To keep up with this teacher, students need to know their pop culture facts.

Rhetoric Special Lecturer Glen Armstrong’s curriculum circles around fan culture, music and comics.

“When I started teaching the McCloud comic, I was a little afraid that I would have fan boys in the back talking about whether or not Superman could beat up Hulk, but that’s never happened,” Armstrong said. “You’ve already played Pokémon and in my class, you can write a sophisticated paper about Pokémon, if you choose.”

Armstrong studied English at Wayne State University and shortly after moved to Massachusetts where he went to graduate school at the University of Massachusetts. While there, Armstrong had the opportunity to study poetry with Pulitzer Prize winner James Tate.

Outside of class, Armstrong is constantly thinking about interesting material he can incorporate into his classroom discussions.

“I’m constantly thinking about interesting things that I can bring to class … I teach on a pop culture theme with my class,” Armstrong said. “I’m always involved with listening and playing music, graphic novels and my artist friends.”

Assignments in Armstrong’s class are largely focused on pop culture, and have included a written defense over a CD of the student’s choice and a deeper look into fan culture anthropology, while the text is from an author who is an American cartoonist and theorist on comics.

“I do think the pop culture thing works pretty good in terms of student interest and getting people to think critically … the whole idea of taking on comics, movies or popular music, undergraduates tend to have some innate understanding or experience with it,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong says that he likes teaching on a pop culture basis because it gives his students an opportunity to talk.

Outside of the classroom, Armstrong hosts an open mic night every Saturday at the L.A. Café in Waterford.

Armstrong’s courses this semester include WRT 150 and 160, which consist of both levels of composition classes.