Television and Radio Criticism

Schedule

Header image: Nam June Paik: Global Visionary - Gallery Shot via Smithsonian American Art Museum on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

All readings listed for a particular day should be read before that day. All readings are available on the class website as .pdf files or as links to online articles or sites. In addition to the readings listed here, we will also read news articles each week. These will be posted to the course website two days before class. All assignments are due at the beginning of class. Assignments that are part of the final project are marked with (FP). Finally, this schedule (and the syllabus) is subject to revision and will, very likely, be changed to match the direction the course takes as the semester proceeds. The names of the students writing a Reading Response on that reading are listed in brackets after the reading title.

Th 8/30
Theories of Representation
* Hall, “The work of representation” (read 1.1, 1.4 and 1.5: pp. 15-19 and pp. 24-28)
 
Tu 9/4
Modes of Media Criticism: Reviews, Analysis, and Critique
* Butler, “Mad Men: Visual style” (read only p. 39)
* Ono, “Mad Men's postracial figuration of a racial past" (read only the first 4 pages)
* Stanley, “Smoking, drinking, cheating and selling” (online. If the link does not work, copy and paste this url into the 
  browser: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/arts/television/19stan.html?mcubz=1)
* Perdomo, “A look to the past, an insight into the present: The use of gender in ‘Mad Men’” (online)
 
Th 9/6
Scalar Workshop
Hashmi & McDonald, “Scalar 101”
** Meet in Library, R. 384 **
 
Tu 9/11
No class
 
Th 9/13
Critical Media Analysis
* Smith, “‘It’s just a movie’: Why you should analyze film and television” [Brenda]
* Kearney, “Introduction, or how to cook an artichoke” [Rashae, Freddy]
Assignment: Research Topic Ideas (FP)

Tu 9/18
No class

Th 9/20
Library Research Skills
** Meet in Library, R. 384 **
 
Tu 9/25
Realism, Representation, and Power
* Beltran, “Representation” [Emilio, Joshua]
 
Th 9/27
Narrative Analysis I
* Hashmi, “Narrative analysis notes”
Assignment: One-Pager RQ (FP)

Tu 10/2
Narrative Analysis II
* Butler, “Narrative structure: Television stories,” part one and part two [Sheva, Shannese]
 
Th 10/4
Semiotic Analysis: Signs and Codes
* Streeter, “Semiotics and Advertising” (online tutorial. If the link does not work, copy and past this url into your browser:
  http://www.uvm.edu/~tstreete/semiotics_and_ads/introduction.html)
* Hashmi, “Semiotics and Structuralism”
 
Tu 10/9
Semiotic Analysis: Codes and Culture
* Hall, “Work of representation” (read pp. 36-45) [Galen]
* Fiske, “Codes of television”
 
Th 10/11
Ideological Analysis
* Hashmi, “Ideological analysis notes”
* Hill Collins, “Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment” [Huma, Kenia]
 
Tu 10/16
News, Framing, Ideology
* Phillips, “The oxygen of amplification, part 2--At a certain point you have to realize you are promoting them: The ambivalence of journalistic amplification” [Colton, Ayanna]
Assignment: Media Review #1

Th 10/18
Critical Race Studies
* Omi & Winant, “Racial formations” [Authurine, Anthony]
 
Tu 10/23
Feminist Media Studies
* Valdivia, “Latina media studies” [Elissa]
* Beltran, “Mixed race in Latinowood: Latino stardom & ethnic ambiguity in the era of Dark Angels” [Cherly, Jocelynne]
 
Th 10/25
Hegemony
* Williams, “Traditions, institutions, and formations” [Gavhar, Katherine]
* McRae, “How the 'grassroots resistance' of white women shaped white supremacy” (online) [Mikaya]
 

Tu 10/30 
** Note change in schedule **
** Class meets in Amersfort Lounge, Student Center (SUBO) ** 
*** You must register for the event at the link below ***
From Westchester to the World: Patricia Murphy Robinson and Black Feminist Anti-Imperialism
A conversation and film screening of "Pat! A Revolutionary Black Molecule," with Lupe Family, filmmaker and executive producer, and Emilia Ottoo, creative director. Led by Dr. Robyn Spencer.
 
Th 11/1
Identification
* Smith, “How do we identify with characters?”
* hooks, "The oppositional gaze”
Assignment: Proposal (FP) [Note new due date]

Tu 11/6
Global Media
* Kumar, “National/transnational/global”
 
Th 11/8
Audience Analysis: Negotiation
* Becker & Weiner, “Making sense of a bromance: Talking with straight men about I Love You, Man” (Brenda, Anthony)
 
Tu 11/13
Political Economy
* Class meets in Library, R. 383 *
* Meehan, “Conceptualizing culture as commodity” (Freddy, Joshua)
* Burkart, “Political economy” (Sheva, Gavhar)
 

Th 11/15
Participatory culture
* Kreisinger, “Queer video remix and LGBTQ online communities” (online) (Ayanna, Mikaya, Emilio)
* McCracken, “Glee: Kurt and the casting couch” (online)
Assignment: Theory Paper (FP) [Note new due date]

Tu 11/20
Algorithmic Media
* Required reading: Noble, “Searching for Black girls” [Cherly, Shannese, Authurine)
* Optional reading: Gillespie, “Algorithmically recognizable: Santorum’s Google problem, and Google’s Santorum problem”
Assignment: Media Review #2 [Note new due date]

Th 11/22
No class: Thanksgiving Recess

Tu 11/27
Social Media
* Marwick, "Instafame: Luxury selfies in the attention economy" [Huma, Colton, Galen)
 
Th 11/29
Games as Media
* Payne and Huntemann, “Games and gaming” (Jocelynne, Rashae)
* Walker, “Watching us play: Postures and platforms of live streaming” (Kenia, Katherine)
 
Tu 12/4
Asian American Media Studies
* Lopez, “Asian American media studies”
* Please complete this survey about the zero textbook cost course: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/cunyoer

Th 12/6
Final Project Presentations: Shannese, Ayanna, Freddy, Jocelynne, Huma, Anthony, Galen, Joshua, Brenda, Cherly
No readings
Assignment: Draft 1 (FP) [note change in date!] [don't forget the portfolio with all previous work!]

Tu 12/11
Final Project Presentations: Authurine, Mikaya, Colton, Rashae, Sheva, Katherine, Emilio, Gavhar, Kenia
No readings
Assignment: Creative Project (FP)
Optional: Revision of Media Review #2 [don't forget the original!]

Thursday, 12/20: Second Draft due in my office (405 Whitehead) between 1 pm and 3 pm

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