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Classes

Media and Popular Culture, Fall 2006

Film 4810, Fall 2006, Wednesday 1:00-3:30, 203 Aderhold

Office: 738 One Park Place South, Email: tedf@gsu.edu

Course Description

Popular culture is often described as “escapist” entertainment. But this dismissal evades some very serious questions. What are we escaping? Where are we escaping to? Does everybody go to the same place? How might the trip affect us, once we get back? This class looks at the social consequences and political implications of mass mediated entertainment. Its goal is to develop the theoretical tools and critical perspective to interrogate the TV shows, commercials, films, books, songs, videos, and web sites that saturate our lives.

Readings

The following books are available at the GSU bookstores:

The Media Student’s Book , edited by Gill Branston and Roy Stafford
Electric Dreams by Ted Friedman
No Logo by Naomi Klein

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

Additional readings will be distributed via the class listserv . All students will be automatically signed up to the listserv. I will regularly forward Hollywood news, reviews of upcoming movies, and other useful material 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. Simply reply to a posting, or send a new message to popcult@tedfriedman.com . Most of the readings sent through email are recommended but not required. However, occasionally required readings will be distributed via email. In these cases, the email message will have the heading “REQUIRED” in the subject line.

Schedule

Unit I: Introducing Cultural Studies

8/23    Culture as Struggle and Negotiation

8/30    Sentimental Education and the Circuit of Culture
     Clifford Geertz, “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight”:
         http://webhome.idirect.com/~boweevil/BaliCockGeertz.html
    Friedman, Introduction

9/6    Subcultures and Mass Culture
     Dick Hebdige, excerpt from Subculture: The Meaning of Style
    Malcolm Gladwell, “The Coolhunt” and “The Science of Shopping”
    Friedman, Chapter 1

Unit II: The Circuit of Culture

9/13    Regulation and Production
    Branston and Stafford, Chapter 8
    Robert McChesney, excerpt from The Problem of the Media
    Friedman, Chapter 2

9/20    Representation
     Branston and Stafford, Chapter 1
    Roland Barthes, “Myth Today”
    Friedman, Chapter 3

9/27    Audience and Identity
     Branston and Stafford, Chapter 6
    Henry Jenkins, “Quentin Tarantino’s Star Wars?” http://web.mit.edu/21fms/www/faculty/henry3/starwars.html
    Friedman, Chapter 4

Unit III: Culture and Power

10/4    Ideology, Hegemony and Resistance
    Branston and Stafford, Chapter 5
    James Kavanaugh, “Ideology”
    John Fiske, “British Cultural Studies and Television”

10/11    Gender
    Levy, excerpt from Female Chauvinist Pigs
    Friedman, Chapter 5

10/18    Race
     Branston and Stafford, Chapter 4
     Take-home Midterm Due

Unit IV: The Utopian Sphere

10/25    New Media
     Friedman, Chapters 6-7

11/1    Cyberpolitics
     Friedman, Chapters 8-10, Conclusion

Unit V: Praxis

11/8    The Corporation
     Klein, Introduction, Chapters 1-5
    Branston and Stafford, Chapter 13

11/15    11/22     Thanksgiving Break - no class

11/29    Globalization
     Klein, Chapters 9-11
    Branston and Stafford, Chapter 15

12/6    Activism
     Klein, Chapters 12-18, Conclusion
     Research Paper due


    The Take-Home Final Exam is due 12/13

Assignments

The class assignments add up to total of 100 possible points. Your final grade for the class is determined by adding up your grades for each assignment, adjusting for attendance, then applying the final number to the following scale: A 100-93 A- 92-90 B+ 89-87 B 86-83 B- 82-80 C+ 79-77 C 76-70 D 70-65 F 64-0

Take-Home Midterm - 30 points
The take-home midterm will require you to relate concepts from the readings and lectures to the films screened for the first three class units. Due in class October 18 .

Research Paper - 30 points
You will produce a 7-9 page research paper on an aspect of contemporary popular culture. More details on the research paper will follow in a separate handout. The final draft of the research paper is due December 6 .

Take-Home Final - 30 points
The take-home final will be structured just like the midterm, covering units 4-7. Due December 13 .

Hollywood Stock Exchange - 10 points
In August, sign up for the online fantasy game at http://www.hsx.com . Manage your portfolio of movie stocks and star bonds over the course of the semester. At the end of the semester, submit a 1-2 page paper summarizing what you bought and how you did. If you won money, discuss what you did right. If you lost money, examine what you did wrong. This is a pass/fail assignment - you get full credit as long as you submit the paper by December 13 .

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

Re-Writes and Makeup Tests
Opportunities for revision and improvement will be available for the midterm, the presentation, and the research paper prospectus. In addition, I will look at optional drafts of the research paper submitted on or before the deadline listed above. One rule: a 24-hour cool-down period after the return of any assignment. Wait a day before coming to talk to me, and I’ll be happy to listen to your concerns and help you improve your work.

Late and Unsubmitted Papers
Late papers will be marked off by ½ point for every day overdue unless an extension is agreed upon before the due date. No work can be accepted after the deadline for the take-home final. Any unsubmitted papers will receive a 0. Likewise, any unanswered exam questions will receive a 0. So, if you answer only 2 out of 3 required exam questions, you will get a 0 on the third question.

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 disciplinary sanctions.

The Internet makes it easy to plagiarize, but also easy to track down plagiarism. Bottom line: Don’t plagiarize. It’s wrong, and it’s not worth it. There’s always a better way. Cite all your sources, put all direct quotations in quotation marks, and clearly note when you are paraphrasing other authors’ work.

Withdrawals
Students withdrawing on or before the midsemester point will receive a W provided they are passing the course. Students who withdraw after the midsemester point will not be eligible for a W except in cases of hardship. If you withdraw after the midsemester point, 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 August 24, 2006 10:32 AM