SEMESTER AT SEA/UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH COURSE SYLLABUS Discipline Semester and Year Course Number and Title Faculty Name Communication Studies Spring 2005 Comm 0320 Mass Communication Process Dr. Patricia A. Curtin
Is any previous course work or experience indispensable for success in this course? Suggested Pre-requisites: None COURSE DESCRIPTION This overview of the mass media industry examines the role of the media in political, economic, and cultural processes. Topics covered include the increasing concentration of media ownership (e.g., the music recording industry) and its impact on content, distribution, and sales; the role of journalistic norms in constructing the "daily news”; how ideology (e.g., race, gender, sexual orientation, and class) informs popular and news media content; the nature of media audiences and the uses to which media are put; and the impact of changing technologies (e.g., TIVO) and genres (e.g., reality tv). Particular attention is given to the contested notion of media imperialism and the role of media in a ‘globalized’ culture. By critically analyzing media in the itinerary countries and how local audiences use those media, students will develop their own perspective on the role of global and local media in constructing cultural identities. COURSE OBJECTIVES By the end of this course students should be able to • • • • • Understand how media industries are structured and operate Deconstruct media messages and their representations of the social world Delineate the interpretive strategies that U.S. audiences employ when consuming media Achieve greater media literacy by critically assessing media and being more informed and discerning media consumers Construct and sustain an informed debate about media cultural imperialism and the role of U.S. media in globalization and cultural identity
Discipline Semester and Year Course Number and Title Faculty Name PAGE 2a
Communication Studies Spring 2005 Comm 0320 Mass Communication Process Dr. Patricia A. Curtin
TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE: Major and minor units of study to be covered. Unit I Media Production and Globalization Days 1 through 5 (approximately departure to Kobe, Japan) Day 1: Chapter 1 Media and the Social World Day 2: Chapter 2 The Economics of the Media Industry Day 3: Chapter 3 Political Influence on Media Media diet due Day 4: Chapter 10 Media in a Changing Global Culture Day 5: Reserve reading: Reserve reading: Globalisation as Identity Crisis: The New Global Media Landscape. Chapter 1 in D. Morley & K. Robins, Spaces of identity: Global media, electronic landscapes and cultural boundaries Unit II Media Representations of the Social World Day 6 (approximately Kobe, Japan to Busan, Korea, to Shanghai, China) Day 6: Chapter 5 Media and Ideology Days 7 and 8 (approximately Shanghai, China to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) Day 7: Field Observation Report presentations due/discussion Day 8: Field Observation Report presentations/discussion, cont. Days 9 and 10 (approximately Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Chennai, India) Day 9: Chapter 6 Social Inequality and Media Representation Day 10: Exam 1 Unit III Audiences: Meaning and Influence Days 11 through 13 (approximately Chennai, India to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) Day 11: Chapter 7 Media Influences and the Political World Day 12: Field Observation Report presentations due/discussion Day 13: Field Observation Report presentations/discussion, cont.
Discipline Semester and Year Course Number and Title Faculty Name PAGE 2b
Communication Studies Spring 2005 Comm 0320 Mass Communication Process Dr. Patricia A. Curtin
Days 14 through 16 (approximately Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to Capetown, South Africa) Day 14: Chapter 8 Active Audiences and the Construction of Media Day 15: Chapter 9 Media Technology and Social Change Day 16: Reserve Reading: Tradition and Translation: National Culture in its Global Context. Chapter 6 in D. Morley & K. Robins, Spaces of identity: Global media, electronic landscapes and cultural boundaries. Unit IV Media Sociology Days 17 through 20 (approximately Capetown, South Africa to Salvador, Brazil) Day 17: Field Observation Report presentations due/discussion Day 18: Field Observation Report presentations/discussion, cont. Day 19: Chapter 4 Media Organizations and Professionals Day 20: Reserve reading: The Local and the Global in Popular Music: The Brazilian Music Industry, Local Culture, and Public Policies. Chapter 7 in D. Crane et al., Global culture: Media, arts, policy, and globalization. Days 21 and 22 (approximately Salvador, Brazil to Havana, Cuba) Day 21: Cultural Imperialism Analysis due/Class presentations of analyses Day 22: Class presentations of analyses, cont. Finals: Exam 2
Discipline Semester and Year Course Number and Title Faculty Name PAGE 3
Communication Studies Spring 2005 Comm 0320 Mass Communication Process Dr. Patricia A. Curtin
FIELD COMPONENT: Twenty percent of the contact hours for each course is provided by field work. Please list the kinds of course-related activities and assignments that your students will conduct while in port. 1. Field Observation Reports: In three different ports of call [one from group 1 (Japan, Korea, China), one from group 2 (Vietnam, India), and one from group 3 (Tanzania, South Africa)] students will compile field observation reports of the following: • Types/forms of popular media found/prominence of different media types • National origins of media/dominant language used in media • How audiences are using the media, for what purposes • Comparison to U.S. media types and uses From these reports, students will write an analysis of the local and global media forms found and the uses to which they are put and share the results in class presentations. 2. Media Imperialism and Cultural Identity Analysis: In one port of call students will gather examples of media artifacts and messages and interview at least three individuals about their media use and/or production. Students are responsible for critically analyzing these artifacts, messages, and interviews in terms of the media imperialism and cultural identity debate and presenting their findings in both a written paper and an oral presentation to the class.
METHODS OF EVALUATION Component Media diet Exams (2 @ 35) Field observation reports (3 @ 35) Media imperialism analysis Class participation Points 25 70 105 65 35
Discipline Semester and Year Course Number and Title Faculty Name Page 4 REQUIRED TEXTBOOK AUTHORS: TITLE: PUBLISHER: ISBN#: DATE/EDITION: COST:
Communication Studies Spring 2005 Comm 0320 Mass Communication Process Dr. Patricia A. Curtin
Croteau, D., & Hoynes, W. Media/society: Industries, images and audiences Pine Forge Press 0761987738 2002/3RD Edition $47.00
RESERVE LIBRARY LIST Mendora, L. F. M. (2002). The local and the global in popular music: The Brazilian music industry, local culture, and public policies. In D. Crane, N. Kawashima, K. Kawasaki (Eds.), Global culture: Media, arts, policy, and globalization (pp. 105-117). NY: Routledge. Morley, D., & Robins, K. (1995). Globalisation as identity crisis: The new global media landscape. In Spaces of identity: Global media, electronic landscapes and cultural boundaries (Chapter 1, pp. 10-25). NY: Routledge. Morley, D., & Robins, K. (1995). Tradition and translation: National culture in its global context. In Spaces of identity: Global media, electronic landscapes and cultural boundaries (Chapter 6, pp. 105-124). NY: Routledge. AUTHORS: TITLE: PUBLISHER: ISBN#: DATE/EDITION: COST: AUTHORS: TITLE: PUBLISHER: ISBN#: DATE/EDITION: COST: D. Morley & K. Robins Spaces of Identity: Global Media, Electronic Landscapes and Cultural Boundaries Routledge 0415095972 1995 $30 D. Crane, N. Kawashima, N. Kawasaki Global Culture: Media, Arts, Policy, and Globalization Routledge 0415932300 2002 $27