Introduction to Media Studies will introduce students to the framework of media studies, relevant concepts, keywords, and theories. It will follow the “L.I.A.R” framework, which consists of four modules:
-Language
-Institutions and Industries
-Audiences
-Representation
Each of these modules will be studied over two to three weeks with the aid of audiovisual and text support. The class is structured with an interactive purpose: the students are invited to consider and respond to in situ guiding questions, encouraging participation and critical thinking, and working together from the familiar to the new.
Week 1: An Introduction to Media Studies
Week 2: Language: Understanding Keywords—the Fourth Estate and Politics
Week 3: Language: Understanding Symbols—the Creation of Meaning
Week 4: Institutions and Industries: Information Determinism, Hollywood, and the Advent of the Immaterial Good
Week 5: Institutions and Industries: The Frankfurt School, Keeping up with the Joneses, and the Counterculture
Week 6: Institutions and Industries: The Music Industry, “Selling Out”, and the Advertising Revolution
Week 7: Audiences: Passive or Active? A Theoretical Framework
Week 8: Audiences: Stuart Hall, The Batman, and How to Decode Meaning
Week 9: Representation: Selection, Omission, Construction, and the Framing Effect
Week 10: Representation: Understanding the Representation Lens—Modernity versus Tradition
Week 11: Representation: The Hero Archetypes, The New Luxury, and “Images” versus “Ideals” (+ final exam essay questions)
Week 12: Recap discussions + Final Exam deadline
Nissrine FARISS
Séminaire
English
Spring 2022-2023
1.Oral presentation (20%)
Each week starting Week 2, the students will give a short presentation (no more than five minutes) on a media text that caught their attention (either recent or historical). The purpose is to open the floor to discussion after each lecture while engaging with a media subject with a critical eye.
2.Midterm Essay (20%)
The students will submit a short midterm essay (between 1000 and 1500 words) on an essay question related to the course themes and materials.
3.Final Exam (50%)
The students will write a final essay analyzing media text(s). They will have two topics to choose from. Starting Week 11, they will have a week to submit their essay, printed and handed out in person.
4.In-class participation (10%)
Boorstin, D. J. (1992). The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America (1st Vintage Books Ed). Vintage.