Learning

The Pop Culture Collaborative offers an array of learning tools to support field members, funders, and donors to immerse in visionary narrative change strategies, groundbreaking field building approaches, in-depth case studies, and fresh insights into communities, audiences and fandoms.

WHY Pop Culture?

Every day, millions of people immerse in television shows, films, music, books, games, social media, fandoms, and digital communities that bring us joy, feed our curiosity, and spark our imagination. But pop culture isn’t just fun—it is also the most influential arena in which people make meaning, form identities, find belonging, and discover the courage to take action. If we hope to realize a just and pluralist society, we need to invest in pop culture narrative change strategies.

Culture change ensures lasting change.

We define pop culture as the conversations, big ideas, major narratives, and immersive stories—films, TV shows, music, books, games, political speeches, journalism, digital content and conversations, and more—experienced by mass audiences of millions of people every day.

PUBLICATIONS

Explore resources that unpack field strategies and methodologies.

The Teflon Effect: The Enduring Power of Narrative Identity

From Stories to Systems:

Using a Narrative Systems Approach to Inform Narrative Change Strategy

Narrative Infrastructure for Narrative Immersion: A Strategic Grantmaking Framework

INCITE: Narrative Evaluation Framework

From The Help to Roma:

How The National Domestic Workers Alliance Is Transforming Narratives In Pop Culture

From Seven Seconds to When They See Us:

How Color Of Change Is Transforming Narratives In Pop Culture

Yearning for Wakanda:

Black Panther’s Role in Building the Cultural Influence and Political Power of Black People

#MakingJusticePop:

The Story of the Pop Culture Collaborative’s Impact at 5 Years

Grantmaking Strategy Spotlight: Artist-led Pipeline Solutions + Leadership Development

Grantmaking Strategy Spotlight:

Cross-Sector Collaboration

Grantmaking Strategy Spotlight: Culture Change Research

Connections & Accomplishments: A 2021 Pop Culture for Social Change Analysis

ARTICLES, VIDEOS & PODCASTS

Break The Story

Dive into the Pop Culture Collaborative’s Online Magazine

VOL 1: Imagining a Future Beyond White Supremacy

VOL 2: Recentering Power

VOL 3: Remaking Television

VOL 4: Disability Visibility

IMAGINATION REQUESTED

Take our four-part video masterclass for grantmakers and donors who want to understand how best to support field partners to transform the toxic narrative waters in the US and inspire millions of people to co-create a just and pluralist society where everyone belongs. Imagination Requested features the foundational frameworks and strategies developed and used by the Pop Culture Collaborative to design, test and evaluate our resourcing of the pop culture narrative change field.