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Week |
Date/Topics |
Assignments due (unless stated otherwise, all assignments are due at the beginning of class) |
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Week 1 |
January 14th (W) Introduction 1: Why study the media?
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16th (W) Introduction 2: Media in social life Read C&H pp. 3 “the importance of media” – 7 stop at “models of communication media” Case study: How Americans spend their time View in class The Overspent American
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18th (F) Introduction 2: Media in social life
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Week 2 |
21st (M) – MLK Day, university closes. 22nd (Tu) Last day to add/register without instructor’s signature Read C&H pp. 25 “The history of media technology” – stop at p. 31 “medium theory” ReadC&H pp. 54 “the Internet” – stop at p. 59 “conclusion” ReadWSJ “Now starring in Hollywood: Consolidation” [Blackboard] Case study: TV watching time = family time? Case study: Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods |
Bonus Quiz (due on 23rd [W] at 23:00) [Blackboard] |
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25th (F) Introduction 4: Structure and Agency Read C&H pp. 269 “the active audience” – stop at p. 272 “decoding meaning” Read WSJ “Why can’t these superheroes be friends?” [Blackboard] Lecture: How we approach the media
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Week 3 |
28th (M) Topic 1: Economics Read C&H pp. 67 “changing patterns of ownership” – 83 stop at “consequences of conglomeration and integration” Read Wasko “Ch. 4 corporate Disney in action” (pp. 70-107) Case study: Disney, News Corp merging Introduction to the Mediatown project
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Individual quiz 1 (due at 23:00 on 27th [Su]) |
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30th (W) Read Smith & Telang “House of Cards” (pp. 3-15) [Blackboard] View in class Ted Talk: the power and danger of online crowds American
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February 1st (F) Read C&H pp. 83 “consequences of conglomeration and integration” – the end of p. 89 Read “How to make money in music”, “The Shazam effect” Atlantic Monthly [Blackboard] Read Hesmondhalgh, D. “Why it matters when big tech firms extend their power into media content”
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Mediatown: Position paper 1 |
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Week 4 |
4th (M) Discussion 1 Group 1 (12:15 – 12:40 p.m.) Group 2 (12:40 – 1:05 p.m.) Read Birkinbine, Gómez, & Wasko, J. Sections on News Corp, Amazon, and Apple [Blackboard] 5th (Tu) Last day to drop without a W
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Discussion 1 (Groups 1 & 2 only)
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6th (W) Discussion 1 Group 3 (12:15 – 12:40 p.m.) Group 4 (12:40 – 1:05 p.m.) Group configuration will be online Read see 4th (M)
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Discussion 1 (Groups 3 & 4 only) |
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8th (F) Read C&H pp. 92 “mass media for profit” – p. 100 “advertising Case study: Social media advertising
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Individual quiz 2 (due at 23:00 on 7th [Th]) Discussion 1 summary and case study (all groups) |
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Week 5 |
11th (M) Group Quiz 1 All guiding questions from individual quizzes 1 & 2 + guiding questions from case studies, videos, and lectures Position paper 2 instruction (see 20th Feb [W] for the ppt instruction)
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Group quiz 1 |
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13th (W) Read Cammaerts “The hegemonic copyright regime vs the sharing copyright users of music?” [Blackboard] Instruction of how to read the above journal article. Please make sure you have a copy in class.
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First campus event report deadline (early submission welcome) Instruction campus event report Grading rubric (campus event reports)
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Week 5 |
15th (F) Topic: Politics Read C&H pp. 108 “Media and democracy’” – 113 “regulation in international perspective” Read Campbell, Martin, & Fabos “Ch. 16 Legal controls and freedom of expression” [Blackboard]
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Individual quiz 3 (due at 23:00 on 17th [Su]) |
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Week 6 |
18th (M) – President’s Day; university closes 20th (W) Topic: Response to position paper 2 Read C&H pp. 116 “competing interests and the regulation debate” – 121 stop at “regulating ownership”
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Mediatown: Position paper 2
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22nd (F) Read C&H pp. 126 “regulating content” – end of p. 147 |
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Week 7 |
25th (M) Topic: Intellectual property Read C&H p. 304 “Mass society and media influence” to p. 313 stop at “mediatization”; p. 316 “the mediatization of politics” – stop at p. 324 “social movement”
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Individual quiz 4 (due at 23:00 on 24th [Su]) Response to position paper 2 |
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27th (W) Topic: Intellectual property/Two years after 2016 election Read Day & Thompson “Live From New York, It’s the Fake Introduction to Position Paper 3
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March 1st (F) Read C&H pp. 324 “social movements” – stops at p. 328 “digital dilemma” Read Atlantic Monthly “Alec Baldwin gets under Trump’s skin” 2nd (Sa) – Snow Day Make up day 1
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Second campus event report deadline (early submission welcome) Instruction campus event report Grading rubric (campus event reports)
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Week 8 |
4th (M) Please bring Day and Thompson to class
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6th (W) Topics: Group Quiz 2/Ideology
Group Quiz 2 Lecture: What is ideology?
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Group Quiz 2 |
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8th (F) Read C&H pp. 191 “what is ideology” – 200 Read Botteril “Cowboys, Outlaws and Artists: The rhetoric of authenticity and contemporary jeans and sneaker advertisements.” [Blackboard] Lecture: What is ideology? Mid-term grades released. Students are advised to see me before 20th March
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Mediatown: Position paper 3 |
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Spring break 11th -17th (some student services may be unavailable) |
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Week 9 |
18th (M) Read C&H pp. 204 “Movies, the military, and masculinity” – 208 stops at “television, popularity, and ideology”; pp. 213 “rap music as ideological critique?” – 216 stops at “advertising and consumer culture” View in classHip-hop: Beyond beats and rhymes
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Individual quiz 5 (due at 23:00 on 17th [Su])
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20th (W) View in clas Tough guise: Violence, manhood, and American culture Last day to drop without a F
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Response to position paper 3 |
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22nd Read C&H pp. 226 “comparing media content and the ‘real’ world” – 231 stop at “race, ethnicity, and media content” Lecture: What is representation? View in clas Mass communications, violence and television with George Gerbner 23rd (Sa) – Snow Day Make up day 2 |
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Week 10 |
25th (M) Read C&H pp. 251 “class and the media” – p. 262 stop at “sexual orientation: out of the closet and into the media” View in class King of Queens (for discussion 2)
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Individual quiz 6 (due at 23:00 on 24th [Su]) |
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27th (W) View in class Class dismissed: How TV frames the working class
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29th (F) Read C&H pp. 262 “sexual orientation: out of the closet into the media” – p. 266 View in class Will and Grace (for discussion 2)
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Week 11 |
April 1st (M) Discussion 2 Group 1 (12:15 – 12:40 p.m.) Group 2 (12:40 – 1:05 p.m.) |
Discussion 2 |
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3rd (W) Discussion 2 Group 3 (12:15 – 12:40 p.m.) Group 4 (12:40 – 1:05 p.m.)
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Discussion 2 |
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5th (F) All guiding questions from individual quizzes 5 & 6 + lecture + videos
6th (Sa) – Snow Day Make up day 3
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Group quiz 3
Discussion 2 summary and case study (all groups) – see syllabus p. 8 for instruction |
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Week 12 |
8th (M) Topic: Audience Read C&H pp. 272 “decoding meanings” – stop at p. 283 “The social context” Lecture: What about an audience?
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10th (W) Read DeVane & Squire. “The Meaning of Race and Violence in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas.” [Blackboard]
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Individual quiz 7 (due at 23:00 on 9th [Tu]) |
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12th (F) Guest lecture: Peichi Chung (Chinese University of Hong Kong) on eSports and audience. Read C&H pp. 283 “The social context of media use” – 298
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Mediatown: Position paper 4 |
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Week 13 |
15th (M) – Patriot Day; university closes 16th (Tu) Suffolk Monday Topic: The future of media Read Smith (pp. 35-43 stop at “what are the components”) [Blackboard] Read Bunz & Meikle “Ch. 1 First things” (pp. 7-25) [Blackboard]
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17th (W) Guest lecture: Zach Castagnola (Media/film graduating senior) Read Smith (pp. 43-51) [Blackboard] Read Lupton “You are your data” (pp. 88-114) [Blackboard]
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19th (F) Read Smith (pp. 135-145 stop at “interacting with objects”) [Blackboard] Read Smith & Telang “Power to the people” (pp. 103-115) [Blackboard]
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Individual quiz 8 (due at 23:00 on 18th [Th]) |
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Week 14 |
22nd (M) Read Smith (pp. 145-153) [Blackboard]
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Response to Position paper 4 |
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24th (W) All guiding questions from individual quizzes 7 & 8 + lectures + videos (if any) Final examination revision 1
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Group quiz 4 |
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26th (F) Finale: Position paper In-class paper exchange and feedback
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Position paper: final statement Response to final statement
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Week 15 |
29th (M) Final examination revision 2 Class evaluation
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Last campus event report deadline (early submission welcome) Instruction campus event report Grading rubric (campus event reports)
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Exam |
May
1st May (W) – Reading Day 7th May (Tu) Examination 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Same venue 10th (Fri) Grades due at 2:00 p.m. 19th (Su) Commencement
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Final Examination |