MDIA 201 Introduction to Media Studies
Schedule of Class Meetings and Assignments
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Keywords: Culture and Communication |
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| Aug 27 | Introduction: What are media and what is media studies? |
| Aug 29 | Read: James Carey, "Cultural Approach to Communication" (ereserve) Explore: Keywords in progress |
| Aug 31 | Read: C. Geertz, "Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight" (use link or ereserve) Read: "Culture" in Hartley |
Keyword: Genre |
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| Labor Day | ||
| Sept 5 | Read: L. Williams, "Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess" (ereserve) Read: J. Mittell, "Cartoon Realism: Genre Mixing and the Cultural Life of the Simpsons" (use link or ereserve) |
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| Sept 7 | In class: Art Spiegleman "A Problem of Taxonomy" (handout) Bring: the Mittell reading to class |
Paper One |
Keyword: Essay |
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| Sept 10 | Read: Montaigne, "On Coaches" (use this or any other edition) Read: Walpole, 2 letters to the Royal Society (ereserve) |
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| Sept 12 | Read: Chaper 2, "Clarity" in Williams' Style and bring the book to class. Watch: Pimp My Ride (MTV) Note: Watch at least one full episode. If you've never seen this show before, watch two. |
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| Sept 14 | Paper Two | |
Keywords: Memory and Inscription |
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| Sept 17 | Read: Sigmund Freud, "Notes on the Mystic Writing Pad" (ereserve) Read: Jorge Luis Borges, "Funes, His Memory" (ereserve) |
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| Sept 19 | Read: Chapter 3, "Cohesion" in Williams' Style and bring the book to class. |
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| Sept 21 | Bring: Style | Paper Three |
Keywords: Narrative and Point of View |
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| Sept 24 | Read: Musser, "A Close Look at Life of an American Fireman" (ereserve) Read: E. Aarseth, "Introduction to Ergodic Literature" In class: Life of an American Fireman (Edison 1903; 10 min.) |
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| Sept 26 | Read: Ernest Hemingway, "Indian Camp" Read: "Bias" and "Objectivity" in Hartley |
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| Sept 28 | Class cancelled. You will be assigned a feature film to watch over the weekend. | |
Keywords: Authorship/Auteur |
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| Oct 1 | Read: Foucault, "What Is an Author?" (ereserve) Consider: Questions for discussion |
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| Oct 3 | Read: "Author/ship" and "Copyright" in Hartley |
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| Oct 5 | In class: Copyright moot court | Paper Four |
Keywords: Audience, Spectator |
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| Oct 9 | Read: Darnton, "Readers Respond to Rousseau" (ereserve) | |
| Oct 10 | Read: Foucault, "Las Meninas" (ereserve) | |
| Oct 12 | In class: Mystery Science Theater discussion | Paper Five |
Keywords: Representation |
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| Oct 15 | Read: Betensky, "Princes and Paupers" (ereserve) |
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| Oct 17 | ||
| Oct 19 | In-class midterm quiz | |
Keyword: Realism |
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| Oct 22 | Read: Arnheim, "Film and Reality"" (ereserve) Read: "Realism" and "Reality TV" in Hartley |
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| Oct 24 | Read: Galloway, "Social Realism in Gaming" | |
| Oct 26 | Paper Six | |
Keywords: Identity and Public |
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| Oct 29 | Read: Hariman and Lucaites, "Performing Civic Identity" (ereserve) | |
| Oct 31 | Read: Warner, "Publics and Counterpublics (abreviated version)" (ereserve) | |
| Nov 2 | Paper Seven | |
Keywords: Ideology and Hegemony |
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| Nov 5 | Read: Hebdige, Subculture, Introduction and Chapters 1, 2, 4 |
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| Nov 7 | Read: Hebdige, Subculture, Chapters 5, 6, 7 | |
| Nov 9 | In class: Judith Butler, "A 'Bad Writer' Bites Back" (handout) | Paper Eight |
Keywords: News and Information |
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| Nov 12 | Read: Hall et al., "The Social Production of News" (ereserve) Read: Gibson, "Network News: Elements of a Theory" (ereserve) |
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| Nov 14 | Browse: Technorati and The Onion In class: news, blogs, and parody |
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| Nov 16 | No class: Use this day to read ahead for the end of term crunch. | |
Keywords: Turkey and Stuffing |
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| Nov 19 | Read: Vise, The Google Story pp. 1-57 and pp. 293-7 | Paper Nine |
| Thanksgiving | ||
Keyword: Google |
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| Nov 26 | Read: Vise, The Google Story pp 58-280 | |
| Nov 28 | Read: "Interactivity" and "Internet" in Hartley |
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| Nov 30 | Paper Ten | |
Keyword: De-Westernizing |
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| Dec 3 | Read: Select any one chapter in either De-Westernizing Media Studies (Routledge 2000) or Media Worlds (California 2002) and perpare a few introductory comments for class. Both edited collections are available at the Mullen Library reserve desk. Don't read the same chapter as your friends: In this last week of class we will pool our resources to consider what the methods and interests of media studies look like when the media in question are non-western. | |
| Dec 5 | (see Dec 3) | |
| Dec 7 | (see Dec 3) | Papter Eleven |
| Finals: Please consult the Registrar's schedule for exams |