Course Schedule

Week 1: Introduction to Media, Culture, and Identity

Tuesday, January 12

Thursday, January 14

  • M/S, Chapter 1, p. 2-30 
  • M/S, Chapter 9, p. 294-308

Week 2: Media Technology

Tuesday, January 19

  • M/S, Chapter 9, p. 308-321
  • Postman, N. (1985). Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the age of show business. New York: Viking, p. 3- 29. [Readings tab]

Thursday, January 21


Week 3: Economics of the Media Industry

Tuesday, January 26

  • M/S, Chapter 2, p. 32-71
  • M/S, Chapter 4, p. 113-123

Thursday, January 28


Week 4: Ideology & Authenticity

Tuesday, February 2

  • M/S, Chapter 5, p. 152-166

Thursday, February 4

  • Watch: Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
  • Short Essay 1 Due

Week 5: Ideology on the Screen

Tuesday, February 9

  • M/S, Chapter 5, p. 166-170
  • Watch: Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Thursday, February 11

  • M/S, Chapter 5, p. 170-175
  • Watch: CSI (episode tba)

Week 6: Advertising, Consumer Culture, and the American Dream

Tuesday, February 16

  • Watch: Brand New You (2014)

Thursday, February 18

  • M/S, Chapter 5, p. 178-185

Week 7: Gender, Class, and Sport

Tuesday, February 23

  • Kimmel, M. S. (2011). Masculinity as homophobia: Fear, shame, and silence in the construction of gender identity (T. E. Ore, Ed.). In The social construction of difference and inequality: Race, class, gender, and sexuality (5th ed., pp. 134-151). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. [Readings Tab]
  • Messner, M. A., Dunbar, M., & Hunt, D. (2000). The Televised Sports Manhood Formula. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 24(4), 380-394. doi:10.1177/0193723500244006 [Readings Tab]

Thursday, February 25

  • Watch: Guyland: Where Boys Become Men (2015)
  • Short Essay 2 Due

Week 8: Rap, Ideology, and Cultural Appropriation

Tuesday, March 1

  • M/S, Chapter 5, p. 175-178
  • Sellen, E. (2012). Missy `Misdemeanor’ Elliott: Rapping on the frontiers of female identity. In M. Kearney (Ed.), The Gender and Media Reader (pp. 319-328). New York & London: Routledge. [Readings tab]

Thursday, March 3


Week 9: Spring Break – No Class


Week 10: Race, Racism, and Media Framing

Tuesday, March 15

  • M/S, Chapter 6, p. 186-205
  • Hall, S. (2011). The whites of their eyes: Racist ideologies and the media. In G. Dinez & J. M. Humez (Eds.), Gender, race, and class in media: A critical reader (3rd ed., pp. 81-84). Sage. [Readings tab]

Thursday, March 17

  • No class (I will be at a conference).

Week 11: Race, Racism, and White Privilege

Tuesday, March 22

Thursday, March 24


Week 12: LGBTQ Representation and “Modern Family Fun”

Tuesday, March 29:

Thursday, March 31


Week 13: The Politics of Media Influence

Tuesday, April 5

  • M/S, Chapter 7, p. 224-248
  • Campus Participation Due

Thursday, April 7

  • Grossberg, L., Wartella, E., & Whitney, D. C. (1998). Media and Behavior. In Mediamaking: Mass media in a popular culture (pp. 293-335). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. [Readings tab]

Week 14: Social Context of Media Use

Tuesday, April 12

  • Watch: Joystick Warriors (2013)

Thursday, April 14

  • M/S, Chapter 8, p. 260-293

Week 15: Audiences & Ratings

Tuesday, April 19

  • Caputi, J. (2011). The pornography of everyday life. In G. Dinez & J. M. Humez (Eds.), Gender, race, and class in media: A critical reader (3rd ed., pp. 311-320). Sage. [Readings tab]
  • Boyle, K. (2011). `That’s So Fun’: Selling pornography for men to women in The Girls Next Door. In G. Dinez & J. M. Humez (Eds.), Gender, race, and class in media: A critical reader (3rd ed., pp. 293-300). Sage. [Readings tab]

Thursday, April 21

  • M/S, Chapter 3, p. 91-112
  • Watch: This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)
  • Short Paper 3 Due