San José State University Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Department SOCI 223: Sec 1: Social Issues: Sociology of Media and Identity, Fall 2014 Instructor: Office Location: Telephone: Email: Office Hours: Class Days/Time: Classroom: Steve Nava DMH 223 (408) 924-2942 steve.nava@sjsu.edu Mondays 5:30pm-6:00pm; Wednesdays 1:00pm-3:00pm Mondays 6:00pm-8:45pm DMH 162 Course Description This course is designed so that students can critically explore major developments in theories of the media and their effects on cultural identity. We will learn these developments through weekly analysis of exemplary articles by noted authors representing the following perspectives: Frankfurt School s Marxist analysis of the culture industry; British Cultural Studies cultural post-marxism; Intersectionality and Feminist Film theory. Course Content Learning Outcomes Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Ø Critically analyze particular media practices and explain their social implications. Ø Critically analyze how social identities are interrelated through power relations in both contemporary and historical media representations. Ø Be able to write clearly and compellingly about the distinctions between the content and form of mass media production and consumption from the major theoretical perspectives covered. Ø Demonstrate a critical sociological perspective on social contradictions and tensions concerning conceptions of social identity and social value as they are shaped by technological developments in media. Required Texts/Readings Barthes, Roland. 1958. Mythologies. Harper Collins. 0-374-52150-6 Hall, Stuart, Jessica Evans and Sean Nixon. 2013. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices: Culture, Media and Identities Series. London: Sage. 978-1-84920-563-4 Berger, John. 1971. Ways of Seeing. Penguin Books. 978-0140-135152 Lanier, Jaron. 2013. Who Owns the Future. New York: Simon and Schuster. 978-1- 4516-5496-7 SOC 223 Sociology of Media and Identity 1
Gonzalez, Juan and Joseph Torres. 2011. News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media. London: Verso. eisbn: 978-1-84467-942-3 Forster, E.M. The Machine Stops. 1909. Public Doman. [google it, it is free online] Recommended: Dines. Gail and Jean M. Humez. 2011. Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Critical Reader. 3rd Ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage. 9781412974417 Canvas There is a Canvas site for this class and you will be automatically added. I will use Canvas to post important notices and announcements, handouts, and some of the course readings. I will also use it to send group email messages should the need arise. Canvas will also be a place for you to ask questions to other students in the class for which everyone might want the answer. Please bring the readings to class on the day we are discussing them. Attendance and Participation The readings are listed by the date they will be covered in class. You will be expected to attend all class meetings, complete assigned readings, bring your syllabus and the day s readings to class, and students must absolutely participate in seminar discussions. University Policies Campus policy in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act: If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with DRC to establish a record of their disability. Academic Integrity Statement (from the Office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development) Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San José State University, and the University s Academic Integrity Policy requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the Office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The policy on academic integrity can be found at http://sa.sjsu.edu/student_conduct. Major Assignments: (1) Reading Responses: Typed weekly article synopses, reflections, and two discussion questions. All students will turn in 7 total weekly response papers on CANVAS Turn-it-in by Sunday night before the class it is due (5 points each). Students must address all readings for the week in each response. They are a synopsis and reflection on key connections between the course readings and your main research question(s) concerning the mass media and identity representations and cultural formations, as well as observations concerning social tensions and contradictions represented by the social media we are studying. Students will do seven reading responses, choosing which weeks they will turn them in between week 6 through week 14, however, students must do mandatory reading responses during week 3, 4, and 5 for feedback and the purposes of our norming of written responses. (35 points) SOC 223 Sociology of Media and Identity 2
(2) Class Discussion Facilitation: All students will be responsible for leading two class discussions. Class discussion leaders (usually three persons per week) are expected to: organize class discussion by summarizing the readings of the week, presenting specific questions to the class that consider the readings contributions, strengths and weaknesses, and relate the readings to other course materials. Class discussion leaders should be ready to call upon classmates to answer questions about the readings. Oral presentations will be worth 5 points each and must be completed to pass this course. Students will lead their assigned class discussions during week 2 through week 14. (10 points total) (3) Course Syllabus: You will write and submit (for a grade) your own original Course Syllabus on a chosen specialization focused on media, identity, and society. You will present your course syllabus to the class on Week 8. (5 points) (4) Media Theory Paper: Twelve page double spaced paper analyzing three schools of media analysis and outlining your own theoretical position on these theories and how you would apply social theory to a particular media you are interested in researching. (20 points) (5) Teaching Demonstration: During Week 10 and 11, students will do a 25-minute teaching demonstration. These teaching demonstrations must involve three portions: (1) ten minute lecture on your research paper topic; (2) a classroom activity geared toward freshman level students; (3) a synopsis and visual example of your main insight. (10 points) (6) Media Examples for In-Class Theory Application: During the final weeks of class we will show a series of media examples in class. Each student will provide from our readings their theoretically and sociologically sound critique of the video clip examples. Students and the instructor will choose the examples so, please post your media example suggestions to the CANVAS when we near the final weeks. Each student will present in class when they are called on (3/100 points are subtracted from any non-participating student s total grade). Important Note: Reading and attendance are the most important components of this course. Students are going to be required to read a large volume of material in this course. Readings are aimed at giving students a greater understanding of the field and issues discussed in class. Reading assignments must be completed before class and students must attend all class meetings and be prepared to discuss the readings when called upon. If you are having personal or academic problems impacting your success in the class, please let me know. If there is an emergency that requires you to miss an exam or your discussion facilitation, you must inform me as soon as possible. You cannot miss successive classes and expect that you will be able to make up everything you have missed; extensive absences will result in a failure of the course. I do not give incompletes except for in the case of extreme documented emergencies. Course grades: Reading Responses 7 X 5 points: 35 points Class Discussion Facilitation 2 X 5 points: 10 points Your Original Course Syllabus 1 X 5 points: 5 points Media Theory Paper 1 X 20 points: 20 points Teaching Demonstration 1 X 10 points: 10 points Final Exam 1 X 20 points: 20 points Total Points: 100 points SOC 223 Sociology of Media and Identity 3
Date Topic Readings and Due Dates Week 1 Mon 8/25 Course Introduction ASA 2013 Video Clip: Popular Culture as Propaganda and Critique Film clip: Berger. John. 1972. Ways of Seeing: Part 1 Discuss the Introduction, in Representation by Stuart Hall et al. Week 2 Mon 9/1 No Class Meeting: Labor Day Do readings for Week 3 in preparation for students class presentations and discussion during week 3. Week 3 Mon 9/8 Week 4 Mon 9/15 Week 5 Mon 9/22 Week 6 Mon 9/29 Week 7 Mon 10/6 Week 8 Mon 10/13 Foundational Readings in Media and Culture Theory [reading response #1 due] The Frankfurt School of Critical Theory of the Culture Industry [reading response #2 due] The Frankfurt School of Critical Theory of the Culture Industry [reading response #3 due today. You will do 4 more reading responses chosen from the remaining weeks 6-14] Applying Theory: The Frankfurt School of Critical Theory of the Culture Industry Cultural Studies: Representing Otherness Cultural Studies: Representing Otherness Sign-up for syllabus and teaching presentation (10/27 and 11/3) Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. [read all] Introduction, in Representation by Stuart Hall et al. Barthes, Roland. 1958. Mythologies. [Read select chapters*] Marx, Karl. The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret Thereof. Capital One. Adorno, Theodor. On the Fetish Character of Music and the Regression of Listening. Benjamin, Walter. 1972. Unpacking My Library. Adorno, Theodor. 1982. The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception. Benjamin, Walter. 1936. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Moore, Ryan. 2012. Digital Reproducibility and the Culture Industry: Popular Music and the Adorno-Benjamin Debate Lanier, Jaron. Who Owns the Future. [full book] Find and Read two reviews of this book as well. Proctor, James. 2004. Encoding and Decoding, in Stuart Hall (p- 72). New York: Routledge. Hall, Stuart et al. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. Ch. 1 The Work of Representation; by Stuart Hall and Ch. 2 Recording Reality: Documentary Film and Television, by Frances Bonner Selections from: Hall, Stuart et al. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices: Ch. 3 The Poetics and the Politics of Exhibiting Other Cultures, by Henrietta Litchi; and Ch. 4 The Spectacle of the Other, by Stuart Hall SOC 223 Sociology of Media and Identity 4
Week 9 Mon 10/20 Week 10 Mon 10/27 Week 11 Mon 11/3 Week 12 Mon 11/10 Week 13 Mon 11/17 Week 14 Mon 11/24 Week 15 Mon 12/1 Week 16 Mon 12/8 Race and the News Media Race and the News Media Undergraduate Course Syllabi and 20-minute Teaching Demo Cultural Studies: Gender Representation Undergraduate Course Syllabi and 20-minute Teaching Demo Audience and Ideology: Feminist Film Theory [Share a related article in addition to these readings] Feminist Critique of Media: Race, Gendered, and Queered Analysis Intersectionality and Media Representations Final Media Theory Paper Presentations Final Media Theory Paper Presentations FINAL EXAM 1 Gonzalez and Torres. 2011. News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media. [Intro and Chapters 1-2] Gonzalez and Torres. 2011. News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media. [Chapters 3-5] Students Will Present their course syllabi in class and Students will do a Media and Society teaching demo geared toward freshmen-level students. Sign up. Selections from: Hall, Stuart et al. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices: Ch. 5 Exhibiting Masculinity, by Sean Nixon; and Ch. 6. Genre and Gender: The Case of Soap Opera, by Christine Gledhill and Vicky Ball Students Will Present their course syllabi in class and Students will do a Media and Society teaching demo geared toward freshmen-level students. Mulvey, Laura. 1975. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen 16 (3). DeLauretis, Teresa. Aesthetic and Feminist Theory: Rethinking Women s Cinema. hooks, bell. 1992. The Oppositional Gaze: Black female spectators. Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston: South End Press. [Search online] Fraiman, Susan. 1989. Geometries of Race and Gender: Eve Sedgwick, Spike Lee, Charlayne Hunter-Gault. Feminist Studies. 20 (1). [Instructor will provide through Canvas or email] Sedgwick, Eve K. 1989. Between Men. [on CANVAS] Cooky, Cheryl et al. 2010. It s Not About the Game: Don Imus, Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Media, Sociology of Sport Journal. 27: 139-59. [Found in SJSU Library] Crenshaw, Kimberle. 2011. Black Women in Defense of Ourselves, the Nation. October 24, 2011. Sign up for your paper presentation this week Sign up for your paper presentation this week In-Class Comprehensive Exam: December 15 th, 5:15pm-7:30pm 1 Students who wish to count the final exam as one of their specialty area comprehensive exams will have a chance to register for the exam 2 weeks prior to the final exam date. Please refer to your Graduate Program Handbook for more information regarding comprehensive exams. SOC 223 Sociology of Media and Identity 5
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