Abstract:

Stereotypes are widely used in various forms of popular culture, including series, comic shows, commercials, memes, magazine articles, video games, etc. Our collective consciousness is bombarded with gender, ethnic, religious, national and other stereotypes, which precipitates the appearance of unconscious bias and prejudice. At the same time stereotypes play the key role in categorization and thus in cognition, and serve as an important tool of processing information about the surrounding world. Knowing how stereotypes function, how they may be employed in mass media and popular culture enables the recipients of the information flow to recognize and detect stereotypical images. Analysis of stereotypes is of high importance for university students majoring in Journalism and Public Relations. This study describes a research project meant for university students learning English as a foreign language at the Department of International Journalism in Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University, Russia). Making students aware of the various ways stereotyping is employed in mass culture by encouraging them to find and analyze specific stereotypical images contributes to the development of critical thinking skills, including the ability to challenge assumptions and avoid bias.

Keywords:

Social stereotypes, stereotypical images, unconscious bias, prejudice, functions of stereotyping, critical thinking.