SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION
CMNS 221-3
Stuart R. Poyntz
K9654 (Burnaby)
Phone 778.782.7293
Email spoyntz@sfu.ca
Spring 2011
Surrey Day
Media and Audiences
Prerequisites: CMNS 110 and CMNS 130.
Course Description:
This course is an introduction to and survey of the study of popular culture and communication,
with a specific focus on the social and cultural dimensions of media and media environments. The
course examines media-audience relations in regard to critical issues and controversies in media,
society and popular culture. A broad range of themes will structure our investigation, including:
communication and social change; citizenship, media and culture; the rise of industrial capitalism
and the emergence of consumer cultures; controversies and practices of technology in media
cultures; theories of mass culture and society; the nature and role of audiences in contemporary
media culture; the dominance of visual/image culture in contemporary life; problems in relation to
modernism, postmodernism and popular culture; globalization; media, identities and urban life;
and communication as public education. Besides course readings, we will also look closely at
various films, examples of popular music, and other forms of visual culture as part of our
investigation.
Required Textbook:
Bill Osgerby. Youth Media. Routledge: New York, 2004
A courseware package will also be available.
Course WIKI https://wiki.sfu.ca/spring11/cmns221d100/index.php/Main_Page
Course Requirements:
1. Midterm Exam: To be held on March 1, 2011
20%
This will be an in-class exam covering the first half of the course. Students will be asked to write
two essays and will be given a choice of topics.
2. Term Paper: DUE on April 5, 2011 at the beginning of class
35% + 5% (Outline)
The research paper is to be 10-12 pages (double spaced) in length and will be written on a topic
related to the course and of the student’s own choosing. Suggested topics for the paper will be
provided. Paper topics must be approved by, and discussed with your TA or with Stuart. Students
will produce a 1-page outline of their proposed paper (worth 5% of the final grade), which is due
the week of March 15 in tutorial. The 1-page outline will provide a 4-5 sentence thesis statement,
along with a list of 4 (minimum) research sources (not drawn from our course reading list).
3. Final Exam: Take home exam
25%
Exam will be handed out in class on April 5 and is due on April 12, before 4:00 PM in the
General Office, School of Communication, Burnaby Campus.
4. Tutorial Participation (Presentation and Attendance)
15%
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LECTURE SCHEDULE AND READINGS
January 11, 2011
Introduction: Communication, Media and Popular Culture – Toward an
Understanding of Communication as Social Critique and Social Change
Film Clips – Bladerunner; Clay Sharkey (Keynote Address to the Web 2.0 Expo, San Francisco, 2008)
January 18, 2011
The Culture of Consumerism: Histories of ‘Dream World’ and the
Selling of Desire
Readings
 Rosalind Williams. “The Dream World of Mass Consumption” in Rethinking Popular
Culture.” Eds. Chandra Mukerji and Michael Schudson. Berkeley: University of Chicago
Press, 1991.
 Trentmann, F. (2007). “Citizenship and Consumption.” Journal of Consumer Culture,
7(2), 147-158.
January 25, 2011
Identity Investments and Cultural Goods in the Marketplace
Readings
 Stuart Ewen. Chapter 5: The Dream of Wholeness. In All Consuming Images: The
Politics of Style in Contemporary Culture. New York: Basic Books, 1988.
 David Harvey. “Fordism.” Excerpt from The Condition of Postmodernity. Cambridge:
Basil Blackwell, 1989, pp. 125-140.
 Stuart Cosgrove. “The Zoot Suit and Style Warfare.” In Zoot Suits and Second-Hand
Dresses. Ed. Angela McRobbie. Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1988.
Film Clips: Modern Times
February 1, 2011
Understanding Audiences: Youth Cultures and Youth Markets
Readings
 Bill Osgerby,. Chapter 2: The ‘fab phenonmenon’ – The Rise of the Commerical Youth
Market and Chapter 3: Brave New World – Youth Media, Business Conglomeration and
post-Fordism. In Youth Media. Abingdon: Routledge, 2004.
 Naomi Klein, “Alt.Everything: The Youth Marketplace and the Marketing of Cool.” In
No Logo. New York: Picador, 2000.
Film Clips: Marketing of Cool, Rebel Without a Cause
February 8, 2011
Mass Culture/Popular Culture
Readings
 Dominic Strinati. “Mass Culture and Popular Culture.” In An Introduction to Theories of
Popular Culture. London: Routledge, 2004.
 Bill Osgerby. Chapter 6: All the Young Dudes – Media, Subculture and Life Style. In
Youth Media. Abingdon: Routledge, 2004.
Page 2
Strongly Recommended
 Benjamin, W. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” In
Illuminations: Essays and reflections. H. Arendt (Ed.), (H. Zohn, Trans.). New York:
Schocken Books, 1968, pp. 217-251.
February 15, 2011

Reading Week
No Classes scheduled
February 22, 2011
Modernity and Modernism
Readings
 David Harvey. “Modernity and Modernism.” Excerpt from The Condition of
Postmodernity. Cambridge: Basil Blackwell, 1989, pp. 10-38.
Film Clips: City Space
March 1, 2011

MID-TERM EXAM
To be held in class
March 8, 2011
Postmodernism, Global Media and New Cultural Lives
Readings
 Dominic Strinati. “Postmodernism and Popular Culture.” In An Introduction to Theories
of Popular Culture. London: Routledge, 2004.
 Bill Osgerby. Chapter 7: Rockin’ All Over the World – Globalization and ‘Youth Media’
and Chapter 8: ‘Insurgency Across all Borders’: Hybridity, Identity and ‘Youth Media.’
In Youth Media. Abingdon: Routledge, 2004.
Recommended
 Smith, Z. (2010, Nov 25). Generation why? The New York Review of Books. Available at:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/nov/25/generation-why
 George Lipsitz. “Diasporic Noise: History, Hip Hop, and the Post-Colonial Politics of
Sound” in Dangerous Crossroads: Popular Music, Postmodernism and the Poetics of
Place. London: Verso, 1994
Film Clips: Latcho Drom, Crossing the Bridge: The Music of Istanbul
Page 3
March 15, 2011
Promises, Promises: Technology, Technohype and the Public Sphere
*** Final Paper Outlines due in tutorial this week ***
Readings
 Bill Osgerby. Chapter 9: Totally Wired – Youth and New Media. In Youth Media.
Abingdon: Routledge, 2004.
 Guins, R. (2008). Hip hop 2.0. In A. Everett (Ed.), Learning race and ethnicity (pp. 6380). Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
 Martin Laba. “’Pirates,’ Peers and Popular Music.” In Mediascapes. Eds. Paul Attallah
and Leslie R. Shade. Toronto: Nelson, 2007.
Recommended
 Ursula M. Franklin. The Real World of Technology (Revised Edition). Selected Chapters.
Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 1999.
March 22, 2011
PostFordism and Promotional Life in the Fast Lane
Readings
 Robert Goldman and Stephen Papson. (2000) “Advertising in the Age of Accelerated
Meaning.” In The Consumer Society Reader. Eds. Juliet B. Schor and Douglas B. Holt.
New York: New Press.
 Aronczyk, M., & Powers, D. (2010). “Introduction: Blowing up the Brand.” In M.
Aronczyk & D. Powers (Eds.), Blowing up the brand: Critical perspectives on
promotional culture (pp. 1-26). New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Reread: Bill Osgerby, Chapter 3 – Brave New World: Youth Media, Business
Conglomeration and post-Fordism. In Youth Media. Abingdon: Routledge, 2004.
Film Clips: The Persuaders
March 29, 2011
Consuming with Conscience
Readings
 Henry Giroux. (1994). “Consuming Social Change: The United Colours of Benetton.” In
Disturbing Pleasures: Learning Popular Culture. New York: Routledge.
 Littler, J. (2009). Chapter 2 – Cosmopolitan Caring: Globalization, Charity and the
Activist-Consumer. In Radical consumption: Shopping for change in contemporary
culture. Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.
Film Clips: The Fine Art of Separating People From Their Money
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April 5, 2011
Media Literacies and Social Change
FINAL PAPER DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS.
Readings
 Poyntz, S. R., & Hoechsmann, M. (2011). Chapter 4 – Media Literacy 1.0.1. In Media
literacies: Between past and future. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.
 Kenway, J., & Bullen, E. (2008). “The Global Corporate Curriculum and the Young
Cyberflaneur as Global Citizen.” In N. Dolby & F. Rizvi (Eds.), Youth Moves: Identities
and Education in Global Perspective. London: Routledge, pp. 17-32.
TAKE HOME FINAL EXAM IS DISTRIBUTED IN CLASS ON November 30, 2010.
EXAM IS DUE ON April 12, BEFORE 4:00 PM IN THE GENERAL OFFICE, SCHOOL OF
COMMUNICATION, BURNABY CAMPUS.
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CMNS 221 – Media and Audiences
Spring 2011
Tutorials – Presentation Criteria
Elements
All students in the course are required to deliver a 15-20 minute (TAs will decide on length) presentation
on one article included in the course reading package. While each TA may be flexible with the criteria for
presentations, at a minimum the following list of elements should be included in each student
presentation:
1. Students will provide a clear summary of the main argument(s) raised by the author in the article. The
summary will address the key elements or stages in the development of the author’s argument and
will connect this argument to themes or topics raised in the course.
2. Students will outline both the strengths and weaknesses of the author’s claims and will make
connections between what the author addresses, and experiences, events or people from beyond the
text.
3. As part of their presentation, students must use one media resource (a song, a movie clip, a clip
from youtube, a magazine article or advertisement, etc.) in order to highlight the main arguments
raised in the article. A projector and computer with DVD and online capabilities will be available in
each tutorial for this purpose.
4. Students will provide 2-3 meaningful questions meant to provoke class discussion following their 1520 minute presentation. This is one place where students may find it useful to try and link the issues
and claims raised in an article with the larger themes and topics raised in the course.
5. Students will produce a one-page (single-spaced) written outline detailing their summary of the
article and the discussion questions they have developed. This outline will be handed out on the day
of students’ presentations and will be used as a form of study notes for the mid-term and final exams.
CMNS 221
Guidelines for Term Essay
1. Maximum length 12 pages – double spaced. This does not include the bibliography or the title page.
Minimum 6 ACADEMIC sources (1 of these sources can be drawn from the course reading list.
WIKIPEDIA IS NOT AN ACADEMIC SOURCE! You must attach a separate BIBLIOGRAPHY
PAGE at the end of the essay and a TITLE PAGE, which includes your name, student number, the
date and the title of your paper.
2. Students will produce a 1-page outline of their proposed paper (worth 5% of the final grade), which is
due the week of March 15th in tutorial. The 1-page outline will provide a 4-5 sentence thesis
statement on your topic, along with a list of 4 (minimum – not drawn from our course reading list)
research sources.
3. You will need to include a very clearly defined INTRODUCTION—introducing your chosen topic,
what you intend to argue in the course of your paper, and what you hope to establish through your
argument. Can be a page to a page and a half. You will also need to include a CONCLUSION,
summing up your central argument.
4. If you use academic/journal sources/papers from a database on the net, make sure the complete link
is given in the bibliography, plus the date you accessed it.
5. You can use a style in creating your bibliography – i.e., APA, MLA style – BUT be consistent and
stick to it throughout your paper. DO NOT MIX STYLES. For information on how to create your
bibliography, visit the resources available through the SFU Library’s Student Learning Commons –
www.learningcommons.sfu.ca.
6. Confirm your paper topic with your TA or Stuart.
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Suggested Essay Topics
Communication 221
Here is a list of suggested essay topics for you to mull over. For those of you still struggling to
come up with a thesis for your term paper, perhaps one of these suggestions will help. But do
not feel bound to use one of these topics, nor, should you choose to take one of these suggestions
to heart, to follow the topic with absolute fidelity. In other words, use these topics as a way of
sparking your own imagination. Improvise. Take what you find to be of value and leave the
rest. Most of the topics give you a fairly broad sense of what you might do in a particular field,
so feel free to be creative.
1. Historically, high art has been posed in opposition to popular culture. Yet this divide between high art
and the world of mass mediated popular culture has increasingly been called into question today by
scholars and researchers, artists and the general public. Given this, choose a contemporary artist – for
instance, the photo-based artist, Jeff Wall or the First Nations sculptor and “found-art” artist, Brian
Jungen – and examine and assess the ways in which their work traces important linkages and
relationships between the worlds of art practice and popular culture. Your essay should not only
examine how your chosen artist works at the border between art traditions and popular media, but
also why s/he has chosen this direction and how it impacts their relationship with audiences.
2. Craft fairs and the so-called “slow food” movement are two recent examples of cultural practices that
arguably gain some of their affect because they resist or stand apart from the influence of commercial
media culture. Or do they? In your essay, examine the meaning, and influence of craft fairs or the
“slow food” movement as instances of local or folk culture. In what way do these practices operate
beyond the field of the mass media, why do they do this, and are there ways in which these practices
must necessarily engage with popular media culture in order to succeed? If so, does this undermine
their success as critical cultural practices or acts that contest the influence of mass media in our lives?
3. Sports – including professional sports leagues like the NFL or the NHL – are not just a form of
entertainment or a vehicle for athletic performance. They are also fundamentally cultural and
economic institutions that can be understood to demonstrate key practices or tendencies in the larger
culture in which we live. In your paper, choose a recent phenomenon in sport – for instance, the role
of labour practices and questions of race in the NFL – and examine this phenomenon in relation to
social, cultural and economic changes happening in society as a whole.
4. Anime and Japanese manga are popular culture forms which have had an incredible influence on
youth cultures around the world. In the summer of 2008, there was an exhibit called Krazy, at the
Vancouver Art Gallery, which profiled the history, development and impact of both anime and
manga. Drawing explicitly on this exhibit alongside other research into the development of
anime/manga culture, assess how this work has become a globalized cultural form over the past two
decades? In your paper, offer a reasoned judgment as to whether the globalization of anime/manga
has been beneficial or not to this cultural form.
5. Choose two films that offer a critique of the role of technology in contemporary culture. In your
analysis, examine the specific nature of the critique of technology offered in the film. To do this, you
will need to provide an introduction and analysis of the technological concerns raised in the story and
discuss how technology is subject to critique through both the narrative and the visual language (i.e.,
the shots, sounds, visual design, etc.) in the movie.
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6. Dick Hebdige’s classic text, Subculture: The Meaning of Style, offered an influential analysis of the
meaning, functions and impact of subcultural groups. At the centre of his analysis is the way
subcultural uses of style can be a point of refusal, a way in which an often marginalized group of
people announce their protest and challenge to mainstream culture and relationships of power.
Examine Hebdige’s argument (as well as more contemporary critiques of his understanding of the
meaning and function of subcultures) and use this as the backdrop to examine a contemporary
subcultural formation of young people. Be sure to check with your T.A. or with Stuart to confirm the
youth group who will be at the centre of your paper.
7. Youth culture is a highly contested and commercialized space. In what ways does youth culture
operate as a global phenomenon today? In other words, in what sense has youth culture become
globalized? What does this mean and in what ways does this transition suggest a dangerous and
worrying direction for youth culture in the future? In your paper, address how globalization relates to
youth popular culture today, provide examples to support your argument, and assess in what sense
these developments represent either positive or negative possibilities for the future.
8. In our course, we have encountered a number of critiques of consumerism and consumer culture. In
your paper, offer an argument detailing what you believe to be the most significant problem or
concern created by the dominance of consumer lifestyles in contemporary culture. Be sure to consider
counter arguments in your analysis and provide detailed examples and research to support your
claims.
9. Yochai Benkler has argued that in an age of digital media technologies, new networks and
communities are developing in which people are producing and circulating media and cultural
expressions outside of more typical market-oriented relationships. At the centre of his position is the
claim that while new technologies can be detrimental to communities, individuals and society as
whole, they can also offer new and unforeseen possibilities that change the terms and conditions
under which popular culture is produced. Drawing on this argument, assess how new digital media is
changing the production and circulation of movies and videos among young people. Consider how
these technologies not only alter the way young people consume film today, but also the ways in
which they can produce and circulate their own media productions.
10. The language of advertising and marketing targeted at youth has developed in new and provocative
ways of late. Assess why this is the case, what new strategies and practices marketers are using to
target youth audiences, and what your judgment is on the ethics and likely effectiveness of these
strategies.
11. Is it possible to use popular commercial media as a resource to promote social change? Some would
argue this is absolutely necessary today, while others, including Henry Giroux (see reading lists),
suggest we need to be very cautious about how marketing campaigns (like those developed by
Benetton in the 1990s to promote multiculturalism) actually undermine real social change. What do
you think? Analyze the work of selling social issues today, and using one campaign, assess whether
in fact popular commercial media can be used to promote better social futures.
12. Can celebrities – i.e., Bono – become spokespeople for meaningful social change? Assess why this
may or may not be the case, and in doing so, be sure to clarify why celebrities seem to have the power
the influence how we think about social and political issues in this historical moment.
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13. Various strains and traditions within the history of popular commercial music have long been
associated with protest and calls for social change. This is certainly true in the history of hip-hop, and
yet hip-hop is also thought to be a highly commercialized, violent and deeply misogynistic form of
cultural expression. Often, those who wish to defend the more critical ambitions of hip hop note that
context is everything. That is, it matters how hip hop is being used, by whom and for what purposes.
These issues really define how and in what ways this form of music can continue to offer a powerful
critique of issues of race, gender, class and other power dynamics in society. While offering a short
history of hip hop, take a position on whether this form of music can still be a mode of protest and
social critique. Provide examples of music or communities who are involved with hip hop to support
your response.
14. Media literacy is often thought to be central to any attempt to promote communication for social
change among young people – especially children and teenagers. Canada – perhaps surprisingly – is
often thought to be a leader in the development of media literacy in schools and in other communitybased settings. Develop a short analysis of the history of media literacy in Canada. In your paper, you
will need to address what media literacy typically means in the Canadian context, where it is most
often practiced and in what ways. As well, you will also want to provide an assessment of what
problems or difficulties are preventing the expansion of media literacy today. Those interested in this
topic should discuss your paper with Stuart before proceeding.
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