| Week
1 | Introduction to Media Criticism |
February 2
Introductions:
- First Day of Class. The only thing due is your presence.
|
February 4
The
Landscape of Media Criticism: |
| Week
2 | First Steps |
February 9
Exploring
and Explaining Media
- Read Levinson, Chapters 1 and 2.
- Index Card Assignment: Write down on one side of a 3x5 card: What do
you hope to get out of this course?
- Join the class e-mail group by sending
a blank e-mail from your preferred user id (one you use regularly) to mediacriticism-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
| February 11
Doing
Media Criticism
- Read the Introduction to the Allen text.
- Index Card Assignment: Pick a body of content to examine during the semester.
On one side of an Index Card, explain how this body of content can help you acheive
your goal in this class.
|
| Week
3 | Medium Theory | February
16
No Class | February
18
The
Medium is The Message - Read Levinson, Chapter 3
- Index card
assignment: How does the meaning of the words "I love you" differ under the following
conditions: When you say them to your significant other at a private table in
a fancy restaurant; When you are viewed saying them (under the same conditions)
on television. Post your answer on the class discussion site.
|
| Week 4 | Language |
February 23
Semiotics
|
February 25
Abstraction
in Language and Media
- Read Levinson, Chapters 4, 5
- Index
Card Assignment: View your body of content. Select a single frame. What codes
are used in the frame. Briefly describe five different "signs" in that are available
in that frame. For each, what is the signifier? What does it signify? Post your
answer to the class discussion list: mediacriticism@yahoogroups.com
|
| Week 5 | Messages
| March 1
Narrative
Theory - Read Allen, Chapter 2
- You should be working
on your first annotated bibliography for March 3.
|
March 3
Using
Media for Work, Play, and Art
- Read Levinson, Chapters
11, 12, 13
- First Annotated Bibliography Due. Find four references
(in particular journal articles and books) that discuss your body of content,
write down the reference information in APA style, and briefly describe (in a
paragraph or so) what the reference has to say.
|
| Week
6 | March 8
Genre
Theory - Read Allen, Chapter 4
- Pick one episode from
your body of content. Summarize the key plot elements in the narrative in no more
than seven sentences. Use Propp's fairy tale "functions" (see ProppianNarrative)
wherever you can. Post your summary to the class discussion list: mailto:mediacriticism@yahoogroups.com
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mediacriticism).
|
March 10
Genre
Theory continued |
| Week
7 | Creators of Messages |
March 15
Exam
1 |
March 17
Production
Approaches/Hot and Cool in Media
- Read Levinson, Chapter
9 and 10
|
| Week 8
| Consumers of Messages |
March 22
Audience-Oriented
Criticism
- Read Allen, Chapter 3
- Short
Paper 1 Due: Pick one of the analytic approaches we have been learning
about (e.g. Semiotics, Narrative Theory, or Genre Theory). Briefly analyze some
aspect of your body of content using this method.
|
March 24
The
Global Village
|
| Week 9 |
March 29
Cultural
Studies
- Read Allen, Chapter 8
- Turn in Short
Paper 1: This is it. No more discussion or drafts. Papers not turned in today
get zero. Turn in two copies. I'll return one.
- Watch somebody else (an
individual or group) watching television, listening to the radio, or watching
a movie. How do they react to what they see? Record what you find on one side
of an index card.
| March
31
Psychoanalysis
and Theories of Mind
- Read Allen, Chapter 6 and Levinson,
Chapter 8
|
| April
2-April 13 Spring Break | April
2-April 13 Spring Break | April 2-April
13 Spring Break |
| Week 10
| Ideology and Power |
April 14
Ideological
Analysis
|
| Week 11 |
April 19
Feminist
Criticism
- Read Allen, Chapter 7
- Short Paper
2 Due
| April 21
The
Global Village
|
| Week 12 |
April 26
Postmodern
Approaches
- Read Allen, Chapter 9
- Term Paper
Introduction and Second Bibliography Due
|
April 28
Term
Paper Working Session - Come prepared with any questions you
have on the term paper as you move towards having a complete first draft
|
| Week 13 | Presentations
| May 3
Presentations | May
5
Presentations |
| Week 14 | May
10
Presentations | May
12
Presentations |
| Week 15 | Medium
Theory | May 17
The
Rearview Mirror
- Read Allen, Afterword and Levinson, Chapter
14
- Term Paper Due
|
May 19
Thinking
Systematically About Media
- Read Levinson, Chapter 15
|
