YORK UNIVERSITY
DEPT. OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES
AP/COMN
2700 6.0 SUMMER 2013
MEDIA, CULTURE AND SOCIETY
Instructor:
Dr. Frank F. Scherer
Phone:
416-736.2100 ext. 77838
Office:
Room 2015, TEL Building
Office
Hrs: Mon/Wed 15:00-16:00
Email:
fscherer@yorku.ca
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will explore the development of
modern media in the context of their social and cultural negotiation. Set in four
parts, we’ll begin with (1 & 2) a conceptual/historical introduction, work through
both (2) traditional as well as (3) “new” media, and conclude with (4)
perspectives on the media under globalization. Our excursus is informed by an
interdisciplinary approach which includes insight from fields as diverse as philosophy,
sociology, anthropology, political science, psychoanalysis, postmodern and postcolonial
theories, art history, media archaeology, etc. The central goal of this course
is to develop an interpretative toolbox that will allow students to identify
and explicate the defining elements at play in media products today.
FORMAT
Two two-hour meetings per week: Mondays/Wednesdays,
16:00 to 18:00; Room: Curtis Lecture Hall K; including lectures, screenings, and
in-class discussions.
TUTORIALS:
01 M
W 15:00-16.00 ACE 0012 Gascho,
Denese
02 M W 14:00-15:00 VH
2016 Gascho, Denese
03 M W 18:00-19.00 VH
2016 Speakman, Kelsey
04 M W 18:00-19:00 VH 2005 Buesink,
Jeremy
05 M W 19:00-20:00 VH 1020 Dorey,
Thomas
REQUIRED
READINGS
Seth Giddings & Martin Lister (eds.), The New Media and Technocultures Reader
(2011) For all other articles pertinent to the course see: Moodle 2012-13 (York University)
ASSIGNMENTS
AND EVALUATION
Attendance/Participation (10%) Two Seminar Presentations (10% each)
Minor Essay (10%) Major Essay (20%)
Midterm In-Class Exam (20%) Final In-Class Exam (20%)
Attendance/Participation:
engagementwill be assessed both in terms of the
student’s presence AND her/his intellectual contribution. Seminar Presentations: every student is required to offer two
presentations of 10-15 min. duration. Minor/Major
Essays: three/ four weeks ahead of due dates, essay instructions will be discussed.
Lateness Penalty: without
documentation, late assignments will automatically be assigned a zero. Still, that
work can be turned in at any point until the last week of classes to receive a
completion grade of 50% provided it meets the required criteria. In-Class Exams:two weeks ahead ofexams, students will be given a choice
of questions based on materials from lectures, readings and screenings.
All
students are required to complete an Academic Integrity Tutorial (see details at .yorku.ca/tutorial/academic_integrity/”>http://www.yorku.ca/tutorial/academic_integrity/),
print out the results (which need to be 100%) and hand-in a hardcopy to your
tutorial leader by the end of week two.
LECTURE, ASSIGNMENT AND EXAM SCHEDULE
DATES TOPICS / READINGS / SCREENINGS
WEEK 1
May 06
Lecture INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE
May 08
Lecture: WHAT ARE MEDIA? WHY STUDY COMMUNICATIONS?
Readings: J. Guillory, “Genesis of the Media
Concept”
K. Dowler, “Why Study
Communications?”
MINOR ESSAY
INSTRUCTIONS
WEEK 2
May 13
Lecture: GUTENBERG GALAXY
Readings: E. Einstein, “Printing Press as an Agent
of Change”
J.B. Thompson, The Media and Modernity II, pp. 188-206
Screening: The Machine That Made Us(2008) 59 min.
May 15
Lecture: THE PUBLIC SPHERE
Readings: J. Habermas, “The Public Sphere”
J.B.
Thompson, The Media and Modernity I,
pp. 63-80
WEEK 3
May 20 VICTORIA DAY – NO CLASS / NO TUTORIALS
May 22
Lecture: TECHNOLOGICAL DETERMINISM
Readings: J. Ellul, “Ideas of Technology”
B.
Bimber, “Three Faces of Technological Determinism”
R. Heilbroner,
“Technological Determinism Revisited”
WEEK 4
May 27
Lecture: TELEGRAPHY AND TELEPHONY
Readings: A. Mattelart, “Networks of
Universalization”
B. Seigert, “The
World Postal System”
May 29
Lecture: PHOTOGRAPHY AND MOTION PICTURE
Readings: R. Sklar, “The Birth of a Mass Medium”
F. Kittler, “Optical Media”
MIDTERM EXAM
QUESTIONS / MINOR ESSAY DUE
WEEK 5
Jun 03
Lecture: RADIO AND TELEVISION
Readings: J. Sterne, “Televison under
Construction”
S. Zielinski,
“Audiovision”
Jun 05
Lecture: TYPEWRITER AND COMPUTER
Readings: F. Kittler, “Typewriter”
C. Alt “Objects of
Our Affection”
Screening: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 59 min.
WEEK 6
Jun 10
Lecture: CULTURE INDUSTRIES
Readings: T. Adorno, “Culture
Industry Reconsidered”
N.
Schulman, “Conditions of their Own Making”
H. Hardt, “British
Cultural Studies”
Jun 12
Lecture: IN-CLASS MIDTERM EXAM
WEEK 7
Jun 17
Lecture: MEDIA ARCHAEOLOGY
Readings: Huhtamo/Parikka, “An Archaeology of
Media Archaeology”
J. Baudrillard,
“Requiem for the Media”
Winthrop-Young/Wutz,
“Media Discourse Analysis”
Jun 19
Lecture: MULTIMEDIA
Readings: T. Elsaesser, “The New Film History as
Media Archaeology”
A. Friedman, “The End
of Cinema: Multimedia”
Screening The Matrix (2006) 120min.
MAJOR
ESSAY INSTRUCTIONS
WEEK 8
June 24
Lecture; THE “NEW” MEDIA I
Readings: E. Huhtamo,
“From Kaleidoscomaniac to Cybernerd” (NMTCR 62-69)
L. Manovich, The Language of New Media(NMTCR 239-247)
Dixon/Weber,
“Playspaces, Childhood, Videogames” (NMTCR 479-490)
Jun 26
Lecture:
THE “NEW” MEDIA II
Readings: L. Hjorth, “Domesticating the New Media”
(NMTCR 437-448)
Gunn/Hall,
“Stick it in Your Ear: The Psychodynamics of iPod Enjoyment”
WEEK 9
Jul 01 CANADA DAY – NO CLASS / NO TUTORIALS
Jul 03
Lecture: VIRTUALITY
Readings: B. Wooley, “Virtuality” (NMTCR 217-225);
L. Marks, “Invisible
Media” (NMTCR 248-257);
M. Poster, “Everyday
(Virtual) Life” (NMTCR 460-464)
WEEK 10
Jul 08
Lecture GLOBALIZATION: HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY
Readings E. Dussel, “Beyond
Eurocentrism”
F. Jameson, “Notes on
Globalization as a Philosophical Issue”
Machin/van
Leeuwen, “Histories of Media Globalisation”
Jul 10
Lecture: WHAT IS THE GLOCAL?
Readings: S. Hall, “The Local and the Global”
A. Dirlik, “The
Global in the Local”
D.
Polan “Globalism’s Localism”
WEEK 11
Jul 15
Lecture: GLOBALIZATION AND
POSTCOLONIALITY
Readings: E. Said, Orientalism
F. Scherer, “UFA Orientalism”
FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS
Jul 17
Lecture: IN THE DIASPORA
Readings: P. van der Veer, “The Enigma of Arrival”
M.
Kraidy, “Cultural Hybridity”
MAJOR
ESSAY DUE
WEEK 12
Jul 22
Lecture:
GLOBALIZED CINEMA
Readings: Shohat/Stam, “From Imperial Family to
Transnational Imaginary”
N. Mingant, “A New Hollywood Genre”
Screening: Cloud Atlas (2012)
Jul 24
Lecture: THE GLOBAL DIGITAL DIVIDE
Reading: Selwyn, “Reconsidering Political and
Popular Understandings”
Chinn/Fairlie,
“The Determinants of the Global Digital Divide”
Livingstone/Helsper,
“Gradations in Digital Inclusion”
WEEK 13
Jul 28
Lecture COURSE REVIEW
Jul 30
Lecture:
FINAL IN-CLASS EXAM
MINOR ESSAY INSTRUCTIONS
You are to pick a topic of your choice within the
range of themes treated in this course (see syllabus). Write a 5 page minor outline
to prepare for your major essay.
The outline must consist of two parts. Part I (3-4
pages) should a) briefly explain the rationale/s of your choice; b) indicate
which theoretical perspective you will use to explore your topic and c) offer a
tentative thesis in one or two sentences (italics).
Part II (1-2 pages) should provide an annotated
bibliography with at least 5 entries (consisting of min. 4 lines single space
per entry; scholarly sources only; other than course readings). Be sure to
include page numbers where journal articles are used. No online descriptions
and/or websites!
Required Format: typed, double-spaced; Times New
Roman, 12 pt. font; size 8 1/2 x 11; 1 inch margins; cover page will include title, student’s name,
last-name, student number, name of tutorial leader, course sigla, number, title,
and the date. Except for the cover page, always show page numbers. Work with
MLA style (York
Libraries website). Papers that do not conform to these formal requirements will
lose marks. Only hand-in the stapled paper, don’t use additional folders.
The minor essay is worth 10% of your overall grade.
Due date is: Wednesday, May 29, 2013, at the beginning of the lecture. All
assignments are to be delivered to the tutorial leader, no drop-offs or e-submissions
will be accepted (the only exception to this is when you have special
arrangements agreed upon with your TA).
