Media Study
École de la Communication
Introduction to Media Studies
ICOE2005
Fall 2012
Mondays 14:45–16:45
Professor: Joseph Bender
Course Description
What is/are the media? Who produces and influences them and under what circumstances? How do the media represent reality? What effects do they have on the audience? To what extent are the media globalized or different across countries? What is new about the new media?
The course considers the nature of mediated communication, historical transformations in and functions of media, and the institutions and social forces that shape its role in society.
Its objective is to introduce students to the themes and theoretical debates central to media studies, developing a historical and critical framework with which to consider media and communication as institutional actors, technological artifacts, systems or representations, and meaningful cultural objects.
The course is divided in three parts. The first part defines the media, their history, and the factors that influence them. The second part examines the representations of reality carried and produced by and through media and considers their influence on the individual and society. The third part is dedicated to the questions of globalization and new media and we will try to answer this question: What does it mean to say that we live in the age of media?
Texts
Required: David Croteau and William Hoynes. Media/Society: Industries, Images and
Audiences. 4th edition, Sage Publications, 2011.
Note: We will be refer to this text throughout the course, and you may find it useful to purchase a copy. However, certain sections will be made available on the course website. If you choose to acquire the text, you are encouraged to seek out the 4th edition, to which we will refer in class. Previous editions of the text are less costly, but do not include the same examples and have different pagination.
Additional readings (both required and recommended) will
Introduction to Media Studies
ICOE2005
Fall 2012
Mondays 14:45–16:45
Professor: Joseph Bender
Course Description
What is/are the media? Who produces and influences them and under what circumstances? How do the media represent reality? What effects do they have on the audience? To what extent are the media globalized or different across countries? What is new about the new media?
The course considers the nature of mediated communication, historical transformations in and functions of media, and the institutions and social forces that shape its role in society.
Its objective is to introduce students to the themes and theoretical debates central to media studies, developing a historical and critical framework with which to consider media and communication as institutional actors, technological artifacts, systems or representations, and meaningful cultural objects.
The course is divided in three parts. The first part defines the media, their history, and the factors that influence them. The second part examines the representations of reality carried and produced by and through media and considers their influence on the individual and society. The third part is dedicated to the questions of globalization and new media and we will try to answer this question: What does it mean to say that we live in the age of media?
Texts
Required: David Croteau and William Hoynes. Media/Society: Industries, Images and
Audiences. 4th edition, Sage Publications, 2011.
Note: We will be refer to this text throughout the course, and you may find it useful to purchase a copy. However, certain sections will be made available on the course website. If you choose to acquire the text, you are encouraged to seek out the 4th edition, to which we will refer in class. Previous editions of the text are less costly, but do not include the same examples and have different pagination.
Additional readings (both required and recommended) will