Initial Draft as of 8/27/12
AMST 356-01: Television & Social Change
Georgetown University: American Studies Program
Fall 2012 Mondays & Wednesdays, 12:30pm – 1:45pm. Reynolds 131
Stephen Skip Lane
Office Hours @ CarBarn 318k: Monday 11:30am and/or by appointment
Telephone: 609.468.0444
Email: sl322@georgetown.edu
Overview
As society has changed, so have the representations and interpretations exhibited on
television. Do these representations affect public events/cultural attitudes? Or, do they
merely mirror the way we think of ourselves?
Throughout the semester, we will seek to view these reciprocal causations, and more in
the larger context of 20th Century United States history. We’ll see how television (&
radio before it) functions as a “historiography”; how it participates in dominant ways of
thinking, uses gender and race in its programs and industry structures, challenges the
dominant social system, and generally contributes to our ongoing social power shifts.
In short, we will interpret the role of television in our culture. Meanwhile, we will
explore the impact emerging communication technologies have on the creation of these
representations and messages.
This course ponders the question, Is television a primary source of significant societal
change or just a component of larger movements? To analyze, we must first evaluate
television as an institution: an enduring entity and/or organization that plays an important
role in maintaining society. From there, we will inspect the process: the production,
distribution, and consumption of content. What do the programs signify? How, where,
and in what form do the messages embedded within the content come to us? Lastly, how
is it that some of us interpret these meanings different from others?
Objective
The course has two objectives: 1) to enhance your appreciation of cultural history and
communication theory; 2) to enable you to look at the cultural artifacts we produce, as
well as the mass media though which they are disseminated, and anticipate potential
change in attitudes and trends that may emerge in the future.
REQUIRED TEXTS (available @ Bookstore or online):
Minow, Newton N., and Craig L. LaMay. Abandoned in the wasteland: children,
television, and the First Amendment. New York: Hill and Wang. 1995
Most the reading and video materials are posted on Blackboard and at the library
website through E-Reserves & Gelardin’s Sharestreaming.
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READINGS AND PARTICIPATION:
I would like this to be a true seminar, a course where you learn from each other. I will
give brief talks, at least in the first few weeks, drawing on both your readings and other
material. I will not repeat the readings in my talks. Each class will begin with a brief
discussion of current events. Please bring to class any topics relating to our coursework
that interests you. Your classmates and I want to hear from you. We want to know what
you think about, and what you’ve read and learned from other courses.
I am a big fan of the Internet tool, Blackboard. Therefore, we will be relying heavily on
its resources. Please visit our site often to check for additions. Part of your class
participation grade will be determined by the contributions you provide on our
blog.
You should post at least once a week; during weeks in which there is limited
readings and/or an interesting development within the Public Sphere, you MUST
POST AT LEAST ONE COMMENT OF SUBSTANCE! I appreciate that everyone
is not equally comfortable speaking up in class. Therefore, it is especially important for
those that do not frequently contribute verbally to compensate by posting & commenting
more often.
I intend to post on Blackboard any PowerPoint slides used in class prior to the time that
we meet. This should NOT be interpreted as a substitute for attendance.
Assigned readings and videos are to be completed before the date on the syllabus. As
this course emphasizes close textual analysis, it is to your advantage to read carefully the
daily assignments. Again, be prepared to participate!
CLASS ATTENDANCE:
Arriving on time is mandatory. Attendance is mandatory. Cellphones are to be turned
off. Absences beyond three sessions will result in grade reductions. For example, upon
the fourth absence, a grade of A would become an A-; at the fifth absence, it would
become a B+, etc. Persistent lateness will be treated as an absence. In addition,
university holidays begin & end on the date and the hour so designated in the registrar’s
calendar.
GRADING:
An A represents outstanding or exceptional work. A B grade indicates competent,
satisfactory work. A C grade is assigned to work that merely fulfills the conditions of the
assignment. A D grade will be given to work that does not fulfill the conditions of the
assignment or is lacking in some important way. An F is a failing grade and would be
given only if assignments were extremely poorly executed, or in the case of plagiarism or
other failure to adhere to norms of academic honesty.
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Final Grading Scale:
92% and higher:
90-91
88-89:
82-87:
80-81
78-79:
70-77:
60-69:
Below 60%:
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
D
F
Your final grade will be determined from the following distribution:
20% - Class & Blog participation
10% - 1 Pop-Quiz
10% - 5-minute video
25% - Ideology paper
35% - Final paper
GRADED ASSIGNMENTS:
PLEASE NOTE: Written assignments are due at beginning of class! A hard copy
should be brought to class, and a digital copy should be submitted through Blackboard. I
utilize the service, turnitin®. Late assignments will be marked down at a rate equivalent
to one plus/minus letter grade per 24 hours.
All assignments must be typed, double-space, following these guidelines:
A. Margins: No larger than 1” around
B. Font size: No larger than 12 pt.
C. Indent paragraphs
D. Staple securely
E. White paper and black ink only.
F. APA or MLA style of documentation for research papers
G. Proof read & edit!!!
3-5 minute Video Each student must post on the blog a video to show in class a 3-5
minute video that is really cool. It can be one piece that you want to share with the rest
of us (say, a 3-year old Tiger Woods on Merv Griffin or John Lennon being interviewed
by Dick Cavett;) or a compilation of related materials (maybe 5, 1-minute Hertz RentalCar commercials featuring O.J. Simpson.) Regardless, you need to explain what makes it
unique and why you find it interesting. Your audience (the rest of the class) will decide if
it “cuts the mustard”... if it doesn’t you’ll try again!
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Ideology/Identity Paper (Mid-term) (5 - 7 pages in length) Select a television series
that premiered prior to 1990 and analyze how “Ideology” or “Identity” is prevalent.
What social tenet is presented, and is it a change from the status quo? Identify how the
messaging is produced, transmitted, and hypothesize its consumption... both intended and
actual. How does the time-period in which the episodes were made shape the narrative...
or visa versa? How does the program(s) portray the time-period (or, frame it?) and how
is this portrayal different from what we consider today? The basic constructs of our
course’s analysis must be included. (Need to watch numerous episodes.)
Final Project (17-20 pages in length) Select a “Television Event” and describe how the
medium presented it to the audience. Discuss who was the audience (intended &/or not;)
what was the narrative created/used; which ideologies were “played” within the texts;
how it fit within the time-period in which it occurred; and its short & long-term
consequences on society. This assignment can be a traditional research paper or you
may be creative and develop a nontraditional project (with prior approval.) If a paper, it
should be 17-20 pages in length, adhere to the proper form (Chicago Manual of Style,
MLA, etc.), and contain footnotes and a bibliography.
If a nontraditional presentation, you can employ any number of formats–a PowerPoint
presentation, a short film, a website, etc. Whatever format is employed, the project must
meet the same criteria. You should state a clear thesis/position on the issue. You should
support your argument using the course readings, lectures, and discussions, as well as
real-world observations. You are encouraged to bring in other sources.
Grading will be based on the event you select, comprehension of the time-period &
subject, and strength of analysis. Projects will be evaluated on thesis, organization,
evidence, and style.
ACADEMIC HONESTY AND STUDENT RIGHTS:
You are required to uphold academic honesty in all aspects of the course, especially on
papers. If you have any questions about conforming to rules regarding the proper format
for citations, or what constitutes plagiarism, I will be happy to talk with you.
Students agree that by taking this course all required papers may be subject to
submission for a Textual Similarity Review to Turnitin.com for the detection of
plagiarism. All submitted papers will be added as source documents in the Turnitin.com
reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers in the
future. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the terms of use agreement posted on
the Turnitin.com site.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Statement:
It is Georgetown University’s policy to provide reasonable accommodations to students
with disabilities under the ADA. At the beginning of each semester, any student with a
disability should inform the course instructor if instructional accommodations or
academic adjustments will be needed.
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August 29 (WEDNESDAY!!!): Introduction
The objective of this class is to preview the upcoming semester. We will discuss what is
to be covered, and more importantly – what will not...
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Expectations, introductions, and all that housekeeping stuff…
Assignments – Grading Criteria
Inter-disciplinary approach
Why should we care?
Understanding the impact television has on society, and the impact society
has on television.
ASSIGNMENT: Please post your Introduction on our course
blog by Sept. 3.
September 3: NO CLASS!
September 5: Theoretical Constructs
The objective of this class is to introduce theoretical constructs and terminologies that
will enable us to better understand the texts, sub-texts and representations within cultural
productions and their actors (in other words... Television & its content!)
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Theoretical vs. Practical
How does the diffusion of a new communication platform affect cultural
production?
Persuasion
What are “Social Norms”?
Readings:
Todd Gitlin, Flat and Happy, The Wilson Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Autumn, 1993), pg.
47-55.
James Rosenau and Mary Durfee, The Need for Theory, in Rosenau and Durfee, Thinking
Theory Thoroughly: Coherent Approaches to an Incoherent World (Bouder, CO:
Westview Press, 1995), pg. 1-8.
Lazarsfeld and Merton, “Mass Communication, Popular Taste, and Organized Social
Action”.
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September 10: Theoretical Constructs: Representations & Codes
Take Note: This is a really crucial session... lot’s to review & essential for
you to grasp this material!!!!
How individual characteristics influence the sending, receiving, and processing of
strategic communication messages
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ProductionDistributionConsumptionFeedback
Semiotics
Representations
Framing (Death Insurance before it was Life Insurance)
Coding
Reading:
Stuart Hall, Encoding/Decoding
Berger, Arthur Asa., Chapter 3: The Social Dimension of Media Aesthetics, Media and
Society: A Critical Perspective. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007.
Richard Dyer, The Role of Stereotypes, The Matter of Images, pg. 11 – 17.
Horace Newcomb and Paul Hirsch, Television as a Cultural Forum, in Newcomb,
Horace. Television: The Critical View. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000,
pg. 561 – 573.
September 12: Texts & Narratives
VISIT TO THE LIBRARY!!!
We’ll finish Monday’s discussion on messaging... and parse what we mean by “texts”.
Equally, important, our Librarian will show us how to efficiently find the plethora of
resources the Library & Internet makes available.
Readings:
Browne, Nick. The Political Economy of the Television (Super) Text, In American
Television: New Directions in History and Theory. Langhorne, Pa: Harwood Academic
Pub, 1994. pg. 69 – 79.
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Abbott, H. Porter. “Narrative and Life”, in The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002. pg. 1 – 11.
Jurgen Habermas, The Public Sphere.
Cass Sunstein, The Daily Me. 2001.
also found online @: http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/chapters/s7014.html
September 17: History of TV & our Public Policies
How did this amazing technology come to be such a cultural force? Was it destined to be
from the beginning? How did it evolve? They knew!!!!
Readings:
Minow, Newton N., and Craig L. LaMay. Abandoned in the Wasteland: Children,
Television, and the First Amendment. New York: Hill and Wang, 1995, Chapter 2
(starting on page 81).
Monroe E. Price, Red Lion and the Constitutionality of Regulation: A Conversation
Among the Justices, Digital Broadcasting and the Public Interest, Charles M. Firestone,
ed. The Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program. 1998.
MacDonald, J. Fred. One Nation Under Television: The Rise and Decline of Network
TV. New York: Pantheon Books, 1990, Chapter 6: Of Scandal and Power, The Quiz
Show Scandals, and Change in the Industry; Chapter 8: Limitations on Monopoly.
http://www.jfredmacdonald.com/onutv/scandal.htm
http://www.jfredmacdonald.com/onutv/quiz.htm
http://www.jfredmacdonald.com/onutv/changes.htm
http://www.jfredmacdonald.com/onutv/monopoly.htm
September 19: Genre
What do we mean by “genre”? Why is it important? Is it a ‘static’ theory? Where did
the genres of which we are familiar come from?
Reading:
Jason Mittell, A Cultural Approach to Television Genre Theory, Cinema Journal,
Vol. 40, No. 3 (Spring, 2001), pp. 3-24.
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Brian Rose, TV Genres Re-Viewed, Journal of Popular Film & Television, Vol. 31, No. 1
(Spring 2003) pg. 2 – 4.
Ella Taylor, From the Nelsons to the Huxtables: Genre and Family Imagery in American
Network Television, Qualitative Sociology, Vol. 12, No. 1 (1989) pg. 13 – 28.
Richard Adler, Flow, in Adler, Richard, and Douglass Cater. Television As a Cultural
Force. New York: Praeger, 1976, pg. 7 – 10.
Simonini, Ross. “The Sitcom Digresses.” New York Times, November 23, 2008, Sunday
Magazine section.
Sept. 24: Representations: Ideology
What do we mean by Ideology? How is it contained within Television (& Television
Studies?) Ideology comprises of:
Public Policy
Our perspectives on the content of Children’s television.
What does it mean to be an “American”?
Readings:
Todd Gitlin, Prime Time Ideology: The Hegemonic Process in Television Entertainment,
Social Problems, Vol. 26, No. 3 (Feb., 1979), pg. 251 - 266.
Paula S. Fass, Television as Cultural Document: Promises and Problems, in Adler,
Richard, and Douglass Cater. Television As a Cultural Force. New York: Praeger, 1976,
pg. 37 – 57.
Stark, Steven D., Glued to the Set: The 60 Television Shows and Events That Made Us
Who We Are Today, Chapter 11, The Ed Sullivan Show and the Era of Big Government;
Chapter 12, Gunsmoke and Television’s Lost Wave of Westerns; Chapter 13, American
Bandstand and the Clash of Rock and TV; Chapter 16, The Twilight Zone: Science
Fiction as Realism; Chapter 21, The Beverly Hillbillies and the Rise of Populist
Television; Chapter 28, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and the Fate. New York:
Free Press, 1997.
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September 26: Ideology (Cont.)... Children!
It’s all about the Children!!!!!
Readings:
Minow, Newton N., and Craig L. LaMay. Abandoned in the Wasteland: Children,
Television, and the First Amendment. New York: Hill and Wang, 1995, Chapter 1,
Chapter 3, Appendix 2: Speeches.
MacDonald, J. Fred. One Nation Under Television: The Rise and Decline of Network
TV. New York: Pantheon Books, 1990, Chapter 7, Talking Back to TV: Newton Minow.
http://www.jfredmacdonald.com/onutv/talkingback.htm
Watch a video of some children’s television program from
the 50s-60s & one from contemporary time.
October 1: Representations of America, the Nuclear Family... and Mommy!
Readings:
Beth Olson and William Douglas, The Family on Television: Evaluation of gender roles
in situation comedy, Sex Roles, Vol. 36, No. 5/6. pg. 409-427.
Stark, Steven D., Glued to the Set: The 60 Television Shows and Events That Made Us
Who We Are Today, Chapter 15, Leave it to Beaver and the Politics of Nostalgia;
Chapter 19, The Dick Van Dyke Show and the Rise of Upscale Television; Chapter 33,
All in the Family and the Sitcom “Revolution”, New York: Free Press, 1997.
Watch one episode from each the following series: Leave it
to Beaver, The Cosby Show (pilot), Rosanne, & The Simpsons.
Substitutions allowed w/ prior approval.
IDEOLOGY PAPER TOPIC DUE!!!
October 3: Time & Space
What do we mean by “time”? How is it exploited? How do new technologies alter our
accepted norms? What are the repercussions of its relevance changing as it has?
Generations; eras
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Seasons
Day Parts
Units
o Hours, minutes, seconds
o Story telling: 1st, 2nd, 3rd Acts
Narrative Device
Likewise, how does the concept of “space” apply to television? Not only the Final
Frontier type... but where we consume television counts, too. What are the repercussions
of how we utilize our new devices alter this aspect of “space”?
Tavern vs. Living Room
Urban, Suburban, Rural
Domestic vs. Global
Readings:
Anna McCarthy, “The Front Row is Reserved for Scotch Drinkers”: Early Television’s
Tavern Audience, in Cinema Journal, Vol. 34, No. 4 (Summer 1995), pg. 31 – 49.
Kelly, Kevin. “Becoming Screen Literate,” New York Times, November 23, 2008,
Sunday Magazine section.
Bruce Bawer, The Other Sixties, The Wilson Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 2 (Spring, 2004),
pp. 64-84.
October 8: NO CLASS
October 10: Television as a Business
Show-Biz, Baby!!! Who Luvs ‘ya?
Readings:
James R. Walker & Ferguson, The Broadcast Television Industry, Chapter 3, The
Economics of Broadcast Television, Allyn and Bacon, Boston. 1998, pg. 42 – 63.
Stark, Steven D., Glued to the Set: The 60 Television Shows and Events That Made Us
Who We Are Today, Disneyland and the creation of the seamless entertainment web,
New York: Free Press, 1997, pg. 52 – 56.
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Banks, Jack, Keeping “Abreast” of MTV and Viacom: The Growing Power of a Media
Conglomerate, A Companion to Television. Wasko, Janet (ed). Blackwell Publishing,
2005.
Ofcom Review of Public Service Television Broadcasting, Phase 1 – Is Television
Special? Office of Communications, United Kingdom. 2004. For more information :
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/ & the complete report:
http://search.ofcom.org.uk/search?q=cache:Li8hpmJv7e8J:stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/bin
aries/consultations/psb/summary/psb.pdf+is+television+special&access=p&output=xml_
no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&client=ofcom-redesign&site=site&proxystylesheet=ofcomredesign&oe=UTF-8
October 15: STU SMILEY - GUEST
MID-TERM PAPERS DUE!!!
October 17: The International Marketplace
At this moment, thousands of television & media executives from all over the world are
assembling in Cannes, France to barter, trade, and purchase programming from each
other... oh, they are also drinking and eating a lot while gawking at swimsuit-less bathers.
C’est Bien!
Readings:
Timothy Havens, ‘The Biggest Show in the World’ Race and the global popularity of The
Cosby Show, Media, Culture & Society, July 2000, 22: 371-391.
Amandine Cassi, Television Scores in 2011! A Panorama of Worldwide TV Consumption,
a white paper for MIPTV & MIPCOM.
www.mipworld.com
October 22: Media Events
They’re one-time occurrences, yet they shape history. Television has become not only
the “Elephant in the Room”, but the Gorilla, too.
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Readings:
Daniel Dayan and Elihu Katz, Television Ceremonial Events, in Berger, Arthur Asa.
Television in Society. New Brunswick: Transaction Books, 1987. Pg. 41 – 53.
Daniel Dayan and Elihu Katz, Defining Media Events: High Holidays of Mass
Communication, in Newcomb, Horace. Television: The Critical View. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2000. [an excerpt from this article]
Lynn Spigel, Entertainment Wars: Television Culture after 9/11, American Quarterly,
Vol. 56, No. 2 (Jun., 2004), pg. 235-270.
Stark, Steven D., Glued to the Set: The 60 Television Shows and Events That Made Us
Who We Are Today, Chapter 20, Space Television; Chapter 22, Assassination
Television. New York: Free Press, 1997.
October 24: Sports on Television (btw, The World Series starts...)
The assignment for this session may change. Please discuss with me prior to doing the
readings.
Readings:
Michael A. Messner, Taking the Field: Women, men, and Sports, Chapter 4: Center of
Attention: The Gender of Sports Media.
Garry Whannel, Media Sports Stars: Masculinities and Moralities, Chapter 5: Narrativity
and Biography and Conclusion.
Phil Schaaf, Sports, Inc.: 100 years of Sports Business, Sell, Sell, Sell. pg. 317 – 341.
October 29: The NEWS
Readings:
John W. Whitehead, How to Watch the News, The Rutherford Institute, June, 2005.
More to be assigned...
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October 31: War
Who was Bob Hope? What were those USO Shows all about? Please do some
independent research on him and the Christmas Shows.
Readings:
Rick Worland, The Other Living-room War: Prime time Combat Series, 1962 1975,
Journal of Film and Video, Vol. 50, No. 3 (Fall 1998), pg. 3 – 23.
Stark, Steven D., Glued to the Set: The 60 Television Shows and Events That Made Us
Who We Are Today, Chapter 27, Mission: Impossible and Its Cold War Fight to Save
America; Chapter 42, The Oddly Winning Dark Sensibility of M*A*S*H, New York: Free
Press, 1997.
 Watch one episode from each the following series: Combat,
Rat Patrol, & M*A*S*H.
ASSIGNMENT for Monday.: Go online to the websites listed on Blackboard and find
three Political Ads from different years that you will want to discuss.
November 5: Presidential Elections
How does the way candidates present themselves identify where the country is,
ideologically?
In addition to these readings you need to review the numerous External Links focusing
on campaigns.
Readings:
Eric P. Bucy & Maria Elizabeth Grabe, Taking Television Seriously: A Sound and Image
Bite Analysis of Presidential Campaign Coverage, 1992-2004. Journal of
Communications, (2007) pg. 652 – 675.
Julia R. Fox, Glory Koloen, & Volkan Sahin, No Joke: A Comparison of Substance in
The Daily Show with Presidential Election Campaign, Journal of Broadcasting &
Electronic Media, Vol. 51, No. 2 pg. 213 – 227.
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Glenn W. Richardson, Pulp Politics: Popular Culture and Political Advertising, Rhetoric
& Public Affairs. Vol. 3. No. 4 (2000) pg. 603-626.
 Watch: The Living Room Candidate & The 30 Second
Candidate on the web. (Blackboard – External Links)
November 7: Election Coverage
Be prepared to discuss, in depth, the television coverage of Election Night.
Readings:
Putnam, Robert D. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community.
Thinking About Social Change in America. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001
 Watch: The Election Coverage on a “Major Network” & a
Cable Network.
November 12: Representations: Identity... Gender
For a society that so strongly embraces the metaphor: Melting Pot... do we adequately
appreciate how we represent it?
Gender
Race
Ethnicity
Age
Readings:
Julie D’Acci, Television, Representation and Gender, in Allen, Robert Clyde, and
Annette Hill, The Television Studies Reader. London: Routledge, 2004. pg. 373 – 388.
Lauren Rabinovitz, Sitcoms and Single Moms: Representations of Feminism on
American TV, Cinema Journal, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Autumn 1989.) pg. 3 – 19.
Kimberly R.Walsh, Elfriede Fürsich, and Bonnie S. Jefferson. Beauty and the Patriarchal
Beast: Gender Role Portrayals in Sitcoms Featuring Mismatched Couples. Journal Of
Popular Film & Television, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Fall 2008.) pg.123 - 132.
David Zurawik, Learning to be “More American” – The Goldbergs, The Jews of Prime
Time.
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November 14: Gender (in Programs)
Readings:
Stark, Steven D., Glued to the Set: The 60 Television Shows and Events That Made Us
Who We Are Today, Chapter 19, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and America’s Newest
“Families”; Chapter 53, How Roseanne Made Trash TV Respectable. New York: Free
Press, 1997.
 Watch one episode from each decade that features a
contemporary woman as lead/primary character.
November 19: Representations: Identity... Race
Readings:
Herman Gray, The Politics of Representation in Network Television, in Newcomb,
Horace. Television: The Critical View. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000, pg.
282 - 305.
MacDonald, J. Fred. Blacks and White TV African Americans in Television Since 1948.
Chicago: Nelson-Hall Publishers, 1992. Chapter 13, Blacks in Television in the Early
1970s. http://www.jfredmacdonald.com/bawtv/bawtv13.htm
Justin Lewis and Sut Jhally, Affirming Inaction: Television and the Politics of Racial
Representation, n.d. Web. 21 Aug. 2012. www.sutjhally.com
http://www.sutjhally.com/articles/affirminginaction/
James Craig Holte, Unmelting Images: Film, Television, and Ethnic Stereotyping, Melus,
Vol. 11: “Ethnic Images in Popular Genres and Media”, No. 3 (Autumn, 1984.) pg. 101108.
SUGGESTED:  Watch: American Pop, by Ralph Bakshi.
November 21: Race (in Programs) - THANKSGIVING AFTER CLASS
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 Watch one episode from each decade that features an
African-American as lead/primary character or deals with an
issue related to race.
November 26: Reality Television
So, what IS reality? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist...)
Readings:
Cummins, Walter M., and George G. Gordon. Programming Our Lives: Television and
American Identity. Chapter 5, Amateurs Performing: “Reality” Television, Westport,
Conn: Praeger, 2006. pg. 37 – 48.
Stark, Steven D., Glued to the Set: The 60 Television Shows and Events That Made Us
Who We Are Today, Chapter 24 The Dating Game, Game Shows, and the Rise of
Tabloid TV. New York: Free Press, 1997.
November 28: New Technologies & The Ubiquitous Camera
How have electronic media technologies changed? What other changes are yet to come?
What will it mean to our culture?
Readings:
Rob Walker, “Repeat Business,” New York Times, November 23, 2008, Sunday
Magazine section.
Jane Roscoe, Multi-Platform Event Television: Reconceptualizing our Relationship with
Television, The Communication Review, London: Taylor & Francis, Vol. 7, No. 4 (2004)
pg. 363 – 369.
December 3: Open
TBD
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December 5 LAST CLASS
TBD