nyu steinhardt media studies

SAMPLE SYLLABUS – This syllabus is provided as a sample. Course content may vary.

DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA, CULTURE, AND COMMUNICATION

E59.0001 Introduction to Media Studies

Course Description This course introduces students of media, culture, and communication to the themes, issues and theoretical debates central to the modern study of mediated forms of communication. It examines the factors that influence the media and, in turn, examines the influence of media on attitudes, values and behaviors, both individual and social. Students will be expected to develop an analytical appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses of various media theories and to arrive at some thoughtful conclusions regarding their own theoretical preferences. A simple question guides our inquiry: what does it mean to say that we live in the age of media? Required Texts

Book: David Croteau and William Hoynes. Media/Society: Industries, Images and Audiences. 3rd edition, Pine Forge Press, 2003.

Reading Kit: E59.0001: Introduction to Media Studies: Professor Pickard

Advanced Copy Center, 522 LaGuardia Place

Blackboard: see Course Documents As indicated in syllabus and periodic course updates Assignments (Details to follow) • Quizzes: Consisting of multiple choice, true/false, short answers, and short essays • Essay: One (1) 5-6 page (1,500 - 1,800 word) paper on assigned topic and readings • Participation: Based upon your attendance, as well as consistent and productive contributions in tutorials Grading • In-class Quizzes (3 @ 20% each) 60% (see class schedule for dates) • Essay 25% (due date: November 18) • Tutorial Participation 15% Evaluation Criteria A = Excellent This work demonstrates comprehensive and solid understanding of course material and presents thoughtful interpretations, well-focused and original insights and well-reasoned analysis. “A’ work includes skillful use of source materials and illuminating examples and illustrations. “A” work is fluent, thorough and shows some creative flair. B = Good This work demonstrates a complete and accurate understanding of course material, presenting a reasonable degree of insight and broad level of analysis. Work reflects competence, but stays at a general or predictable level of understanding. Source material, along with examples and illustrations, are used appropriately. “B” work is reasonable, clear, appropriate and complete. C = Adequate/Fair This work demonstrates a basic understanding of course material but remains incomplete, superficial or expresses some important errors or weaknesses. Source material may be used inadequately or somewhat inappropriately. The work may lack concrete, specific examples and illustrations and may be hard to follow or vague. D = Unsatisfactory

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This work demonstrates a serious lack of understanding and fails to demonstrate the most rudimentary elements of the course assignment. Sources may be used inappropriately or not at all. The work may be inarticulate or extremely difficult to read. plus (+) or minus (-) grades indicate your range with the aforementioned grades. Late Assignments Late assignments are subject to a penalty equivalent to five (5) percent for each day after the due date. Generally, this means that a one-day late assignment awarded an A will be given an A-, and so on. Teaching assistants may waive this penalty at their discretion based upon individual circumstances. Grade Appeals Contact your teaching assistant with a short note explaining your concerns about the grade in question. The teaching assistant will set up a meeting to discuss your concerns. If you are still unsatisfied with your grade, follow the same procedure with the professor. Academic Dishonesty And Plagiarism "Academic integrity is the guiding principle for all that you do…. You violate the principle when you: cheat on an exam; submit the same work for two different courses without prior permission from your professors; receive help on a take-home that calls for independent work; or plagiarize. Plagiarism, whether intended or not, is academic fraud. You plagiarize when, without proper attribution, you do any of the following: copy verbatim from a book, article, or other media; download documents from the Internet; purchase documents; paraphrase or restate someone else’s facts, analysis, and/or conclusions; copy directly from a classmate or allow a classmate to copy form you. " (See School of Education Bulletin, 2006/8, p. 172) Style Manuals Students are strongly urged to purchase at least one style manual. A good style manual will help to improve the organization and composition of your written work and, used properly, should help ensure proper citation of sources. Here are two recommendations: • Joseph Gibaldi. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th edition. New York:

Modern Language Association of America, 2003 • Kate Turabian. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 6th Edition.

Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1996 Student Resources • Students with physical or learning disabilities are required to register with the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities,

719 Broadway, 2nd Floor, (212-998-4980) and are required to present a letter from the Center to the instructor at the start of the semester in order to be considered for appropriate accommodation.

• Writing Center: 269 Mercer Street, Room 233. Schedule an appointment online at www.rich15.com/nyu/ or just walk-in. SCHEDULE OF CLASSES

Class: Topic/Readings September 7 Greetings

What Are We Studying? Communication, Media and Culture

September 9 Media/Society. Chapter 1 & 9 September 14 R. Avery and T. McCain. “Interpersonal and Mediated Encounters: A Reorientation of the Mass

Communication Process,” in G. Gumpert and R. Cathcart eds. Inter/Media. 1982 (kit) Edward Sapir. “Communication,” in Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 1931 (kit)

Neil Postman. “The Information Environment,” idem. Teaching as a Conserving Activity. 1979 (kit)

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http://www.nyu.edu/csd

http://www.rich15.com/nyu/


Key terms: media; communication; feedback; interpersonal communication; social construction of reality; socialization; social relations; structure; agency; the American “conversation ideal”; sensory integration; primary and secondary communicative processes; the information environment

The Media Industry: Political Economy, Organization and Culture September 16 Media/Society. Chapter 2 September 21 Margaret Graham. “Threshold of the Information Age: Radio, Television, and Motion Pictures

Mobilize the Nation,” in A. Chandler & J. Cortada eds. A Nation Transformed By Information. 2003. (kit) Eric Alterman. “The Death and Life of the American Newspaper.” The New Yorker, March 31, 2008. (Blackboard)

September 23 Ted Magder. “The End of TV 101: Reality Programs, Formats & the New Business of Television,” in

S. Murray and L. Ouellette, eds. Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture. 2004. (kit) Lawrence Lessig, “In Defense of Piracy.” The Wall Street Journal (Oct. 2008). Key terms: universal communication; concentration of ownership; conglomeration; vertical and horizontal integration; synergy; homogenization hypothesis; content diversity; product placement; buying mood; audience ratings and shares; formats; copyright

Free Speech, Diversity, Media Policy and the Public Interest September 28 Media/Society. Chapter 3 September 30 Tim Wu, “Contolling Commerce and Speech,” New York Times, Aug. 10 (blackboard); Ben Scott,

“A Broad, positive view of the First Amendment.” In Mark Cooper (Ed) The Case Against Media Consolidation. McGannon Center for Communications Research, 2007, 39-62.(kit); Matthew Lasar, “Fairness Doctrine: Better Off Dead or Alien Resurrection?” Ars Technica, February 17, 2009.

Key terms: The First Amendment; normative assumptions; marketplace of ideas; content ratings and warnings; Federal Communications Commission; regulation of ownership and control; regulation of content and distribution; deregulation; public interest; national interest; indecency; common carriage; Fairness Doctrine; Net Neutrality

October 05 Quiz #1

Routines and Conventions - all the news that fits, we print October 12 Media/Society. Chapter 4 & 7 (pp.231-39 and 242-4).

W. Lance Bennett, “Toward a Theory of Press-State Relations in the United States,” Journal of Communication 40(2), 1990. (kit) Robert M. Entman “Framing U.S. Coverage of International News: Contrasts in Narratives of the KAL and Iran Air Incidents,” Journal of Communication 41, (4), 1991.(kit)

October 14 Eric Klinenberg. “Convergence: News Production in a Digital Age,” in Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 2005 (kit) Paul Starr. “Goodbye to the Age of Newspapers (Hello to a New Era of Corruption),” The New Republic, March 4, 2009. (blackboard)

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Key terms: organizational and professional conventions; socialization; newsworthy; bias and objectivity; gatekeeper; sources; framing; hegemony; habitual, disruptive and direct access; hard vs. soft-news; agenda-setting; foreign news and the domestication of selection; convergence and the new newsroom;

Media and Identity: Race & Ethnicity October 19 Media/Society, chapter 6

Video: Color Adjustments: Blacks in Prime-Time (in-class)

October 21 Herman Gray. “The Politics of Representation in Network Television,” in H. Newcomb, ed. Television: the Critical View. 6th edition, 2000 (kit)

CSRC. “Looking for Latino Regulars on Prime-Time Television: fall 2004 season,” 2004 (pdf – blackboard) Key terms: stereotypes; race; ‘modern’ racism; assimilationism; pluralism; multiculturalism

Media-Made Reality: Re-Presenting the World October 26 Media/Society, chapter 5

Marita Sturken & Lisa Cartwright. “Practices of Looking,” Practices of Looking: an Introduction to Visual Culture. 2009. (kit) Key terms: ideology; normalization; representation; genres; denotation and connotation; myth; signifiers, signified & signs; icons; appropriation

Media and Identity: Class and Gender October 28 Media/Society, chapter 6 (pp. 212 – 227)

Gaye Tuchman. “The Symbolic Annihilation of Women,” Hearth and Home: Images of Women in the Mass Media. 1978 (kit)

Muriel Cantor. “Prime-Time Fathers: A Study in Continuity and Change,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication. 7, 1990 (kit) Key terms: gender; class; symbolic annihilation; reflection hypothesis; ethnicity

November 02 Quiz # 2 Media Effects Mass Culture, Mass Panic, and Mass Persuasion November 4 Media/Society, Review chapter 7, especially pp. 240- 47

Elihu Katz and Paul Lazarsfeld. “Between Media and Mass,” in idem. Personal Influence: the part played by people in the flow of mass communication. 1955 (kit) Hedley Cantril. “The Invasion from Mars,” in Wilbur Schramm and Donald Roberts, Process and Effects of Mass Communication. l97l (kit)

Key terms: hypodermic model and magic bullet theory; mass society theory; selective influence perspective; propaganda; intervening variables and the media effects; critical ability

Limited Effects?

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November 9 S. Baran and D. Davis. “Limited Effects Theory,” Mass Communication Theory. 1995 (kit) P. Lazarsfeld and R. Merton. “Mass Communication, Popular Taste and Social Action,” in L. Byrson, Communication of Ideas, 1948 (kit) November 11 Todd Gitlin. “Media Sociology: The Dominant Paradigm” Theory and Society, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Sep.,

1978), pp. 205-253. (kit)

Key terms: two-step flow hypothesis; opinion leaders; minimal or limited effects theory; paradigms and paradigm shifts; status-conferral; enforcement of norms; narcotizing dysfunction; monopolization; canalization and supplementation

November 16 Class Canceled

The Persistence of Violence – Content and Consequences

November 18 George Gerbner. “Death in Prime Time,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social

Science. 1980 (kit) Nancy Signorielli. “Prime-Time Violence: Has the Picture Really Changed?” Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. 2003 (kit)

Key terms: cultivation analysis; Violence Index; Mean World Syndrome Active Audiences – Reception and Pleasure November 23 Media/Society, chapter 8; Henry Jenkins, “Transforming Fan culture into User-Generated Content:

The Case of FanLib,” May 22, 2007. (blackboard). Key terms: active audience; interpretation; polysemy; encoding-decoding model; social context of media use; interpretive resistance and textual pleasure; ceremonial or ritualistic uses of media

November 25 Thanksgiving! Global Media November 30 Media/Society, chapters 9 and 10

December 2 John Tomlinson. “Homogenisation & Globalisation,” History of European Ideas. 1999 (kit)

Mugdha Rai & Simon Cottle. “Global Mediations. On the Changing Ecology of Satellite Television News,” Global Media and Communication. Vol. 3 (1), April 2007. (kit)

Victor Pickard. “Neoliberal Visions and Revisions in Global Communications Policy from the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).” Journal of Communication Inquiry, 31 (2), 2007, 118-139. (kit)

Key terms: globalization; cultural and media imperialism; global village; cultural homogenization and cultural autonomy; NWICO; WSIS; Neoliberalism

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New Media: Issues and Ethics

December 7 Lisa Nakamura, “Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game: The Racialization of Labor in World of

Warcraft,” Critical Studies in Media Communication Vol. 26, No. 2, June 2009, pp. 128-144. (kit) Jeffrey Rosen, “The Web Means the End of Forgetting,” New York Times Magazine, July 21, 2010. (blackboard).

Key terms: public sphere; privacy vs. freedom; commons vs. privatization; democratization

Problems and Prospects for the Future of Media December 9 Clay Shirky. “Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable,” March 13, 2009. (blackboard)

John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney, “How to Save Journalism,” The Nation, January 25, 2010. (blackboard). Rodney Benson, “Public funding and journalistic independence: what does research tell us?” In Robert W. McChesney and Victor Pickard, eds., Will the Last Reporter Please Turn Out the Lights: The Collapse of Journalism and What Can Be Done to Fix It, New York: New Press, forthcoming December 2010. (blackboard) Key terms: the crisis in journalism; public media; media subsidies

December 14 Final Quiz

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