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Classes

Media and Cultural Studies, Spring 2005

Media and Cultural Studies

COMM 8690/WST 8920, Spring 2005
Mondays, 7:15-9:45 PM, 1020 One Park Place South

Dr. Ted Friedman
Office: 738 One Park Place South
Office Hours: Tuesdays 1-4 and by appointment
Email: tedf@gsu.edu; Phone: (404) 463-9522
Home Page: http://www.tedfriedman.com

Course Description
What are the political dimensions of popular culture? How does culture reflect, influence, and embody structures of power? Where does hegemony end and resistance begin? This class will engage the interdisciplinary field of Cultural Studies, which attempts to understand the relationship between culture and politics. We’ll be reading founding theoretical texts, current scholarship, and works which attempt to translate theory into action. We’ll address a range of media, from film and television to music, computer games and romance novels. We’ll look at multiple, intersecting structures of power, including class, nation, gender, and race.

Readings
Class readings will include books, a coursepack of articles, and news items distributed via the class email list.

The course books (other than the romance novel you select) are available at the GSU bookstores. Here are the books you’ll need:

• Thomas Frank, What’s the Matter With Kansas?
• Graeme Turner, British Cultural Studies: An Introduction
• Michael Denning, Culture in the Age of Three Worlds
• Suzanna Walters, Material Girls
• Michael Omi and Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States
• Arjun Appadurai, Modernity at Large
• Janice Radway, Reading the Romance
• Susan Douglas et al, The Mommy Myth
• Allan Badiner, ed., Mindfulness in the Marketplace
• Cary Nelson, Manifesto of a Tenured Radical
• Craig Seligman, Sontag & Kael: Opposites Attract Me
• Naomi Klein, No Logo.

The coursepack is sold by Bestway Copy Center, 18 Decatur Street SE (on the first floor of One Park Place South).

Outside Screenings and Activities
Some videos will be screened during class. In addition, one film will be assigned as outside screening, and should be viewed before class the week it is scheduled. The film will be on reserve on DVD at the Library Media Center. It is also readily available at local video stores for home rental. Recommended alternatives to Blockbuster are Movies Worth Seeing (1409 N Highland; 404-892-1802), Videodrome (617 N Highland; 404-885-1117), and the online service Netflix (http://www.netflix.com). There will also be one outside activitiy: purchasing a romance novel.

Email Group

All students will be signed up to the class email list. I will regularly forward media news and cultural criticism to the list. You’re encouraged to forward other interesting information, post your reactions to recent movies, respond to other postings, or continue any other ongoing discussions from class.

Schedule

Part I: Introduction

1/10 The Politics of Culture
In-class screening: Barbie Nation

1/17 Martin Luther King Day – no class

1/24 What’s the Matter?
Thomas Frank, What’s the Matter With Kansas?
Additional readings to be distributed online

Part II: Theory

1/31 From Marx to the Frankfurt School
Graeme Turner, British Cultural Studies, Introduction and Part I
Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels, excerpts
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment
as Mass Deception”
Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”
Louis Althusser, “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses”
Stuart Hall, “Signification, Representation, Ideology: Althusser and the Post-Structuralist Debates”

2/7 Birmingham and Beyond
Turner, Part II
Atonio Gramsci, “Hegemony, Intellectuals and the State”
Stuart Hall, “Encoding/Decoding” and “The Rediscovery of ‘Ideology’: Return of the Repressed in Media Studies”
Richard Dyer, “Entertainment and Utopia”

2/14 American Cultural Studies
Michael Denning, Culture in the Age of Three Worlds

2/21 Public Intellectuals
Craig Seligman, Sontag & Kael: Opposites Attract Me

2/28 Feminist Theory
Suzanna Walters, Material Girls

3/7 Spring Break – no class

3/14 Critical Race Theory
Michael Omi & Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States

3/21 Globalization
Arjun Appuradai, Modernity at Large

Part III: Practice

3/28 Ethnography
Janice Radway, Reading the Romance
Outside assignment: go to a bookstore and buy a romance novel to read for class

4/4 Cultural Criticism
Susan Douglas et al, The Mommy Myth

Part IV: Praxis

4/11 Academia
Cary Nelson, Manifesto of a Tenured Radical

4/18 Consumer Ethics
Allan Badiner, ed, Mindfulness in the Marketplace
Outside screening: I ♥ Huckabees

4/25 Activism
Naomi Klein, No Logo

5/2 Wrap-Up
No reading
Paper presentations/party at Ted’s house

Assignments

I. Lead two discussions of books – 15% of final grade for each reading
You will sign up to lead, with a group, discussions of two books. To prepare for the discussion of the reading, in addition to reading the week’s assignment, research these questions to put the reading in a broader context:

1. What is the author’s background? What discipline is the author trained in? What else has s/he written? In which journals has s/he published?

2. What was the reception of the book? How was book reviewed? What criticisms have been made of the author’s work? How has the author responded? Whom has the author influenced?

Then, meet with your group to prepare for a class discussion. Don’t bother summarizing the work. Rather, concentrate on how the work relates to the key questions we’ll be asking all semester. In addition to the research topics, other subjects for discussion should include:

3. Methodology: What research methods does the author use? (Possibilities include textual analysis, ethnography, historical research, quantitative social science, etc.) How does the author approach and justify this methodology? What are the advantages and limitations of this methodology?

4. Theoretical debates: In what theoretical debates does the work intervene? Where does the author stand? Who does the author criticize? How does this work move the debate forward?

5. Example of Analysis: Pick one text that’s either directly addressed by the author, or that can be illuminated by applying the author’s ideas. Show a representative example from the text (any clip should be no more than 5 minutes). Discuss how the author would (or does) interpret the example. What are the strengths and limitations of this interpretation? What alternate interpretations are possible?

Outline the key topics of discussion in a short (1-2 page) handout for the class. There’s no need to include more detail, or to prepare a PowerPoint presentation – the focus should be on presenting material orally and facilitating a good class discussion.

Note: you don’t need to organize your discussion in the order listed above. It may help to present the example up front, to ground your discussion of methodology and theory. It’s often also a good icebreaker to begin discussion by going around the room, asking everybody to answer a specific question related to their response to the book.

II. Lead discussion of one key theorist – 10% of final grade
You will also sign up to lead, with a group, discussion of one key theorist on either 1/31 or 2/7. This will be a shorter 30-minute discussion. Your group should research the author’s writing and biography beyond the assigned readings, then begin the discussion with a brief (5 minute) biographical introduction. Then, introduce a contemporary media example and lead a discussion of how the theorist’s ideas might be applied to the example. Hand out a short 1-page summary of the writer’s key works and concepts. The choice of theorists includes:
• For 1/31: Adorno, Benjamin, Althusser
• For 2/7: Gramsci, Hall, Dyer

III. Journal presentation – 10% of final grade
Sign up (via email) to give a presentation on one of the journals listed on the separate handout. Browse through the last several years of the journal, reading enough articles to give you a sense of the journal’s disciplinary focus, methodological assumptions, and theoretical framework. Which scholars are regularly cited? What knowledge is taken for granted? What kind of specialized language is employed? Pay particular attention to debates within the journal, such as essays which provoke responses. Also research the journal’s submission policies and rejection rate. Give a 15 minute presentation addressing these questions. Summarize your research on a one-page handout for the class.

IV. Final Project – 50%.of the final grade
Option 1: Write a 15-20 page paper on a subject relating to the politics of popular culture. You should write this paper with an eye towards eventually presenting it at a conference, expanding it and publishing it. In addition, if you already have a thesis or dissertation topic in mind, consider how this paper might form the basis for a chapter of the larger work.

Option 2: Produce a creative work which engages some of the ideas of the class. The project can be a short film, a screenplay, or a new media work. Along with the project, include a 5-page paper relating your work to ideas from the class.

For either option, the deadlines are the same:
• A one-page prospectus is due March 14. I will schedule individual meetings with you to discuss the prospectus.
• I will look at drafts of the final project submitted on or before May 2. You’re welcome to submit multiple drafts for feedback. If you choose, I will let you know what grade a draft would receive if you submitted as the final version of your project.
• You will give a short (5 minute) presentation of your research project at the final class on May 2.
• The final project is due May 9.

V. Attendance Adjustment
As Woody Allen put it, “80 percent of success is showing up.” It’s less than that in this formula, but the bottom line is that you can’t contribute to the class if you’re not there. You’re allowed one unexcused absence for the semester. After that, each unexcused absence subtracts one point from your grade total. Excused absences include medical and family emergencies. You will be expected to schedule any employment responsibilities around this class, or accept the consequences of missed classes for your grade. If you do need to miss a class, please contact me ahead of time, and make arrangements to catch up on missed material.

Policies

Academic Honesty
The university’s policy on academic honesty is published in On Campus: The Undergraduate Co-Curricular Affairs Handbook, available online at http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwcam. The policy prohibits plagiarism, cheating on examinations, unauthorized collaboration, falsification, and multiple submissions. Violation of the policy will result in failing the class, in addition to possible disciplinary sanctions.

Withdrawals
Students withdrawing on or before October 11 will receive a W provided they are passing the course. Students who withdraw after October 11 will not be eligible for a W except in cases of hardship. If you withdraw after October 11, you will be assigned a WF, except in those cases in which (1) hardship status is determined by the office of the dean of students because of emergency, employment, or health reasons, and (2) you are passing the course.

Incompletes
Incompletes may be given only in special hardship cases. Incompletes will not be used merely for extending the time for completion of course requirements.

Changes to the Syllabus
This syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.

Posted by tedf at January 27, 2005 05:11 AM

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