Diversifying the Use of Pop Culture in the Classroom: Using K-pop to Teach Principles of Economics

Abstract

Economic educators have been teaching with pop culture for decades, but no primary work has identified media from foreign-language sources. We provide three teaching guides that capitalize on the growth of Korean popular music and can be integrated into the principles curriculum. The three artists chosen – BTS, BLACKPINK and EXOCBX – have huge global followings. Each online music video provides English subtitles and economic content. We provide summaries and discussion questions for educators wishing to use the music videos in their classrooms.

Keywords: Inclusive teaching, media, music, teaching economics

JEL Classification: A20, A21