The course is structured around readings, short lectures, related in-class activities, discussions, occasional assignments and the screening of film and/or video excerpts.
The following schedule provides a general overview of the topics and themes that we will cover throughout the course. Specific details and additional readings will be revealed/assigned on a weekly basis.
A Moodle Page will be used as support to share updates and news, to collect assignments, to archive readings and other course materials.
WEEK 1 (31 August – 6 September)
- Course introduction: Media, culture and society
Demarcating the field
Approaches to media
Media, Culture And Society, Chapter 1
- Media technologies
Models of communication
Technological determinism vs social construction of media
Media, Culture And Society, Chapter 2
Reading: Chronology of communications media and the rise of mass media
WEEK 2 (7 September – 13 September)
- Society and Mass Communication
Mass society
Propaganda and Magic bullet theory
Assignment: Intellectual Autobiography
Screening: 'Why we fight' and 'War of the Worlds'
- Media effects
Limited effect paradigm
Uses and gratifications
Functionalism
Media, Culture And Society, Chapter 5
Readings:
Katz Elihu & Lazarsfeld Paul F., (1955). “Between media and mass/the part played by people/the two-step flow of communication”, in Boyd-Barrett, O. & Newbold, C. (eds.) (1995), Approaches to Media: A Reader. New York: St. Martin's Pres, pp. 124-134.
Katz E., Blumler J. G. & Gurevich M., (1974). “Utilization of mass communications by the individuals”, in Boyd-Barrett & O. & Newbold, C. (eds.) (1995), Approaches to Media: A Reader. New York: St. Martin's Pres, pp. 164-173.
WEEK 3 (14 September – 20 September)
- Media Industry
Media outlets, ownership and regulation
Media, Culture And Society, Chapter 3
Reading: Edward Herman, (1995). “Media in U.S. Political Economy”, in J. Downing, A. Mohammadi, & A. Srebemy-Mohammadi (eds.), Questioning the Media, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, pp. 77-93.
- Information: Commodity or Public Resource?
Public and Commercial Mass Media Systems
Media, Culture And Society, Chapter 8
Reading: Lichtenberg, J. (1990). “Foundations and limits of freedom of the press”, in D. McQuail (Ed.) (2002), McQuail's Reader in Mass Communication Theory. London: SAGE, pp. 172 - 182
WEEK 4 (21 September – 27 September)
- Commercial media systems
Screening: The Prime Minister and the Press (2003)
- Media and the public Sphere
Globalization, Fragmentation, Commercialization
Media, Culture And Society, Chapter 9
WEEK 5 (28 September – 4 October)
- Media and the construction of reality.
- The agenda setting theory.
- Introducing news values
Media, Culture And Society, Chapter 7
- The spiral of the silence.
Exercise: news values analysis.
Reading: available on Moodle.
WEEK 6 (5 October – 11 October)
- Media as Forms of Manipulation?
Frankfurt School/ Critical theory
Media, Culture And Society, Chapter 6
- Advertising and Global Economy
Screening: ‘Consuming kids’ (some extracts)
Reading: D. Kellner (1990). “Advertising and Consumer Culture”, in J. Downing, A. Mohammadi, & A. Srebemy-Mohammadi (eds.), Questioning the Media, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, pp. 242-254.
WEEK 7 (12 October – 18 October)
Exercise: Packard Eight Hidden needs model
-Review
- MIDTERM
WEEK 8 (19 October – 25 October)
- Exploring consumer culture. What is critical consumerism
WEEK 9 (26 October – 1 November)
- Introducing cultural studies
Media, Culture And Society, Chapter 5
Reading: Hall, Stuart (1974) “The television discourse; encoding and decoding”, in (2002), McQuail's Reader in Mass Communication Theory. London: SAGE, pp. 303-308
- Media in Everyday Life/ Audience research
Exercise: Media diary
WEEK 10 (2 November – 8 November)
- Analyzing media text
Media, Culture And Society, Chapter 4
WEEK 11 (9 November – 15 November)
- Media communities: subcultures and fans
Media, Culture And Society, Chapter 12
Readings: Jenkins, H. (2002). “Interactive audiences? The collective intelligence of media fans”.
- Exploring fandom as a cultural process
WEEK 12 (16 November – 22 November)
- Media, Gender and Sexual Identity
Van Zoonen, L. (1995). “Gender, Representation and the Media”, in J. Downing, A. Mohammadi, & A. Srebemy-Mohammadi, Questioning the Media, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, pp. 242-254.
Media, Culture And Society, Chapter 11
- Media, Gender and Sexual Identity/2
Screening: The codes of gender (2009).
WEEK 13 (23 November – 29 November)
- Media and Ethnicity
- The role of stereotypes
Media, Culture And Society, Chapter 10
WEEK 14 (30 November – 3 December)
- Introducing digital media
- The 'spectacularization' of the society
Media, Culture And Society, Chapter 13
- Review
WEEK 15
FINAL EXAM (5-11 December)
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