WINONA STATE UNIVERSITY
PROPOSAL FOR GENERAL EDUCATION PROGRAM COURSES
Department __Global Studies & World Languages___________________________
_GS345______________
Course No.
Date _1/20/12____________
_Media, Popular Culture and Changing Chinese Society ______
Course Name
_______3/4______
Credits
Prerequisites__None__________________________________________________________
GEP Goal Area(s):*
CORE GOAL AREAS
_____Goal 1: Communication
_____Goal 3: Natural Science
_____Goal 4: Mathematics/Logical Reasoning
__ _ Goal 5: History and the Social and Behavioral
Sciences
_X__ Goal 6: The Humanities and Fine Arts
THEME GOAL AREAS
_____Goal 7: Human Diversity
__X_ Goal 8: Global Perspective
_____Goal 9: Ethical and Civic Responsibility
_____Goal 10: People and the Environment
* Courses may be submitted for up to two Goal Areas.
Additional Requirement Categories:
_____Intensive:
_____ 1. Writing
_____ 2. Oral Communication
_____ 3. a. Mathematics/Statistics
_____ b. Critical Analysis
_____ Physical Development and Wellness
Provide information as specified in the previous directions.
Attach a General Education Program Approval Form.
Department Contact Person for this Proposal:
_Dr. Weidong Zhang________________
Name (please print)
__454-5790________
Phone
__wzhang@winona.edu_________________
e-mail address
[Revised 9-6-11]
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WINONA STATE UNIVERSITY
GENERAL EDUCATION PROGRAM APPROVAL FORM
Routing form for General Education Program Course approval.
Course
GS 345______________
Department Approval
_________________________________
Department Chair
________________
Date
Dean’s Recommendation _____ Yes
_____ No*
_________________________________
Dean of College
________________
Date
____________________________________________
e-mail address
*If the dean does not approve the proposal, a written rationale shall be provided to the General Education Program Subcommittee.
GEPS Recommendation
_____ Approved
_________________________________
General Education Program Director
A2C2 Recommendation
_____ Disapproved
________________
Date
_____ Approved
_________________________________
Chair of A2C2
Faculty Senate Recommendation
_____ Disapproved
________________
Date
_____ Approved
_________________________________
President of Faculty Senate
_____ Disapproved
________________
Date
Academic Vice President Recommendation _____ Approved
_________________________________
Academic Vice President
Decision of President
_____ Approved
_________________________________
President
_____ Disapproved
________________
Date
_____ Disapproved
________________
Date
Please forward to Registrar.
Registrar
_________________
Date entered
Please notify department chair via e-mail that curricular change has been recorded.
[Revised 7-13-11]
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GEP CATEGORIES REQUESTED
Goal 6: The Humanities and Fine Arts
Application for GS345: Media, Popular Culture and Changing Chinese Society to satisfy Goal Area 6: The Humanities and Fine
Arts
Note: Course already approved to satisfy Goal Area 8: Global Perspectives
COURSE OUTLINE
This course is designed to provide students with a critical introduction to media and popular cultural landscape and changing
cultural practice in contemporary China. It examines the complex interplay between media, popular culture and the fast changing
Chinese society in the reform era (1978 to present). The students will learn to assess the form, meaning and significance of media
and popular culture, as well as to analyze the formation of cultural and social identity of Chinese through concrete case studies.
Students will study popular culture as something more than leisurely entertainment, they will learn about it also as a cultural
process already inscribed in relations of power. No prior knowledge of China or the Chinese language is required.
This course will cover the following topics:
Unit 1: Media and Popular Culture: Concepts and Approaches
Major Topic 1: Media and Popular Culture: Concepts and Approaches
Major Topic 2: Defining Media and Popular Culture
Major Topic 3: Popular Culture and Culture theories
Unit 2: Media, Popular Culture and Chinese State
Major Topic 4: Mass media in China: a History
Major Topic 5: Mass Media in China: Between Party Line and Bottom Line
Major Topic 6: Globalization of Chinese Media (Global Times research)
Unit 3: Media, Popular Culture and Market
Major Topic 7: Chinese Movie: 6 Generations and Beyond
Major Topic 8: TV: National Pastime?
Unit 4: Media, Popular Culture as Mass Entertainment
Major Topic 9: Olympics, NBA, Sports, and Fandom
Major Topic 10: Advertising, Consumerism, Shanzai, and New Life Styles
Major Topic 11: Urban Spaces: From Xin Tiandi to Shanghai World EXPO
Unit 5: Alternative Spaces, Diverse Voices
Major Topic 12: Super Girl , Hanfu Movement, and Changing Identity
Major Topic 13: Post 80 Writers: From Shanghai Baby to Guo jingming
Major Topic 14: Music as Social Expression
Major Topic 16: Internet and Cyberculture: New Space for Civil Society?
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Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
1. to develop your understanding and knowledge of the dynamic interplay between social formations and media/cultural
processes in contemporary society. Be aware of the role of media and popular culture in society and how this changes over
time;
2. to achieve your understanding of the contemporary Chinese experience by exploring the interplay of media, popular
culture and society;
3. To develop students’ understanding and mastery of key concepts and analytical frameworks for examining China from a
cultural studies perspective.
4. Sharpen students’ critical analytical skills, particularly their ability to grasp, articulate, synthesize and challenge key
arguments in course readings, lectures and discussions.
STUDENT COMPETENCIES, LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES, & ASSESSMENT PLAN
Student Competencies
Learning Activities & Opportunities
Students will be able to:
Demonstrate awareness of the scope and
variety of works in the arts and
humanities;
Understand those works as expressions
of individual and human values within
an historical and social context;
Students will identify, describe and react
to a wide variety of works of art and
popular culture, including Chinese
movie, Chinese cultural symbolism,
Chinese tv, Chinese music, Chinese
literature, etc, from the target culture.
Students will describe and analyze
works of art, from throughout the target
culture within the works' historical and
cultural contexts., and discuss Chinese
cultural values and how Chinese values
impact Chinese culture and society.
Students will do movie reviews and
Chinese media reports, analyze the
indivdual and universal human values
within those media and art forms.
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Assessment Plan
Class discussion, online discussion,
assignments, a research paper and
presentation on issues in media, popular
culture in contempoary China. For
example, students will be asked to watch
Chinese movies and analyze analyze 2-3
literary aspects of the film. Then, they
will write movie reviews, analyzing the
plot, acting, character development,
symbolism, setting/mood, theme, etc. of
the movies. They will also discuss in
class, to demostrate their awareness and
appreciation of various works of arts and
humanities.
When learning Chinese media and
Chinese popular culture, students will be
asked to explore the larget socio-cultural
context of reform era, and Chinese
cultural values and Confucianism
tradition that are expressed through the
works of art and humanities. Students
will identify one aspect of Chinese
culture, or a cultural text, be it a film or
series of films, a mass-market novel, a
television series or channel, a magazine,
some instance of pop
music,contextualize it in modern
Chinese society, analyze it critically,
and see how it reflects Chinese values
and and way of thinking and behavior.
Respond critically to works in the arts
and humanities;
Students will study various approaches
to study media and popular culture, as
well as historical and cultural contexts
of modern China. Students will interpret
and respond critically to works from
target culture in the arts and humanities.
Students will do critical analysis of
various works of arts and humanities in
Chinese culture, by using various
approaches to study media and popular
culture.Students will look at a variety of
cultural forms in contemporary China,
from the perspective of their political,
ideological, sociological, cultural, and
psychological functions, and examine
the complex interplay between media,
popular culture and fast changing
Chinese society in the reform era China.
Students will articulate oral and/or
writen reactions to a variety of works of
art, movies, literature and music from
the target culture.
Students are asked to write their critical
analysis of media and Chinese popular
culture, and present to the whole class,
to demonstrate their understanding the
role of Chinese media and popular
culture in Chinese society, as
ideological apparatus, mass
entertainment industry, and alternative
spaces, with its relations with state,
market, and mass society, how they are
produced, consumed and reproduced in
a society.
Engage in the creative process or
interpretive performance;
Articulate an informed personal reaction
to works in the arts and humanities.
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