"While usually associated with facets of commercial culture, pop culture can and must be analyzed as an important part of material, economic, and political culture. The author begins by defining popular culture, outlining criticisms, and examining the impact of globalization on pop culture. She then explores mass media and popular culture (soap operas, Egyptian melodramas, Afro-Cuban rap music, and virtual communities), artistic expression and popular culture (graffiti art and body art), and gatherings and popular culture (fast food in Japan, equality in sport, and wedding rituals). Shirley A. Fedorak has served as the lead author on three Canadian editions of William Haviland's Cultural Anthropology and co-authored the first Canadian edition of Haviland's Human Evolution and Prehistory. Her most recent publications are Windows on the World: Case Studies in Anthropology and Anthropology Matters She taught for many years at the University of Saskatchewan and is currently teaching senior anthropology at Cairo American College in Egypt."