JMS 600A Fall 2013 Arceneaux 1
Instructor: Noah Arceneaux, Ph.D.
Email: noah.arceneaux@sdsu.edu
Phone: 619-594-3236
Office/Hours: PSFA 334, Tuesdays 11:00am – 1:00pm
(additional times by appointment)
NOTE: Please read this syllabus carefully. By accepting this document, you acknowledge that it serves a social contract regarding your expected obligations and responsibilities in this course.
Course Catalog Description
Prerequisites: Classified or conditionally classified graduate standing in the School of Journalism and Media Studies. Contemporary and emergent mass communication theory is discussed.
Extensive writing from exercises in bibliographical techniques, database searches, reference works, scholarly journals, and research proposal. Required for first semester of graduate work; prerequisite for advancement to candidacy. May not be repeated more than once.
Purpose of the course:
JMS 600A, Introduction to Graduate Studies in Communication and Media Studies, is designed to provide a broad introduction to the field of mass communication and to graduate studies in the
School of Journalism and Media Studies. In particular, the course will help familiarize students with basic social science concepts; mass communication theory and research; library resources and professional associations; and appropriate writing style; as well as provide the analytic skills necessary to navigate among the many different approaches to the study of mass communication.
Course website: This course has a website on blackboard. Please visit it often as announcements and related course materials will be posted on the site throughout the semester: http://blackboard.sdsu.edu
Objectives of the course:
By the end of the semester, students in JMS 600A will be able to:

Explain the nature of theory and its significance to academic research

Describe, compare and contrast prominent theoretical approaches to the study of

 mass communication
Conduct academic research and evaluate sources appropriately
Write papers that conform to proper APA writing style
Required Materials (includes the following and the Special Course Packet of Readings available at the campus bookstore)
American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association , Sixth Edition, Washington, DC.
Becker, H.S. (1998). Tricks of the Trade, how to think about your research while you’re doing it.
Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Stacks, D.W. & Salwen, M.B. (2009) (Eds.). An integrated approach to communication theory and research , Second edition. New York, NY: Routledge

JMS 600A Fall 2013 Arceneaux 2
JMS 600A Fall 2013 Course Reader. (Many of the readings were also used in the previous versions of the course reader, but some of the readings were not. Be sure you have the current version of the JMS 600A Course Reader.)
Grading
Your final grade for the semester will be based on all of your work and your classroom participation. I will devote particular attention to dramatic changes in your performance during the semester. Students who start out strong, then lose energy towards the end will find this performance reflected in their final grade.
I will not be using specific points this semester, (for example: 380 points = A, 360 = A-, etc.)
However I realize that students do need some guidance as to how much weight I will give to specific assignments. The figures below are a rough indication of how I will evaluate your performance in this class, though the determination of the final grade is up to the instructor.
Class Participation (includes Response Papers)
Research Journal Survey Project
25%
20%
APA Style Exercises & Library Discovery Assignment 05%
Media Effects Paper
Absences
Literature Review (aka Final Paper)
15%
35%
Given that the class meets only once a week, even a single absence means that you will miss a significant amount of material. I realize that unexpected situations sometime arise, however, and that each of you also has other commitments. I will allow one missed class, but two or more absences could negatively influence my evaluation of your participation. For this Fall 2013 semester, attendance is particularly important given the calendar. We are missing two Mondays for holidays, Labor Day and Veteran’s Day, and I have also decided not to meet during the week of Thanksgiving. This means that, after our initial class meeting, we have only eleven class meetings.
If you must miss class, for whatever reason, please let me know in advance.
Late Work
Not accepted.
Academic Dishonesty - Plagiarism and Cheating
The University adheres to a strict policy regarding cheating and plagiarism. These activities will not be tolerated in this class. Become familiar with the policy: http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/srr/conduct1.html
Any cheating or plagiarism will result in failing this class and a disciplinary review by Student
Affairs.
Examples of Plagiarism include but are not limited to:
Using sources verbatim or paraphrasing without giving proper attribution (this can include phrases, sentences, paragraphs and/or pages of work)
Copying and pasting work from a online or offline source directly and calling it your own
Using information you find from an online or offline source without giving the author credit
Replacing words or phrases from another source and inserting your own words or phrases
Submitting a piece of work you did for one class to another class
If you have questions on what is plagiarism, please consult this helpful guide from the Library: http://library.sdsu.edu/guides/tutorial.php?id=28&pid=138
Students with Disabilities

JMS 600A Fall 2013 Arceneaux 3
Students who need accommodation for their disabilities should contact me privately to discuss specific arrangements for which they have received authorization. If you have a disability of any kind, but have not contacted Student Disability Services at 619-594-7473 (Calpulli Center, Suite
310), please do so before making an appointment to see me. The website for Student Disability
Services is: http://go.sdsu.edu/student_affairs/sds/
Important Dates
Sept 9 (Monday) – APA Style Exercise #1 (bring hard copy to class)
Sept 9 (Monday) – Library Discovery Paper (bring hard copy to class)
Oct 6 (Sunday) – Media Effects Paper (submit via Turnitin on BlackBoard)
Oct 28 (Monday) – Research Journal Survey Report (submit via Turnitin on BlackBoard)
Dec 16 (Monday) – Literature Review (submit via Turnitin on BlackBoard)
Weekly Response Paper Dates (for details see below)
Sunday Sept 15 (5:00pm)
Sunday Sept 22 (5:00pm)
Sunday Sept 29 (5:00pm)
Sunday Oct 13 (5:00pm)
Sunday Nov 3 (5:00pm)
Sunday Nov 17 (5:00pm)
Sunday Dec 1 (5:00pm)
Response Papers
Prior to class meetings, you are required to do all the corresponding readings for the week and write a brief response. I am using the term “response paper” for this ongoing assignment, though everything will be posted online on a class discussion board (accessed through BlackBoard). I will create a new discussion board for each weekly response paper. There are seven different weekly response papers.
I do not expect these responses to be in meticulous APA style, but you should otherwise follow all the standard conventions of grammar and spelling. To receive credit for this assignment, you must write at least 500 words, but no more than 1,000. Post your work as a message, not as an attachment , as it is much easier to read the work in this manner.
These responses must be posted by 5:00pm Sunday, the day prior to our regular class meeting.
The logic behind this deadline is that it allows me a chance to read the various responses, and orchestrate a more robust class discussion. This time frame also allows each of you the opportunity to read what your classmates have written.
In these responses, I do not expect you to discuss every reading for a particular week. Indeed, certain weeks have so much reading that there is no realistic way you could say something intelligent about every one of them in such a brief forum. I do expect you, though, to discuss at least two of the readings.
Do you agree with the perspective presented within the reading? Do you disagree? Do you see similarities or drastic differences among the readings? Does the perspective offered correspond to your own life experiences? These are the kinds of questions that I hope you bring to the readings.
APA Style Exercise / Library Discovery Paper
I do not plan to devote much emphasis on these small assignments in your final grade, though I do expect that each of you will take them seriously. The APA Style Exercise is meant to teach you the basics of this writing style, which will be used in all of your subsequent classes in the
School of JMS. The Library Discovery Paper will teach you useful skills for navigating the wealth of information available online and via the SDSU library.

JMS 600A Fall 2013 Arceneaux 4
Bring a hard copy of each completed assignment to class on Monday Sept. 9.
Media Effects Paper
This assignment is designed to achieve a few learning outcomes. Through this assignment, you will become more familiar with library research and have an opportunity to write something using proper APA style. Additionally, you will become familiar with some of the ways scholars have sought to explain the relationship between media and the effects on human behavior or beliefs.
This paper is due midnight, Sunday Oct. 6 at 5:00 pm. Submit the work electronically through the
Turnitin function on BlackBoard. Detailed instructions are available on BlackBoard, in the
Assignments area.
Research Journal Survey Project
The goal of this assignment is to determine which topics, theories, and methods appear most frequently in the academic journals that publish journalism, mass communication, and media studies scholarship. This is a new assignment that I have never used before. Given this situation, the instructions are somewhat fluid and we will refine the project as a class as we move forward.
The written portion of this project (a brief paper) is due on Monday October 28. You will also share your findings with the rest of the class on this same day.
For two of the class sessions at the end of the semester, I have left the topics listed simply as
TBD. Based on the material that you uncover in this research project, I will select a handful of readings that we will all read and then discuss. You will have ample time to read the selected readings.
Literature Review (aka Final Paper)
Detailed instructions regarding this assignment are posted on BlackBoard. Although it is not due until the end of the semester, you are encouraged to begin thinking about this assignment soon.
You will select a mass communication theory and review several prior studies of the topic.
This assignment builds upon everything that you will have learned this semester, and requires that you not only summarize prior work but analyze and critique it in a logical, informed manner.
The literature reviews are due 5:00pm Monday December 16.
As part of this assignment, each student will also give a 10-12 minute presentation to the rest of the class. You should think of these presentations as “sharing” your research with others, rather than an information-heavy presentation of a mass of data. I am not grading these presentations per se, but as with the other requirements of this class, I do expect that will devote adequate time to prepare this presentation.
Schedule for Semester:
The following outline is not absolute and is subject to revision as the semester progresses. You will receive ample notice regarding changes to the schedule.
Many of these readings were taken from the JMS 600A syllabus originally prepared by Associate
Prof. Amy Schmitz Weiss
SS = Stacks & Salwen / CR = Course Reader / B = Becker
Monday AUG 26: Introduction to Class
For the second half of this class period, we are moving to the library for an important orientation session. Attendance is therefore more important than most “first class days” as you will be learning valuable information.

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Monday SEPT 2: Labor Day – No Class
Read the Becker title, work on APA Style Exercise & Library Discovery Project
From APA: Chapters 2, 3, 4, 6, & 7 are particularly important
Monday SEPT 9: APA Style Review & Discussion of Becker title
APA Style Exercise, Due in Class
Library Discovery Project, Due in Class
Monday SEPT 16: History of Comm Research / Nature of Theory
Readings: CR Eadie / SS 1 - 4
Explanation of Media Effects Paper & Research Journal Survey Project
Weekly Response Due (Sunday afternoon, Sept 15, posted on BB)
Monday SEPT 23: Cultivation Analysis, Violence & Sex in Media
Readings: SS 8, 13; CR Carey, Newcomb + Hirsch
Response Paper Due on Sunday
Monday SEPT 30: Gatekeeping, Framing, Agenda-Setting
Readings: SS 6, 7; CR Scheufele & Tewksbury
Response Paper Due on Sunday
Monday OCT 7: Marxist Media Theory, Political Economy
Readings: CR: Marx / Herman & Chomsky / Craig
Media Effects Due Sunday Oct. 6, 5:00pm, Submit via Turnitin on BlackBoard
Monday OCT 14: Technological Approaches and Influences: Internet Communication, Diffusion of
Innovations, Medium Theory
Readings: SS: 25, 27; CR: Arceneaux & Schmitz Weiss / Meyrowitz
Response Paper Due on Sunday
Monday OCT 21: No Class , Working on Research Journal Survey Project
Monday OCT 28 : Presentation of Findings
Research Journal Survey Project reports due, Monday 4:00pm, submit paper via Turnitin on
BlackBoard

JMS 600A Fall 2013 Arceneaux
Monday NOV 4: Sociology of Media Work
Readings: CR Schudson / Fishman / Reese
Response Paper Due on Sunday
Monday NOV 11: Veterans Day, No class
Work on Paper #2, Literature Review
Monday Nov 18: Topic TBD – Readings Determined by Research Journal Survey Project
Response Paper Due on Sunday
Monday NOV 25: No Class, Thanksgiving
Work on Paper #2
Monday DEC 2: Topic TBD – Readings Determined by Research Journal Survey Project
Response Paper Due on Sunday
Monday DEC 9: Presentation of Final Literature Reviews
Final Paper Due, Monday Dec 16 at 5:00pm, submit via Turnitin on BlackBoard
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