TVR 30.5: Media Criticism (Television and Radio Criticism)

Semester Syllabus - Spring, 2004

Monday/Wednesday - 12:15PM-1:30PM

Class Schedule and Assignments / Lecture Notes

Course Description

This course explores critical and theoretical approaches to understanding contemporary media, particularly mass media such as television, radio, and Internet streaming media. We will examine the meanings, pleasures, and practices associated with our production and consumption of media content.

We live in our media. We spend more time engaged in communication than we spend in any other activity, including sleeping, and there are media choices associated with every minute of that communication. In this course, you will learn how to analyze the media and the messages they enable. To do this we need to step back from the way we usually think about media and consider alternate perspectives; we need to learn how to use those perspectives to view, hear, read about, think about, discuss, and write about the media we use and the content we consume from those media.

To do so, we will survey several major methods associated with media theory and criticism. Media theory considers the ways in which, "in the words of Marshall McLuhan, "the medium is the message"; the ways in which the possibilities, uses, effects, practices associated with media imbue a mediums message with meaning. Various methods of media criticism apply a differing theoretical premises to messages. The critical methods examined in this course include semiotics, narrative theory, genre theory, feminist theories, cultural studies, and postmodernism.

This course is designed to help you to think about the media you use to make and consume messages. It will present a variety of of different perspectives on the media within a framework that should complement your production experiences and goals. You will be asking questions, exploring possibilities, and writing intensively (this is a writing intensive course) about difficult and sophisticated ideas, and cultivating skills that are crucial to your development not only as future media makers and storytellers, but also as participants in our evolving media culture.

Texts

Allen, R.C. Channels of discourse, reassembled: Television and contemporary criticism. The University of North Carolina Press. 1994.

Levinson, P. Digital McLuhan: a guide to the information millennium. Routledge. 2001.

E-mail Discussion Group

This class has an e-mail discussion group. You must participate in it.

Grading:

I'm still finalizing the assignments for this course and their weighting. Here's how things break out now.

 WeightDescription
Exam 110%Classic Question and Answer testing, conducted at the end of the semester. Covers all of the material covered in first third of the course, including classroom discussion and textbooks
Exam 212%Classic Question and Answer testing, conducted at the end of the semester. Covers all of the material covered in first two-thirds of the course, including classroom discussion and textbooks.
Exam 314%Classic Question and Answer testing, conducted at the end of the semester. Covers all of the material covered in first two-thirds of the course, including classroom discussion and textbooks.
Index Card Reports10%Index card assignments entail doing a small assignment involving thought or observation, but with the restriction that the output of the assignment (your answer or observation) must fit on one side of a 3x5 card. There will be approximately 15 such assignments, each worth about .66 (10/15). These will not be graded. Simply turning them in on time nets the points, but deductions will be taken if it is obvious that a particular assignment wasn't taken seriously. Index Card Assignments will frequently be used in the course of class discussions.
Short Criticism Paper 112%A short research paper applying one methodology to your selected content.
Short Criticism Paper 212%A short research paper applying one methodology to your selected content.
Term Paper20%A research paper applying the methodologies of your choice to your selected content.
Participation10%You get this just for showing up prepared at a rate of about .36 (10/28) per class. I will deduct if it is obvious that you were not prepared (e.g. had not done the reading or completed the assignment) on a given day.
Total Grade (based on above)100% 
Attendance SubtractionopenEvery absence beyond four will result in a net subtraction from your final grade.
Effort BonusUp to 10%An optional addition, based on good and enthusiastic participation, interest in subject matter, etc. There is no guarantee I will give any of these points to anyone.

Attendance:

There are several layers of content associated with this course, including:

All of these elements contribute to the overall learning experience of this class, and you will necessary miss out on these layers if you miss class. Attendance counts as a part of the course grade in at least two ways. It will not be possible to receive an A in this class with more than 3 absences. Any absence's beyond four will result in a net subtraction from your final grade. For most students, however, these absences will have secondary effects on test scores and other assignments.

Bottom line: Be here.

Plagiarism and Cheating:

I have caught a number of students attempting to pass off other people's work as their own. Such behavior is unacceptable in any classroom, and I won't accept it in mine. My usual practice will be to zero any assignment on which a student has been found to be cheating and consult with the department chair on what other actions may be appropriate

Examples of cheating include:

Bottom line: Write in your own words and reference the ideas you use to the sources you read them in.

Disabling Conditions

Students who have a disabling condition which might interfere with their ability to successfully complete this course are encouraged to speak to me confidentially. I will be happy to cooperate in identifying alternate means of demonstrating such mastery where there is a demonstrable need.

Bottom line: I'm here to help.

Late Assignments:

It is your responsibility to ensure that all assignments are submitted by the due date. I will reduce the grade on an assignment by one half letter grade for every class period by which it is late.

Questions, Problems and Incompletes:

If you have a question I encourage you to ask it in class. There are no stupid questions; only answers that didn't need to be. If you don't know the answer to a question it is likely someone else is curious as well. Please ask. The worst that can happen is that I defer my answer to a meeting after class or during office hours.

If you have a problem in the class I encourage you to contact me as quickly as possible. Several means of contact are listed at the top of my Brooklyn College home page, including telephone, e-mail, and instant messenger. I also maintain regular office hours. Note, in particular, that I will not grant an incomplete for the course unless you talk to me about it in advance or I am aware of conditions which would make it impossible for you to do so.