Salt and pepper shakers, souvenir snow globes, cake toppers, and fast-food give-away toys, have a lot to say about the United States. This course examines 20th-century American popular culture, visual and material, to understand how it reinforces socio-political ideologies related to race, gender, ethnicity, indigeneity, sexuality, ableism, class, and nationalism. We look at such topics as Disney, Barbie dolls, cars, TV, cowboys, and plastics, among others, exploring common and stereotypical concepts such as “The American Dream” in connection to democracy, capitalism, and patriarchy. We revisit the debate between high and low art and matters of taste and kitsch. Drawing on cultural studies, students have weekly reading assignments and are expected to participate actively in discussions that connect the readings to images viewed in class. Students make presentations and write short papers on subjects of their own choosing. Our goal is to understand the significance of the popular objects, events, and technologies of everyday life in the 20th century—and how they continue to play out the ‘values’ of the United States at home and abroad.