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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "COM 220-2"
COURSE NAME: "Media, Culture and Society"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2017
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Donatella Della Ratta
EMAIL: [email protected]
 HOURS: TTH 10:00 AM 11:15 AM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: COM 111
OFFICE HOURS: by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course examines the mass media as complex social institutions that exercise multiple roles in society—none more crucial than the circulation and validation of social discourses. Introducing students to a variety of theoretical approaches, the course focuses on media operations and textual analysis.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

The course is divided in three main parts. The first part will focus on the analysis of the main elements of the media (media technologies, the organization of the media industry, media content and media users). The second part, Media, Power and Control, addresses questions of media power, manipulation, the construction of news, public service broadcasting, censorship, commercialization. The third and final part, Media, Identity and Culture, will focus on issues of media and ethnicity, gender, subcultures, audiences and fans.


LEARNING OUTCOMES:
The course aims to encourage students to understand the relationship between media representations and society. By the end of the course students are expected to:

•       Be competent in the different models of analysis for the study of media organisations, media representations and media audiences

•       Understand key theoretical perspectives and research traditions within media studies 

•       Have acquired advanced competences for the analysis of social and cultural functions of the media

•       Have a certain understanding of the media structure (industry and technology)

•       Understand the relationship between the mass media, society and culture on a basic theoretical level.


TEXTBOOK:
Book TitleAuthorPublisherISBN numberLibrary Call NumberCommentsFormatLocal BookstoreOnline Purchase
Media, Culture and SocietyPaul HodkinsonSage9781412920537     
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Midterm examShort answers and one final essay question20%
Final ExamShort answers and one final essay question25%
Attendance and participationClass participation consists of your contributions to class discussions and other activities including in-class presentations on assigned topics. Classroom participation is encouraged and emphasized. Students are required to come to class having completed the assigned readings for each week. For Attendance policy see below.15%
Group projectGroup presentations (3-4 people) are due on the last weeks of classes. Topics will be proposed by students but should be related to the course material and seek prior approval. Presentations will be judged on the following criteria: critical thinking, quality of information, structure and organization of the presentation, clarity, oral presentation, teamwork, and ability to give answers during the Q&A session after the presentation.20%
Final Research Paper Students are required to write a research paper between 3500-6000 words. Topic is open but should be appropriate to the course material. Paper will be graded according to its clarity, originality, style, structure, adherence to the course topics, coherence of the argument, attention to diversity of sources, correct formatting of citations, ability to give answers and further clarification if needed.20%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the cour
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Please note that the two library sessions on searching and citing (calendar will be provided) are mandatory and absences will automatically lower your participation grade. 

Also please consider that more than 4 absences will automatically result in lowering your participation grade by one letter grade for each absence.

If you have a serious health problem which causes you to miss more classes than allowed here, please contact the Dean's Office.

Lateness: If unexcused, students more than 10 minutes late are marked as absent. Late arrival (less than 10 minutes) is marked as such, and 3 late arrivals are counted as one absence. 

Class procedure:  Use of cell phones affects your participation grade and is strictly forbidden during class. Please make sure that your cell phone is turned off (and not just muted) when class starts. 
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
SCHEDULE

COURSE SCHEDULE AND SYLLABUS

 

Week 1. Course Overview and introduction: What is media? What is culture?


Readings:

From the textbook: “Introduction” ; Chapter II “Media Technologies”

Watch: “Annie Hall” (1977) Woody Allen; “Videodrome” (1983)

Recommended readings:

McLuhan, Marshall, “Media Hot and Cold”, “The Gadget Lover: Narcissus as Narcosis”, in Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964), 24-35; 45-52.

 

Week 2. Media Industries

Readings:

From the textbook: Chapter III “Media Industry”.

Holt, Jennifer & Perren, Alisa (eds), “Introduction”, in Media Industries: History, Theory, and Method (Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell, 2009), 1-16.

Watch: “Citizen Kane” (1941) Orson Welles

Week 3. Media Industries

Reading:

Meyers, Cynthia B., “From Sponsorship to Spots: Advertising and the Development of Electronic Media”, in Holt, Jennifer & Perren, Alisa (eds), Media Industries: History, Theory, and Method (Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell, 2009), 69-80.


Week 4: Political Economy of Communication part one

Readings:

Mosco, Vincent, Chapter I, IV, V, The Political Economy of Communication (London: Sage, 2009), 1-18, 65-81, 82-103.

Week 5. Political Economy of Communication part two

Readings:

Douglas Kellner "Media Industries, Political Economy and Media/Cultural Studies: an Articulation"

Michael Curtin "Thinking Globally: from Media Imperialism to Media Capital"

 

David Hesmondhalgh "Politics, Theory , and Method in Media Industries Research"

 

in Holt, Jennifer & Perren, Alisa (eds), Media Industries: History, Theory, and Method (Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell, 2009), 95-107, 108-119, 245-255.


Week 6. Ideology Critique & Frankfurt School

Reading:

From the textbook: Chapter VI “Media as Manipulation?Marxism and Ideology”.

Review of the main concepts & preparation to midterm

Class excise: how to apply ideology critique to media texts

Week 7

Midterm exam

Watch: “The Stuart Hall Project” (2013)


Week 8. Introducing Cultural Studies part one

Readings:

From the textbook: Chapter V “Media Users”, pp 92-99.

Longhurst, Brian, et al. Introducing Cultural Studies (London: Routledge, 2017): Chapter I, pp. 3-22, 31-33.


Week 9. Introducing Cultural Studies part two

Readings:

Longhurst, Brian, et al. Introducing Cultural Studies (London: Routledge, 2017), pp 76-83; 323-359.

Hall, Stuart (1974) “The television discourse; encoding and decoding”, in (2002), McQuail's Reader in Mass Communication Theory (London: SAGE), pp. 303-308.


Week 10 Semiotics, Ethnography & Reception Studies

Readings:

From the textbook: Chapter IV “Media Content”; Chapter V “Media Users”, pp 82-92.

Longhurst, Brian, et al. Introducing Cultural Studies (London: Routledge, 2017), pp 73-76, 164-187


Week 11 Globalization, Orientalism and Postcolonialism

Readings:

From the textbook: Chapter X “Media, Ethnicity and Diaspora”.

Longhurst, Brian, et al. Introducing Cultural Studies (London: Routledge, 2017), pp 191-231


Week 12 Habermas and the public sphere

Readings:

From the textbook: Chapter 9.

Benkler, Yochai, "Political Freedom Part 2: Emergence of the networked public sphere", in The Wealth of Networks. How social production transforms markets and freedom, (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2006) 212-272

Shirky, Clay, “The Political Power of Social Media: Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change”, Foreign Affairs, (2011 January/February 2011).


Week 13 Wrap up, class review and Group Presentations


Week 14 Group Presentations


* Final paper due

Final exam: classroom test and essay