What is this course -- Mass Media & Society -- about?

This course examines the relationship between mass media and society. According to most sources, its been a pretty rocky relationship. Society has blamed mass media for ruining politics, dumbing down several generations, massive social upheaval, and even the Columbine shootings. Probably some parts of these accusations are fair. On the other hand, mass media has been critiquing, engaging, unifying, shocking and condemning society – for the general welfare -- for quite a while, too.

The purpose of this course is to provide students with a broad survey of the relationship between the mass media industries and society. We will explore the general trends in the history of media industry development, analyze several media texts, and the chart the politics of production and distribution of media. Hopefully our study will lay a groundwork for a more complicated and specific understanding of the ways mass media and society relate to one another. I want every student to come out of this course with a clearer sense of how you can engage mass media and society (and their relationship to each other) as thoughtful, ethical consumers and producers of media.

The course here at Malone College is similiar to many Mass Media & Society courses taught in other colleges and universities around the nation. There are differences, too, though. Like many media courses, a concept we stress in this course is "media literacy." Like some colleges, Malone's version of this course pays special attention to the ways that the Christian tradition influences our thoughts and practices related to Mass Media & Society. Like some courses around the nation, my particular interests, predispose me to teach this class from a cultural - studies perspective, though I'll try to let you know how some other thinkers (particularly those in the social sciences) might diverge from my approach.

Media Text Analysis Essay

You will select a mass media text and write an analysis in 800 – 1000 words. You may analyze any kind of mass media text that you would like, but I suggest that you select a text small enough for thorough understanding, but substantial enough to generate insight.  You must select a media text that is EITHER new (within the last calendar year) OR old (at least 40 years old).

Your paper should include a description of the text, an interpretation of its meaning and an evaluation of the significance and meaning of this text & interpretation in our culture. You must use semiotic analysis to analyze your text, but you should not feel obliged to talk about the terms of semiosis. I will be able to tell if you have used the process because of the insights that your essay will demonstrate.

The process of writing an interpretive analytical essay like this one usually starts with description (what are the key signs?), moves to analysis (what are the patterns?  the codes?  how do they fit together?), expresses an interpretation (what does it *mean*?) and finishes with an evaluation (is it good?  bad?  for who?  why?  how?).

Your paper structure should NOT follow that order -- that's the order of investigation.  Your paper's arrangement will be unique to your topic, your voice and your insights.  (Though I generally recommend that a strong paper LEADS with its strongest ideas and biggest insights.)  There are a few sample papers available for you to read in the folder I shared with you in google docs.  These papers are not perfect but the provide a helpful example of various approaches to this assignment that have worked in the past.

You may find the grading rubric I will use to assess your paper in the google docs folder that I have shared with you.

Please click on this paragraph to read more about your proposal.

The draft is not graded, but I will read it, give you some narrative feedback and fill out a rubric to help you think about my expectations.  Draft-writing GREATLY enhances your ability to engage in good learning practice.  Hopefully that's what you're here for, so if I were you, I would prioritize this learning opportunity.  Please submit your proposal as a google document that you share with the class email (look at the syllabus for the address) not with the teacher's email address.

You will submit your FINAL draft as a NEW google doc and share it with the class email address.  I will not re-grade your original google doc.  I really want to have two separate documents that I can look at.

How much does reading matter in this course?

Course Readings Packet. Available only in google docs.  If you have not successfully accessed the readings yet, please email the teacher and let him know.

Romanowski, W. (2007). Eyes wide open: Looking for God in popular culture. Brazos Press; Grand Rapids, MI.

Several times throughout the semester, I will assign reading in class, and you will be responsible to find that reading on the internet. I will give you the URL and post the link here, on my blog. These readings re just as important and valuable as the ones that have been committed to paper.

Being prepared for class by reading will profoundly affect your ability to understand the concepts we’re examining in class. Your reading won’t be assessed separately, but if you don’t use the concepts from the reading in your papers and to prepare for class lecture / discussion, you’ll find your test and paper grades suffering.

One big pitfall that students often fall into when studying popular culture industries, is solely depending on the personal knowledge that you bring to the class from your lives. This is important, valuable knowledge, and it’s one of the reasons why studying popular culture is so enjoyable, but this class affords you an opportunity to think in new ways about topics you’re familiar with.

How will my performance be assessed in this class?

I encourage you to set your own goals for this class. I do not believe that any experience where you rely on an outside evaluation of your work, involvement, and performance will affect you as significantly as an experience where you attempt to match your own evaluations with those you receive from others. What do you want to learn in this class? Why are you here? What might you walk away with? How can you grow as a person through this experience? What criteria will you use to judge whether or not you have?

That said, I am obliged to evaluate your work, involvement, and performance in this class. I don’t shrink from this duty, because I assume that the feedback I give you will be useful as you journey through this learning process. On the other hand, I don’t assume that you are the sum of your grade in this class. I know that your potential far exceeds any grade that’s available in this or any class. Hopefully you can use this system of grades to begin to push your own limits. In this class your learning will be formally assessed using these components:


Media Text Analysis
Mass Media & Shifts in American Culture
Media Story
Exams
Community Involvement

What other policies do I need to know?

Know the syllabus. Starting on the second day of class, the syllabus is binding and should be referred to when you have a question. When information is required, I will post that info here, on the blog. As a result, you should think of the syllabus as an ongoing contract. It is also necessary that you familiarize yourself with the campus wide e-companion software. I will only use e-companion to store readings, but you will need to download the readings from that site. I will always let you know (in “real” class time) when I’ve provided more information on the web, and will never make changes to the syllabus without consulting you. In this course though, email is a requirement. I won’t answer any (process-oriented) questions in class unless you can first tell me what the course blog or syllabus says about it.

Attend class. Any absences beyond three will result in a third of a letter grade reduction from your grade (B to B-, etc.). Conversely, if you have a perfect attendance record, I will raise your final grade one third of a grade. No late assignments will be accepted except in cases of emergency. Emergency absences must fall into the following criteria:
1.) death,
2.) extreme sickness,
3.) college approved absences, and
4.) You must notify me in advance.
You may notify me in person, on the telephone, on voicemail, or by leaving a message with the department secretary. If you leave messages for me, be sure that you leave them prior to the class you miss, and that there is some outside authentication.

Turn in your work early. All work will be due in class on the due date marked in the calendar. Late assignments will only be accepted with permission. Assignments turned in on the due date but outside of class will have five points deducted. Ten points per calendar day will be deducted for later assignments.

Write carefully. The Communication Arts department policy for all written assignments is that students will receive one grade reduction for more than three errors in grammar, mechanics, syntax, spelling and punctuation.

Don’t cheat. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Any instances of plagiarism, cheating, or dishonesty will be dealt with as outlined in the student handbook.

Wait one night. I do not discuss the grades I assign on the day that I return them to you. I encourage students to question and be forthright about their questions, but our conversation will proceed more productively if you have at least one night to reflect on my feedback, and construct your response.

What can I expect to learn in this course?

The successful student, upon completion of this course should be able to:

1. identify fundamental trends in the history and development of mass media.

2. evaluate claims regarding the effects of media upon society.

3. articulate themes which frame mass media development today.

4. evaluate mass media messages and production processes using moral frameworks.

5. identify Judeo - Christian critiques of mass media

6. critically evaluate media using several different criteria.

Communication Arts Department Mission Statement

We, the Communication Arts Department, commit to develop communicators rooted in communities, acting as agents of truth, reflection, transformation and reconciliation in a way that celebrates God’s grace and faithfulness.

Introduction to Media Stories

You will create a digital story telling a story about how a particular media text (or group of texts) affected someone personally.

The story should focus on the ways that a favorite or important media text or set of texts (formative media) has shaped or interacted with someone’s life.

You may tell a story about media in your life, but I encourage you to branch out and learn about media in someone else’s life. Each story will be five minutes or less. Your story should include sound & images and will eventually be posted on the internet.

Our in-class discussion about stories should help you, but you may want to check out these materials I allude to in the training sessions I offer in the mac lab in the basement of the library so you can feel at least somewhat familiarized with the process.

The rubric I will use to evaluate your story is available in document sharing in e companion.

I've posted a number of media stories from other semesters at this new blog. I recommend watching them for ideas of things that work, and things that don't work as well.

I also recommend watching the stories posted at the digital storytelling center and on the stories for change site. The stories posted at Media Storm demonstrate even more technical innovations, but may enlarge your vision for how you can proceed through this assignment.

I'm eager to see what you create!

Assignment Rubrics

So you can succeed better at each of the assignments in the class, I am providing the rubrics I will use to assess your work.

Media Text Analysis Rubric


Digital Media Story Rubric


Political Economy Rubric

What is "community involvement?"

Many teachers assign a grade for student participation in class. While I agree that student participation is very important for a successful classroom experience, I am even more interested in developing a community of learning that includes student (and teacher) participation both within the classroom and outside of the classroom. A community of learning encompasses both formal communication patterns and informal communication patterns. It includes our explicit discussions about mass media in our lives and world, but could include conversations with one another as we consume media. It also includes relationships between students just as much as the relationship between the teacher and each individual student.

This grade will be calculated based on multiple assessments, all of which will be measured considering the ways that you contribute to the community of learning in this class. Therefore, some of the areas that will be evaluated in this category include:

1.) your constructive contributions in class (amount, depth of insight, and other-orientation are all important here),
2.) your verbal and non-verbal interaction with others in the class,
3.) your attendance,
4.) your interactions with your peers both inside and outside of class time,
5.) any way you facilitate the learning of other students (clarifying examples in class, phone calls in the evening, sharing notes together, after class discussions, and study groups, commenting on blogs) or
6.) any other contributions that you can make to improving the learning climate within the class.

You should focus on developing a culture of learning together; while the development of relationships with one another is important – it is essential that you orient these relationships toward developing one another’s ability to think about and use mass media well. I assume that in order to succeed in this portion of the class, you will need to have read well and been an active participant in class lecture and discussion.

This grade will be evaluated several ways. I will invite the entire class to advocate on behalf of other members of the class. I will journal after class, noting contributions made by individuals. On some days, I will take notes. Halfway through the semester, I will suggest the grade that I think most appropriate for your community involvement thus far (based on my assessments and the assessments of your peers). If you feel that this grade doesn't accurately reflect the way you contributed to the community of learning, I URGE you to talk to me. We can together reflect on our differing perspectives, and set goals for a better understanding in the second half of the semester.

Clearly, this system doesn’t allow you to either be invisible or domineering in this class. Hopefully we can co-construct a positive learning environment together.

At the end of the class, I will assign the final grade, but will consider the following factors: your personal assessment, your peers advocacy, and observations from my class journal throughout the semester.

Will we be exposed to controversial media in this class?

Because this is a course that deals specifically with the relationship of media and society, each of you will encounter messages, images and ideals with which you disagree. While we’re used to encountering such things in more removed and formal contexts within history, literature and art, they sometimes feel more threatening when we encounter them within the popular media of our time. The objectives of this course and the Mission of this Department encourages you to embrace these experiences as opportunities to develop your own ability to be an “agent of truth reflection, transformation and reconciliation”. I will try to warn you when we’ll be encountering “controversial media,” but I encourage you to envision such moments throughout the semester as opportunities to develop your own character and your vision of the world.

Want to think more about this idea? Check out our Department's Statement on Hospitality and Cultural Engagement.