2006 Fall Media Analysis Syllabus Final Final

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Asignatura analisis de medios de comunicancio

http://mediosdecomunicacionayh.blogspot.com/2009/11/syllabus.html

Graduate Seminar in Media, Culture and Communication, E38.2001.003, Fall 2006

Wednesdays, 7:15 p.m. – 9:25 p.m.25 W. 4th

, Room C-15

Prof. Rodney Benson

Room 551-A, Pless AnnexDepartment of Culture and Communication, NYU

239 Greene Street, NYC 10003

E-mail: [email protected]

Telephone: 212/992-9490Office Hours: By Appointment

Course DescriptionThe purpose of this course is to introduce students to the broad range of theories in

media, culture, and communication, as we read original works from many of the major

theorists, researchers and critics of our time. The course is organized around three broad

themes: Communication and Technology, Communication and Power, andCommunication and Culture. We will seek to understand the complex linkages between

the social structures of media industries (technological, political, economic), the

meaningful cultural objects they produce and distribute (texts and images), and theinterpretations and uses people make of these objects. Our approach will be relentlessly

empirical. In other words, we will not read theory only as a sort of speculative or

deconstructive game (although critique will remain important), but as a tool for

constructing and testing researchable hypotheses. Theory will thus be closely joined tothe study of various research methodologies. Students will learn the differences among

the major theoretical and methodological approaches, be able to explain the advantages

and disadvantages of each, and put them into practice for their own research. At theconclusion of the course, after having thus arrived at a better understanding of media and

communications systems – what they are, why they are the way they are, etc. -- we will

discuss our preferences for a better media world and create a plan to achieve it.

Required Books (available at NYU Bookstore)

Rodney Benson and Erik Neveu, eds. Bourdieu and the Journalistic Field . Cambridge:Polity.

Todd Gitlin. 2002. Media Unlimited: How the Torrent of Images and Sounds

Overwhelms Our Lives. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Bill McKibben. 1993. The Age of Missing Information. Plume.

Neil Postman. 1985. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show

mailto:[email protected]






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Business. New York: Penguin Books.

Raymond Williams. 2003 [1973]. Television: Technology and Cultural Form. New York: Routledge.

Blackboard PDFs (indicated with * in course schedule)

John B. Thompson. 1994. “Social Theory and the Media.” Pp. 27-49 in D. Crowley and

D. Mitchell, eds., Communication Theory Today. Stanford, CA: Stanford

University Press.

Joshua Meyrowitz. 1994. “Medium Theory.” Pp. 50-77 in D. Crowley and D. Mitchell,

eds., Communication Theory Today. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Marshall McLuhan. 1995. Pp. 97-179, 233-69 in E. McLuhan and F. Zingrone, eds.,

Essential McLuhan. New York: Basic Books.

Claude S. Fischer. 1992. “Technology and Modern Life.” Pp. 1-31 in America Calling: A

Social History of the Telephone. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Lance Strate. 2004. “A Media Ecology Review.” Communication Research Trends 23 (2- 3): 3-48.

Lev Manovich. 2001. Ch. 1 in The Language of New Media. Cambridge, MA: The MITPress.

Jürgen Habermas. 1991. “The Public Sphere.” Pp. 398-404 in C. Mukerji and M.

Schudson, eds., Rethinking Popular Culture. Berkeley, CA: University ofCalifornia Press.

John Keane. 1995. “Structural Transformations of the Public Sphere.” TheCommunication Review 1(1): 1-22.

Nicholas Garnham. 1995. “Comments on John Keane‟s “Structural Transformations ofthe Public Sphere.” The Communication Review 1(1): 23-25.

John Keane. 1995. “A Reply to Nicholas Garnham.” The Communication Review 1(1):

27-31.

Sonia Serra. 2000. “The killing of Brazilian street children and the rise of the

international public sphere.” In J. Curran, Ed., Media Organisations in Society.

London: Arnold.

Craig Calhoun. 1992. “Introduction” in C. Calhoun, Ed., Habermas and the Public

Sphere. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.



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Peter Dahlgren. 2001. “The Public Sphere and the Net.” Pp. 33-55 in R. Entman and

W.L. Bennett, eds., Mediated Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Page, Benjamin I. 1996. Excerpts from Who Deliberates? Mass Media in Modern Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Charlotte Ryan. 1980. Excerpts from Prime Time Activism. Boston: South End Press.

Pierre Bourdieu. 1999. Excerpts from The Weight of the World. Stanford, CA: Stanford

University Press.

Clifford Geertz. 1973. “Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture”

and “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight.” In The Interpretation of

Cultures. New York: BasicBooks.

James Carey. 1989. “A Cultural Approach to Communication.” In Communication as

Culture. London: Routledge.

Elihu Katz and Tamar Liebes. 1987. “Decoding Dallas.” In H. Newcomb, ed., Television:

The Critical View. New York: Oxford University Press.

Stuart Hall. 1980. “Encoding / Decoding.” Pp. 128-38 in S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe

and P. Willis, eds., Culture, Media, Language. London: Routledge.

James Curran. 1991. “Rethinking the media as a public sphere.” Pp. 27-57 in P. Dahlgren

and C. Parks, eds., Communication and Citizenship: Journalism and the Public

Sphere in the New Media Age. London: Routledge.

W. Lance Bennett. 2003. “New Media Power: The Internet and Global Activism.” Pp.

17-37 in N. Couldry and J. Curran, eds., Contesting Media Power . Lanham, MD:

Rowman and Littlefield.

Course Assignments and Policies

Evaluation of your performance in this course will center around four elements:

(1) Weekly Blackboard Postings (20 percent): Weekly 250-400 word reading critiques

will be due no later than 10 p.m., the Tuesday immediately before the class meets eachweek. These mini-essays are expected to be rough works-in-progress, thinking-out-loud if

you will. You are encouraged not only to post your own valuable thoughts, but to respond

to those of your fellow students. Grading will be based on the ensemble of your texts, so

don‟t sweat every word or panic if your contribution one week is less than brilliant.Obviously, there is no single correct reading of these texts. What matters, not solely for

your grade but for the quality of class discussion, is that you engage with the texts, take

positions and defend them with evidence and reasoning, and raise questions that can helpus all improve the quality of our theorizing and research. Some suggestions on the



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content of these mini-critiques: React, don‟t summarize. Compare with other readings we

have examined. Tear the reading apart, sure, but also tell us which aspects you find

illuminating, or useful for your own research.

(2) In Class-Discussion and Presentation/Critique of Readings (10 percent):

Attendance is the prerequisite obviously but is not enough. You are expected to have readall assigned texts before the class meets and to be able and willing to discuss them withyour classmates. What I am looking for is not some single correct answer but rather a

serious engagement with the readings. Did you take from them one or two significant

ideas or form any questions? Are you in fact participating in the class‟s collective searchfor knowledge and insight?

At the beginning of designated class sessions, one or two students will start off the

discussion with a brief critique of the readings. This presentation should NOT be a point- by-point summary of the reading(s). Your presentation should address the following

questions: (1) What is the central thesis (or theses) of the readings? (2) Upon what

evidence or reasoning is this thesis based? (and especially) (3) What do you see as themajor limitations or problems with the theories, methods and/or findings? In addition,

you should offer three key questions to launch class discussion. You are also encouraged

to make explicit comparisons with texts from previous weeks. You may prepare written

materials for distribution to the class (1 page maximum), but this is not required.

(2) Take-Home Exam #1 (30 percent of total grade): Critical, comparative essays

focusing on readings from first half of the course. Students will have 5 days to complete.

(3) Take-Home Exam #2 (40 percent of total grade): Critical, comparative essays

focusing on readings from second half of course. Students will have 5 days to complete.

It should go without saying that plagiarism is strictly prohibited. This policy will be

strictly enforced.

“Plagiarism, one of the gravest forms of academic dishonesty in university life, whetherintended or not, is academic fraud. In a community of scholars, whose members are

teaching, learning and discovering knowledge, plagiarism cannot be tolerated. Plagiarism

is failure to properly assign authorship to a paper, a document, an oral presentation, amusical score and/or other materials which are not your original work. You plagiarize

when, without proper attribution, you do any of the following: Copy verbatim from a

book, an article or other media; Download documents from the Internet; Purchase

documents; Report from other‟s oral work; Paraphrase or restate someone else‟s facts,analysis and/or conclusions; Copy directly from a classmate or allow a classmate to copy

from you.” (NYU Steinhardt School of Education Statement on Academic Integrity)

Assignments must be turned in on-time. Late assignments will be accepted, with one full-grade penalty, up to one week after the due date but not beyond. Unless other

arrangements are made beforehand, assignments must be turned in as hard copies, not by

e-mail.



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Some things that amazingly must be said:

(1) If the assignment includes more than one page, STAPLE them! Buy or borrow a

stapler , it‟s an essential part of each scholar‟s toolkit! (2) NUMBER your pages. Word processing programs conveniently offer a function that

makes this possible.

Finally, you will find that I am very accessible and willing to help you in understandingreadings and assignments. I am usually available immediately before or after class, or we

can schedule an appointment at another time.

Evaluation Summary:Weekly Blackboard Postings 20%

Class Participation and Presentation 10%

Take-Home Exam #1: 30%Take-Home Exam #2: 40%

A = excellent. Outstanding work in all respects. Your papers and essays are thoroughlyresearched, appropriately documented, logically organized and rhetorically convincing.

Your analysis is not only comprehensive and sound, but creative and original. In short,

you not only get it, but begin to see through it!

B = good. Your understanding of course materials is complete and thorough, and there is

at least some evidence of your own critical intelligence at work. You demonstrate basic

competence in research, writing and oral presentation.

C = adequate. Your writing is vague and incoherent or riddled with grammatical or

spelling errors. You do not make proper use of source materials, and there is little depth

or concreteness to your research or analysis. Your understanding of concepts and ideas isincomplete and often misguided, but there is at least some evidence that you “got”

something from this course.

D = unsatisfactory. Work exhibits virtually no understanding or even awareness of basic

concepts and themes of course. Your participation has been inadequate or superficial.

Either you have not been paying attention or you have not been making any effort. Thereis no reason anyone should get this grade, but it does happen.

F= failed. Work was not submitted or completed according to the basic parameters

outlined in the course syllabus (basic requirements for page length, topical focus, typesand number of sources).

Grades are calculated according to the following scale: 94-100 A; 90-93 A-; 87-89 B+;

83-86 B; 80-82 B-; 77-79 C+; 73-76 C; 70-72 C-; 67-69 D+; 63-66 D; 60-62 D-; 0-59 F



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Schedule (subject to modification)

* indicates available as Blackboard Pdf

9/6 IntroductionsReading: *Thompson

I. COMMUNICATION AND TECHNOLOGY

9/13 Medium Theory (I)

*McLuhan, from Essential McLuhan *Meyrowitz, „Medium Theory‟

9/20 Critiques of Medium Theory

Williams, Television*Fischer, „Technology and Modern Life‟

9/27 Medium Theory (II)Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

*Strate, „A Media Ecology Review‟

10/4 Logic of New Media: Alex Galloway visit*Manovich, from The Language of New Media

II. COMMUNICATION AND POWER

10/11 The Public Sphere (I)

*Habermas, „The Public Sphere‟ *Keane, „Structural Transformations of the Public Sphere‟

*Garnham, „Comments on John Keane‟s “Structural Transformations of the

Public Sphere”‟ *Keane, „A Reply to Nicholas Garnham‟

*Serra, „The killing of Brazilian street children and the rise of the international

public sphere‟

(recommended)

*Calhoun, „Introduction‟ to Habermas and the Public Sphere

*Dahlgren, „The Public Sphere and the Net‟

Take-Home Exam #1: Due Monday, 10.16, 5 p.m. in professor’s mailbox or

by e-mail



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10/18 Researching the Public Sphere (II): Content Analysis

*Page, excerpts from Who Deliberates?*Ryan, excerpts from Prime-Time Activism

10/25 The Journalistic Field (I)Benson and Neveu, Bourdieu and the Journalistic Field (chs. by Benson and Neveu, Bourdieu, Benson, and Schudson)

11/1 Researching the Journalistic Field (II): In-depth InterviewsChampagne and Marchetti, ch. in Bourdieu and the Journalistic Field

*Bourdieu, from The Weight of the World

III. INTERPRETING AND EXPERIENCING COMMUNICATION

11/8 Communication as Culture

*Geertz, „Thick Description‟ and „Deep Play‟ *Carey, „A Cultural Approach to Communication‟

11/15 Audience Interpretations ... and Experiences

*Katz and Liebes, „Decoding Dallas‟ *Hall, „Encoding / Decoding‟

Gitlin, Media Unlimited

11/22 NO CLASS*(*Makeup: Required attendance and report on Graduate conference or Guest Lecture)

11/29 Culture and Postcolonialism: Visit by Radha HegdeReadings TBA

Start Thursday, 11/30, Media Blackout

12/6 Life without Media

McKibben, The Age of Missing Information

12/13 Communication Policy and Activism

*Curran, „Rethinking the Media as a Public Sphere‟

*Bennett, „New Media Power: The Internet and Global Activism‟

Take-Home Exam #2: Due Monday, 12.18, 5 p.m. in professor’s mailbox or by e-

mail

Documents

2006 Fall Media Analysis Syllabus Final Final