Karl Marx famously wrote, "The forming of the five senses is a labor of the entire history of the world down to the present." This introductory course will attempt to delve deeper into that which progressively fills the space between our senses and the worldmass media. Beginning with the telephone, film, music, television, through to the internet, this course will contextualize these media within two competing perspectives: mass media as cultural text and mass media as communicative technology. With a frequent return to the historical contexts of these media forms, students will develop their skills at reading and decoding these forms and offer their analyses through papers and weekly media observation journals. We will explore questions of authorship, reception (be it around gender, race, class and sexuality), cultural context, and the questions posed by increasing globalization. Readings will include selections from John Storey's Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, Paul Virilio's War & Cinema, and John Berger's Ways of Seeing, as well as several shorter pieces.
Karl Marx famously wrote, "The forming of the five senses is a labor of the entire history of the world down to the present." This introductory course will attempt to delve deeper into that which progressively fills the space between our senses and the worldmass media. Beginning with the telephone, film, music, television, through to the internet, this course will contextualize these media within two competing perspectives: mass media as cultural text and mass media as communicative technology. With a frequent return to the historical contexts of these media forms, students will develop their skills at reading and decoding these forms and offer their analyses through papers and weekly media observation journals. We will explore questions of authorship, reception (be it around gender, race, class and sexuality), cultural context, and the questions posed by increasing globalization. Readings will include selections from John Storey's Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, Paul Virilio's War & Cinema, and John Berger's Ways of Seeing, as well as several shorter pieces.
Karl Marx famously wrote, "The forming of the five senses is a labor of the entire history of the world down to the present." This introductory course will attempt to delve deeper into that which progressively fills the space between our senses and the worldmass media. Beginning with the telephone, film, music, television, through to the internet, this course will contextualize these media within two competing perspectives: mass media as cultural text and mass media as communicative technology. With a frequent return to the historical contexts of these media forms, students will develop their skills at reading and decoding these forms and offer their analyses through papers and weekly media observation journals. We will explore questions of authorship, reception (be it around gender, race, class and sexuality), cultural context, and the questions posed by increasing globalization. Readings will include selections from John Storey's Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, Paul Virilio's War & Cinema, and John Berger's Ways of Seeing, as well as several shorter pieces.
Karl Marx famously wrote, "The forming of the five senses is a labor of the entire history of the world down to the present." This introductory course will attempt to delve deeper into that which progressively fills the space between our senses and the worldmass media. Beginning with the telephone, film, music, television, through to the internet, this course will contextualize these media within two competing perspectives: mass media as cultural text and mass media as communicative technology. With a frequent return to the historical contexts of these media forms, students will develop their skills at reading and decoding these forms and offer their analyses through papers and weekly media observation journals. We will explore questions of authorship, reception (be it around gender, race, class and sexuality), cultural context, and the questions posed by increasing globalization. Readings will include selections from John Storey's Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, Paul Virilio's War & Cinema, and John Berger's Ways of Seeing, as well as several shorter pieces.
