Media Studies 101 - Shlossberg

Pavel Shlossberg

This survey course examines the cultural, political, and economic significance of contemporary mass media. Media industries, the technologies of communication, and the content that they deliver are rapidly changing and diversifying. What are the social, technological, and economic reasons behinds these developments, and what do they mean to us as media consumers, media professionals, and local, national and global citizens? As we examine these questions, we will also try to define communication, and why it matters.

Class Format:

Lectures will comment on the readings, and provide additional information about each week’s topics. Ample time will be set aside for open discussions and questions. We will watch TV and film clips, listen to radio excerpts, browse the Web, and examine newspapers and magazines. We will do these things to develop, clarify, and question the ideas brought up in lectures, readings, and discussions.

Requirements:

There will be two take-home writing assignments (where you will have to discuss and analyze media content), 1 in-class writing assignment, 2 multiple choice tests, and a cumulative comprehensive final exam. Short pop quizzes on the readings will be given throughout the semester.

Grade Distribution:

Writing assignments and tests 12.5% each (50% total) Participation and quizzes 10% Final 40%

Required Text and Additional Readings:

Joseph R. Dominick, The Dynamics of Mass Communication, available at the college bookstore. Additional readings will be available on RESERVE at the library.

Schedule

Week 1: Media Events and the Social Context of Mass Communication

Screening: JFK’s funeral, Princess Diana’s wedding, Sadat in Israel, etc.

Week 2: Transmission and Ritual: 2 Ways to Think About Communication

Reading: Dominick, pp. 3-28 Katz and Dayan, Media Events: On the Experience of Not Being There, excerpts

Week 3: Newspapers: Public Goods or Private Consumption?

Examine various newspapers and magazines Reading: Dominick, pp. 84-117 Overholster, Editor, Inc. (http://ajr.newslink.org/special/part7/html)

Week 4: Books and Radio: Comparing Mechanical and Electronic Forms of Communication

Listening: clips from radio programs Reading: Dominick, pp. 146-166, 170-196 Twitchell, Paperbacked Culture: How Candles Became Shoes, excerpts Assignment 1 Due

Week 5: Film, The Mouse that Roars

Screening: clips from Saving Private Ryan¸ Blue Velvet, The Matrix Reading: Dominick, pp. 226-256

Week 6: Electromagnetics, Circuits, and Packets: the Infrastructure of Mass Communication

Reading: Straubhaar and LaRose, excerpts

Week 7: Broadcast Television, the Mass Disseminator

Screenings: clips from broadcast television Reading: Dominick, pp. 258-297 Larson, Media and Minorities, excerpts Test 1

Week 8: Cable and Satellite Television: Towards One Million Channels or One Channel?

Screening: clips from cable television Reading: Katz, “And Deliver Us from Segmentation”

Week 9: The Internet and Other New Media: New in What Ways?

Reading: Dominick, pp. 300-323 Carey and Quirk, “The History of the Future”

Week 10: Recent Trends: Convergence, Conglomeration, and Globalization

Reading: Dominick, 458-478 Auletta, “The Pirate”

Week 11: Deregulation of Mass Communication: Dereliction or Wisdom?

Reading: Dominick, pp. 396-428 Herman and McChesney, The Global Media, excerpts Test 2

Week 12: Journalism: The Pack is Bigger and More Diverse, But are the Watchdogs Becoming Puppies?

Screening: Broadcast news Reading: Dominick, pp. 327-346 Kovach, Warp Speed, excerpts

Week 13: Putting It All Together: Personalized Communication in a Global Context

Assignment 2 Due