BROOKLYN COLLEGE
Department of Television and Radio
MEDIA CRITICISM
TV/R 30.5W Section EW6 (Course Code 1988)
Spring, 2006, Wed, 6:20 - 9 pm
519 Whitehead Hall

Class Schedule and Assignments - Spring, 2007

Semester Syllabus / Discussion Notes

Draft. The details of the schedule are likely to change.

Session Date Subject Assignment (to be completed before class on the date assigned)
1 Jan 31 Introduction No Reading.
2 Feb 7 The Landscape of Media Criticism;
Exploring and Explaining Media
Read Levinson, Chapters 1, 2, 3; Read http://davis.foulger.info/research/unifiedModelOfCommunication.htm and http://evolutionarymedia.com/papers/hammerAsMedium.htm
3 Feb 14

Doing Media Criticism
Semiotics

Read Allen, Introduction, Chapter One; Bring body of content to class
No Class. Conversion Day. Wednesday is a Monday at Brooklyn College.
4 Feb 28 Semiotics (continued)
Narrative Theory
Read Allen, Chapter 2
5 Mar 7

Narrative Theory (continuted)
Writing Media Criticism

Read Levinson, Chapters 4, 5, 6, First Annotated Bibliography Due.
6 Mar 14

Genre Theory
Auteur Theory and Production-Oriented Approaches

Read Allen, Chapter 4; Levinson, Chapters 7 and 8; Short Paper 1 Due
7 Mar 21

Medium as Message
Audience-Oriented Criticism

Read Levinson, Chapters 9 and 10; Read Allen, Chapter 3
8 Mar 28

Ideological Analysis

Read Allen Chapters 5; Optionally Read Allen, Chapter 7
Spring Break
9 Apr 11

Cultural Studies;
Theories of Mind

Read Allen, Chapters 6 and 8; Short Paper 2 Due
10 Apr 18

The Postmodern Turn;
Deconstruction of Media Content

Read Allen, Chapter 9; Term Paper Introduction Due; Web Readings. See Online Syllabus for links.; Second Annotated Bibliography
11 Apr 25 Exam First Complete Draft of Term Paper Due; Exam
12 May 2

Uses of Media; Term Paper Presentations

Read Levinson, Chapters 11, 12, 13; No Reading
13 May 9 Term Paper Presentations No Reading
14 May 16

The Rearview Mirror;
Thinking Systematically About Media

Read Allen, Afterword. Read Levinson, Chapters 14 and 15. Final Submission of Term Paper for Grading
Final May 23 Final Exam Party Formally scheduled from 6:00pm - 8:00pm, but will not start until 6:20pm. Term papers and, if possible, final grades will be returned at this time.