This past year, Dr. Colin Helb was selected to serve as the Internet Cultural Studies Chair for the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association. The PCA/ACA seeks to analyze and examine trends in online media, as well as promote and establish conferences and publications among scholars and graduate students. It seeks to identify where the new research is and promotes collaboration between professionals in the field of popular culture. Since its creation in 1997, the PCA/ACA has partnered with popular cultural organizations all over the world.
Helb’s students are aware of his enthusiasm about popular culture, which is demonstrated by his ability to integrate Internet culture with the material he is teaching.
When asked about Helb’s teaching style, senior communications major Ryan Mitchell, who has had Helb as a professor, said, “I think any time a professor can educate and entertain their students they are doing their job. Dr. Helb knows a lot about pop culture, and you can really see that through his discussions and comparisons to class material. It is easy to enjoy the level of pop culture that Dr. Helb brings to any of his classes because he is an expert in that field and we, the students, get an inside glimpse at a culture that is constantly changing and evolving.”
Helb’s branch of the PCA/ACA, Internet Cultural Studies, seeks to express its values and identities through music, media, artwork, video and any other of the myriad of forms that are available on the Internet. This branch of the PCA/ACA is looking to analyze how people can express themselves through technology and the Internet in today’s world where with the touch of a button, a person in the middle of Kansas can be connected with a group of people across the globe in Japan.
The PCA/ACA and the Internet Culture Studies can provide research and information that can be accessible to communication majors, such as explanations of how to use the Internet to learn how to effectively advertise, how to reach people through social media and how to connect with several generations of people who are now expressing themselves through the Internet.