Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "COM 470-1"
COURSE NAME: "Advanced Media Theory"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2022

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Silvia Giagnoni
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MW 3:00 PM 4:15 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisites: COM 311
OFFICE HOURS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course is designed as an advanced level exploration of major theories and schools of thought in media studies and communications. It surveys foundational theories about media and communication, ranging from mass media in the 19th century to contemporary digital media and cultures. Schools of thought and concepts covered in the course include the study of ideology, hegemony, political economy, culture industries, medium theory, cultural studies, mass media and society, spectacle and spectatorship, race, gender, post-colonialism, semiotics, and postmodernism. Students will apply theories through practical written research projects and analysis of current media practices.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

This course revolves around the development of central issues relating to theories of media and society that students will have encountered in their previous engagements with media studies. The course will concentrate on four key areas in mass communication theory: the political economy of the media and institutional analysis; media effects and the mass audience; the relationship between

media production, textuality and reception and the debates surrounding media production, representation and reception. Topics covered include: media selectivity and bias, news sources and news values, media ownership,

textual analysis, postmodernism, the relationship between media forms and the public sphere, the audience and media consumption, developments in media industry, globalization processes, convergence, digitalization and copyright, the possibility of critique and subversion and radical thought.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of the course, students should:

-be familiar with the major schools of media theory;

-be able to apply these theories in practical, analytical contexts;

-understand the context(s) in which media texts are produced (the political economy of today’s media environment);

-grasp the ideological significance of media texts (media representations, narratives, and discourses and their effects on reality);

- understand the role media play in producing, reproducing and, on occasion, challenging systematic social inequalities.

This course is intended to prepare students for entry-level graduate school theory courses.

TEXTBOOK:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number
Key Themes in Media Theory	Laughey, Dan	Open University Press	978-0335218134
Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks (2nd edition)	Meenakshi Gigi Durham & Douglas Kellner (eds)	Blackwell	978-0470658086
Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?	Fisher, Mark	Zero Books	978-1846943171

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
Proposal	A 2-page-long proposal should preview the paper you intend to write for your final project and explain why you are interested in the topic. In the proposal, raise a question or two that your paper will answer; the better the questions, the more focused will be your research; you will know when your research is completed because your guiding questions will have been answered. Questions that must be addressed in the proposal include: What is my topic? Why is this topic important to me? Who is my audience and why is this topic important to them? Mention books, articles, papers, and authors, you think might be helpful to you.	10%
Mid-session Exam	Questions will test your understanding of different theoretical perspectives and thinkers and your ability to discuss them. Guidelines will be provided and posted on Moodle.	20%
Final Paper Draft	This draft should include a thesis statement that incorporate the research question you intend to answer in your work and show that you are beginning to structure your paper by incorporating a literature review. Failure to submit Draft One by the deadline will result in zero points. A draft that does not include the above-mentioned elements will be graded accordingly.	5%
Final Paper	Students are required to write an 8-10-page original, analytic paper based on a specific topic related to the course material. Your paper should show your ability to implement theories and perspectives learned in the course. Failure to incorporate key concepts and ideas in your final paper will result in a poor grade. Additional guidelines will be provided and posted on Moodle.	30%
Final Exam	Questions will test your understanding of different theoretical perspectives and thinkers and your ability to engage with them. Guidelines will be provided and posted on Moodle.	20%

Attendance & Participation	For attendance policy, see above. Participation will be assessed on the basis of the student’s performance, interest, and commitment to learn in ungraded take-home assignments, class discussions and activities. Students are expected to come to class having read/view the material for the day. As part of your participation grade, you will be required to discuss readings and/have short theory presentations weekly.	15%

-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 course.
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:
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until ____________

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

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

R: Reading

KT: Key Themes in Media Theory

KW: Media and Cultural Studies Keyworks

W: Watching

L: Lecture

Week One (Sept.5- Sept. 11)

L: Intro to Media Theory

R: Ch. 1, 2 & 10 (KT) + “Adventures in Media and

Cultural Studies” (KW) pp.1-23

Week Two (Sept. 12-18)

L: Medium, Message, Modernity

R: Ch. 3 (KT) + “The Medium is the Message” by Marshall McLuhan (KW 8) + The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (KW 3) + Williams (link to source on Moodle)

W: John Berger (VIDEO: Ways of Seeing – Episode One)

Week Three (Sept. 19-25)

L: Communication as Symbolic: The Semiotics Revolution

R: Ch. 4 (KT) + “Encoding/Decoding” by Stuart Hall (KW 13) “(i)Operation Margarine; (ii) Myth Today” by Roland Barthes (KW 7)

W: Representation and the Media by Stuart Hall

Week Four (Sept. 26-October 2)

L: British Cultural Studies: Style, Resistance & Identity

R: Ch. (1) “From Culture to Hegemony; Subculture: The Unnatural Break” by Dick Hebdige (KW 12) + “British Cultural Studies and the Pitfalls of Identity” (KW 27)+excerpt from Resistance through Rituals (link to source on Moodle)

Week Five (Sept. 28-October 2)

L: Feminism, Gender, and the Politics of Representation

R: “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” by Laura Mulvey (KW 23) + Ch. 6 (KT) Excerpt from Susan Bordo’s Unbearable Weight (link to source on Moodle)

Week Six (October 3-9)

L: The Politics of Representation (2) - Stereotyping

R: “Stereotyping” by Richard Dyer (KW 23) + reading TBD (link to source on Moodle)

Proposal - due October 9

Week Seven (October 10-16)

L: Political Economy I & The Hierarchy of Taste

R: Intro to Part III + Introduction; (i) Introduction; (ii) The Aristocracy of Culture” by Pierre Bourdieu (KW 20) + “The Readers and their Romances” by Janice Radway (KW 24)

Week Eight (October 17-23)

L: Political Economy II & Postcolonial Theory

R: Ch. 7 (KT) + Orientalism: The Making of the Other by Shehla Burney

(.pdf on Moodle)

In class- screening: Edward Said on Orientalism

Mid-session Exam October 19

Week Nine (October 24-30)

L: The Postmodern Turn I

R: Ch. 8 (KT) + “The Precession of Simulacra” by Jean Baudrillard (KW 30) + “Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism” by Fredric Jameson (KW 31)

Week Ten (October 31-Nov.6)

L: The Postmodern Turn II

R: “Feminism, Postmodernism, and the ‘Real Me’” by Angela McRobbie (KW 32) + review

Week Eleven (Nov.7-13)

L: Consumerism and Everyday Life

R: Ch. 9 (KT) + reading TBD (link to source on Moodle)

Final Paper Draft due November 9

Week Twelve (Nov.14-20)

L: Capitalism Realism

R: Capitalism Realism by Mark Fisher

Week Thirteen (Nov.21-27)

L: Globalization and Social Movements

R: The Homeland/Aztlàn by Gloria Anzaldùa (KW 39) + “Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy” by Arjun Appadurai (KW 37)

Week Fourteen (Nov. 28- Dec.4)

Review

December 7 (Wed) Last day of classes

December 12-16 (Mon-Fri) Final Examinations (excluding Dec. 8)