Goosebumps we got when Circle of Life Hit That top note as Simba was lifted into the air these strong images mentally transport us into the story and when this happens the part of our brains that would typically debate the realism of a talking lion gets shut off in fact access to our identity gets redirected toward the character and we momentarily see through the characters eyes through a character's experiences we might think about our own lives and memories we might even find validation in a character's emotional or physical Journey if you've been through something a difficulty like depression and you watch a character go through that same struggle it may give you a new perspective that helps you understand yourself or your situation better during superhero week a student approached me very shy speaking in a low voice I actually had to lean in to hear what they were saying they asked me about the personality type of a character from my hero Academia named present Mike and I gave my best guess and the student told me something that has stuck with me they said I have a special connection with this character I don't really understand myself sometimes but I understand him and he helps me understand myself because I see myself in him sometimes fiction gives us mental models not just for how to live but also for Who We Are a character might reveal who we have the potential to become or give us an example we can point to so that others can understand us better millions of anime fans know this present might character and by using him as an example the student was able to create a lightning quick yet deeply personal connection with me because we both understood what this character was like now you might be thinking Casey this all sounds a bit weird but hundreds of studies document the powerful impact that stories have on us here's just one of my all-time favorite Neuroscience discoveries a team of researchers led by Timothy Broome at Ohio State University discovered that when you think about a character that you identify with you see yourself in you relate to your brain activates one of the same areas that it activates when you're thinking about yourself your identity and the character's identity intertwine in your brain you neurologically integrate the character into your self concept and is it any Wonder we spend hours days weeks months sometimes years with these characters and stories investing our time emotions and energy into them but when we invest like this we're not simply pouring ourselves into an obsession we're laying the groundwork for making meaningful connections with others let me give you an example I want you all to think about one of your favorite characters maybe even a character you think most people in this audience wouldn't be familiar with got it now imagine you're at the mall your favorite coffee shop you're at college you're at a casual closed day at work and you run into someone a complete stranger who is wearing a t-shirt that references your favorite character you might feel excited you might feel seen you might like the great C.S Lewis think you too I thought I was the only one and make a new friend you feel like you know this person and in a way you do because they share a wealth of experiences with you all through a character or story that matters to you before you've even had a conversation with this person you've created a connection through the language of pop culture and what's truly amazing to me about this is that pop culture passes the language barrier completely this photo is from an event in Japan called Wonder Festival it's the largest event of its kind in the world this guy I'm posing with is like six five he's from somewhere in Europe doesn't speak English I have no idea what he does for a living whether he has kids or if he's ever been to jail all I know is that he is dressed as Vash the Stampede my all-time favorite anime character so when I see him walking by I wave at him he waves at me I run over to him he runs over to me we meet in the middle and we exchange our love for this story and character through non-verbals which had to be of course commemorated with a photo why do we love fictional stories and characters because it takes they take what is inside of us our experiences our memories our emotions our personal brand of weirdness and helps us make meaning with it and connect to other people maybe you saw the most recent Marvel film in theaters with your parent child or grandchild and so that story has now become important to you because of the memories you attached to it maybe you grew up playing The Legend of Zelda on the SNES or Animal Crossing during the pandemic and these titles have become synonymous with Nostalgia connection and wonder fiction is encoded with meaning both profoundly personal and comprehensively global when we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas or we read The Hound of the Baskervilles we're consuming content as part of a worldwide hive mind millions of others share our experience in their own time language and culture and yet each of us will also take something deeply personal away from the experience as well Millions have read or watched The Lord of the Rings but some will specifically relate to Frodo and his difficult Journey comparing it to their own struggles with chronic illness or addiction or depression we take a piece of the story with us sometimes forever how does this apply to education here's one small glimpse there's a phenomenon called the CSI effect it was coined because crime dramas begin affecting perceptions of real world crimes the field of forensic science is getting a boost in program enrollment because people are discovering it through television in particular women's interest and enrollment in STEM related College Programs has increased shows such as bones or CSI that feature female characters in lead forensic science roles help female viewers create new mental models in their minds mental models where they too can successfully enter these professions this phenomenon is hardly exclusive to forensic science fictional attorneys Phoenix Wright and Atticus Finch have facilitated careers in law Dr Meredith Gray from Gray's Anatomy has motivated women to enter the medical field and the film Dead Poet Society has fostered inspiration in a generation of teachers even though depictions of these careers are often sensationalized fiction creates that initial spark of interest that becomes a blazing fire let's go back to superhero week at Eastern Florida State College and why it worked gen z comprises a majority of Eastern Florida State College's student population among other things gen Z values authenticity peer opinion and the quick exchange of information superhero week allowed us to speak to these values the career center staff proved that they had real knowledge about superheroes we weren't just using superheroes to trick students into visiting the career center we were just as passionate about these stories and characters and this left students feeling like we had invested in them really taking the time to celebrate something that mattered to them and guess what they came back the next day not just with their homemade Thor hammers true story but also with their friends gen Z trusts peer insight and so when they heard about the event through friends and classmates more students showed up to participate lastly the superhero theme of the event allowed the students to digest its purpose quickly but it wasn't just gen Z that this event reached the superheroes created a relational shortcut that brought parents teachers staff prospective students to the career center for most students it was their very first visit ever and having that first touch Point made them feel like they could come back that they were understood what began as a connection forged through a fictional character became an investment in that student's future efsc is not the only educational institution discovering the power of pop culture for example video game sports or Esports teams are becoming commonplace at many colleges and high schools one in every five in fact and the results speak for themselves the high school Esports League curriculum led to a 95 Improvement in attendance and an average of 1.4 GPA increase elsewhere at Lexington Senior High School teachers improved at-risk students test scores by incorporating rap music and video clips into the lessons Ohio State University saw similar results when it Incorporated superheroes into its anatomy and physiology class for those of you who don't know anatomy and physiology is one of the hardest prerequisite classes you can take in Health Sciences 97 of the students said they understood the information better Clark house publishing did a three-year study across five college campuses to discover what students think about pop culture and how it's being used in classrooms even though 71 percent of the students were interested in music and 68 were interested in movies at most only 19 of classes were using these I want to leave you with one final story superhero week allowed me to connect with many different student populations among which were students who had social anxiety or who felt like they didn't belong one day I was walking around the campus dressed in a superhero costume to advertise the event and I hear these feet barreling up behind me like a freight train and I turn around and there's a student standing there with this happy puppy dog expression and he says can I hug you please and I said sure why not and then he looked me in the eye and he said thank you for not judging me and we got to talking and he explained that like 50 000 attendees at Megacon this past year he liked to dress up in costume and go to pop culture events and he had faced bullying and ridicule for this Hobby by investing in something that mattered to him I made him feel like he could open up to me not just about his Hobbies but about his major his career his future could I have achieved that same level of trust another way Maybe but maybe not in an instant at an instant can make a big difference it's time to rethink the relationship between pop culture and education in some way we are all Educators to our children grandchildren mentees employees the next generation of human beings and of course to our students current and future educators you speak the universal language of Pop Culture imagine the possibilities how will you use it to connect with your students thank you [Applause]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 1,222

Keywords: Academic, Connection, Culture, Education, English, Pop Culture, TEDxTalks, [TEDxEID:53205]

Id: bC84B7N_4iI

Length: 16min 2sec (962 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 07 2023